cheilectomy-diary

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...

Finally, it's the day of the post-op hospital visit. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic (and other stuff), all these types of procedures are being done in a suite at a small private hospital near the airport, so it's a 70 mile round trip from where I live (even though usually I'd go a few minutes down the road to the County hospital in my town). So needed have someone drive me. Meanwhile I tested out what shoes I'd take to replace the surgical shoe. Once at the hospital I had a couple of x-rays (which required me to weightbear on the foot). The screw I had inserted is clearly visible on the pics, still not quite sure what its purpose is! The one above shows the diminished space between the MTP joint where the cartilage is missing. All looks good according to my podiatry surgeon (Dr James Alvey). The incision wound is still a bit weepy - it's been in the compression bandage a couple of very hot weeks - so it really needs exposure to air now to finish off healing. So no...

Day 1 - surgery Arrived for a midday appointment. It's important to make sure you have someone who can take you to (and more importantly) collect you from your appointment. You CANNOT (nor will you want to) drive after the surgery. And trust me, you ain't gonna be taking public transport either. I was advised that because I was having a local anaesthetic, I could eat and drink normally, to bring something to eat and drink and a pair of shorts to wear under the hospital gown and a dressing-gown to wear over the top. I changed and ate my lunch and drank my flask of tea and discussed the pain meds that I'll be taking for the first three days after surgery (my worse fear - way worse than the surgical procedure - and the point of all my questions). I do not get on with painkillers - namely, my stomach doesn't. I took ONE co-codamol tab for the knee when I did it in. OMG! The cramp in my stomach was abysmal. I took FOUR ibuprofens the following day, and by day three my inside...

In May 2022 I saw a specialist who confirmed my diagnosis of arthritis of the big toe, hallux rigidus (stage 2). X-rays showed I had diminished joint space and osteophytes peri-articular, with a range of movement 20 degrees dorsiflexion (normally 50 degrees for a walking gait - 65 running) and 10 degrees plantar (sole) flexion. Usually for people in my age group (over 50's) the recommended course of treatment is destructive surgery, whereby the toe is fused rigid with plate and screws to stop it bending and creating more arthritis. The primary objective is pain elimination.  A quick word on pain:- since the accident with the axle grinder two and half years earlier, I have experienced pain or discomfort in the foot at the big toe around 90% of the time (and that includes while in bed or at rest). The pain can be classified as between 0-10 on a scale (0 - no pain/ 10 - excruciating) in the following: 1. At rest/asleep - 5 - often I would be woken up by it in the middle of the night, ...