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 - 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 Week 8

As I go into week 8 from the date of the cheilectomy and osteotomy to treat hallux rigidus stage 2, I'm mindful that this is supposed to be a big turning point. In my notes that I was discharged with it states, "You should return to your normal daily activities (and stop the PT exercises) after 8 weeks, although exercising the joint from time to time may still help." Now I'm a bit literal, so I'm tempted to follow the guidance to the letter. But I actually think my PT has really only just begun. Maybe that's because I had the osteotomy, maybe the guidance is pretty good for cheilectomies on their own. And as for getting back to 'normal' activity, well, given that normal activity was much reduced due to the condition of hallux rigidus in the first place, this could be a little difficult to measure (and since I'm not a runner, and I'm in my mid fifties, it puts me a little at odds with the experiences of many in blog posts and discussions I&#

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-diary

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