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Cheilectomy - Week 6

Have come away on holiday - a three hour drive in a manual car with plenty of motorway queuing, which went fine, though the under part of the MTP joint was a bit achy by the end. I'm hoping to be able to do a little walking next week, but for this week I'm happy pootling around on the bike. 

At home I'm in a cheap pair of flip-flops. I couldn't bear flip-flops before the op - the bit between the toes drove me mad. But I reckon the numbness I've still got on that toe, or the op itself, is making it fine wearing them now. I actually think they provide some good PT as well, as the toe performs a little dorsal flexion - sort of gripping the sole - as I walk in them. 


I was able to be pretty much back to normal at the weekend, with plenty of time on my feet, swimming and kayaking. I'm using the bike mainly rather than walking, which I would have done before the op. Otherwise, I did a lot with very little pain or discomfort. The beach here is very stony and there's a six meter tide, so I have to navigate steep stony banks to get in and out of the water at low tide (not so bad at high tide), and walking on the stones is giving the toe a little dorsal workout - the toes naturally try to curl around the stones. Last week I was gingerly walking up and down them with my foot side-ways on. This weekend I was walking naturally (albeit in shoes) whilst navigating with two kayaks. Pretty impressive!

The PT lapsed a bit over the weekend, but I reckon it was made up with all the stone walking. The dorsal flexion exercises are by far the most painful, but the discomfort subsides quite quickly afterwards. As for the scar, it's looking pretty good I think. The salt water from swimming helped it along and I'm rubbing it with coconut oil morning and evening (actually using Hustle Butter which is designed for aftercare of tattooing). 



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