Cheilectomy - Day 24

Today I got a letter from my consultant podiatric surgeon confirming my "uneventful recovery" from a right-sided 1st MTP joint cheilectomy with proximal phalangectomy, and conditionally discharging me. To celebrate, I've ordered a new pair of shoes.

I've been going through my shoe wardrobe and reluctantly realising that my days in my lovely leather soled Loakes, Brogues and Chelsea boots are probably long-gone. In reality I haven't been able to wear any of them since I had the accident on my foot three years ago (bar the recent funeral of a dear friend - and then I had to send the mourners on while I hobbled my way from the church to the wake in my brogues). Maybe one day, I'll be able to wear them for special occasions. Meanwhile, a different approach is needed. A sturdy sole, supportive and cushioned - and some modifications to the flat leather soles I've been used to.

I've decided (rather reluctantly) to invest in a pair of rocker-soled sports shoes (at least for my recovery back to walking over the next few months until winter puts me back into boots again). I figure with 'rocker' soles, I'll be able to 'rock' off the top of the foot without putting too much stress on the toe as I work through my rehab. I've never been a fan of sporty trainer type footwear, but needs-must, I'm going to have to get used to it for a bit.

But I still can't bring myself to get white sports shoes. So in the spirit of it, the Future's Orange.

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Cheilectomy 5 months

As each month milestone approaches, it feels like the toe is worst than the month before, but when I read back, I can see that's a fallacy. I guess, as it gets better, I just measure its progress day by day, so some days it feels worse and some days it feels better. And that's kinda the lesson learned in this post. For example, the last couple of weeks we've had a cold snap in the UK (temperatures down to -2 in the daytime), so I've had to swap the trainers to more suitable walking boots (something I couldn't wear last month). I've been in the walking boots every day now for a couple of weeks. It feels roomier than when I tried the boots last month, so that indicates the swelling (from Covid probably) has gone down. It's more comfortable to wear the boots now, so clearly that's progress. I've been doing around five miles in them, but do find that it's a matter of one day on, one day off. So if I do a five mile walk one day, I'm not up for a...

Cheilectomy - Day 14

Lots of mobility now - whizzing around doing everything for myself, except shopping and walking the dog. Can walk ok in the surgical shoe and do stuff like preparing meals and washing up, getting up and down stairs, walking to the car. Still icing the foot just to ward off any swelling, wiggling the toe and stretching it. Sometimes, without warning it has a sudden ache - similar but not as intense to the pain I'd experience often before surgery. Went out to the local tea rooms for a couple of hours with the Sunday papers, so feeling a little more normal. Looking forward to tomorrow when I have my post-op appointment back at the hospital, and to losing the surgical shoe and the bulky bandages.

Cheilectomy - Day 20-21

It's the 3 week mark and it's been a busy weekend - well, it's all relative. I've been able to get on a bike - lowering the saddle so I can easily put my foot down. It's been more a case of rolling along at walking pace than actually 'cycling' - the foot feels too fragile to go straight off out of the traps onto the road in case of any sudden mishaps that could mean mucking up the osteotomy before it's healed. On healing, the incision wound is finally sealing up and looking less angry. Still haven't gone swimming - still looks like it needs a little more time to scar properly before risking the water (submerging the skin, risk of tearing, and infection from sea water). Hope that changes this coming week. I can't feel the top of the toe near the incision at all - it's numb. Hoping that changes. Doing the exercises as directed - push and pull until it's uncomfortable twice a day for 5 minutes. I was able to walk the dog to the park and ba...

cheilectomy-diary

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