Back on my feet

I have been recovering steadily for a couple of weeks now. The swelling in my leg is minimal now and I can usually get the foot swelling down overnight so I can maintain a decent level of mobility.

I have been very fortunate to carpool in to work while I was in the early stages of recovery. Thank  you Lori. I have now been driving myself to the office for a week - although my car is exhibiting sympathy pains from almost three months of  neglect.

I've noticed a significant uptick in my psychological well being since being among my friends, family, and co-workers again. I can certainly see wisdom in not rushing into the next surgery too quickly - especially with the Christmas season coming up.

Not sure what else to write. If there is intelligent life out there reading these posts perhaps you could comment or ask me something. I don't have a date for the next surgery yet (in case that is the first question).

Ten weeks in

The Maples - 19th Line

Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone and I was reminded once again how much I have to be thankful for. I spent some quality time with family, ate a whole lotta food, and went for a nice drive with my love. Dufferin County looks great at this time of year - the county looks great at other times too but I'm not thankful for that at the moment. :-)

I had my final follow up appointment today - and the first with the actual surgeon - for the triple arthrodesis on the right foot. I wasn't sure if I'd get a stern rebuke for not wearing the air cast, but it played a part in my leg and knee pain, so I took a chance and went in wearing crocs. No warning ensued. Dr Stevens reviewed my new x-ray images and said it all looked great. The incision wound is healing well even though there is still some scabbing. He jiggled the foot in several directions and was pleased by how firm it felt - and pretty impressed with his own handiwork. I asked about physiotherapy or whether he would recommend a knee brace to combat the issues I encountered last week. He said I didn't really need either. He recommended extra anti inflammatory drugs as needed and a stationary cycling regimen. There is no further follow up appointment for the right foot.

Dr Stevens was proud of his work

I then asked if it was time to start talking about the surgery on the left foot. He had forgotten that I was getting both done, but agreed that it was necessary after doing the foot jiggle test there. I reminded him about the bunion and he made another note on the chart. The next surgery isn't booked yet, but he is recommending a longer wait. He initially said three months between surgeries, but now he said he'd wait till the new year. In some ways that adds some logistical hurdles but in others it makes things easier. The total time to recovery will be longer than I had anticipated but my wife and I will get some reprieve in between.

And we can celebrate Christmas in a less gimpy fashion.

Weight bearing woes

It has been a while since my last post - this writing thing takes some discipline.

Ever since I got the green light to gradually start weight bearing three weeks ago, I've been trying to stretch my mobility. I didn't feel like I was overdoing it but I now have some evidence to the contrary. I was gauging my foot pain and progressing quite well, in my own estimation.

My previous post documents my first visit to the office at the end of my first week of partial weight bearing. At that point I was doing very little actual weight bearing and was using my knee walker to get around.  I experienced tingling and discomfort whenever I tried to put weight on the foot.

On Wednesday of the following week, I spent my first full work day at the office. I was able to carpool with a friend who also lives in St Thomas. Thanks Lori. I was exhausted by the end of the day, and had quite a bit of swelling in the foot. I wanted to gradually build up to a full work week so I planned on going to the office on Wednesday and Friday the next week. But that was not to be.

Elianna Jolene

By Tuesday - six days later - I was still in too much discomfort to try again. I did go to the office on the Friday though. I suspected that some of my discomfort was caused by the tightness of the air cast, so I took it off for most of the day. I survived the day but my leg pain had continued to grow - from below the calf to the hip - oddly, the foot was doing better than the leg at this point.

We had a full weekend planned to celebrate my new found mobility - we were still expecting the leg pain issue to resolve itself. On Saturday, I had a massage. The therapist worked the foot a little and the leg a bit more. She told me to apply ice at the foot and heat at the thigh to help the circulation. We had a few more errands and then called on my newest niece who was three and a half weeks old but I hadn't seen yet. Then an awesome Saturday night church service.

On Sunday, we had a down day followed by an evening back at my brother and sister-in-law's place, the ones with the new daughter. They had family visiting from Alberta and we wanted a chance to visit with them before they flew home. My leg was still in pain but it was manageable.

On Monday, I had a few appointments - routine bloodwork, dentist - and errands. By the time we got home, I was in a lot of pain - focused in the right knee. It was very hard to find a position for leg where the pain was bearable. I tried to get a good night's sleep and hope for the best.

This morning, the pain was worse - I'm surprised that I actually slept at all. The knee is still swollen and hot. I contacted my surgeon's staff hoping for insight and instructions on how to cope. The surgeon was unavailable until later, so I took some painkillers and tried to rest. This was supposed to be a work from home day, but it quickly became a day of agony and unconsciousness. I am very grateful to Krista who sacrificed her plans for the day and stayed home with me.

My theory to explain the knee pain, is that the bones in my legs have been repositioning over 30+ years to compensate for foot pronation. Now that the foot is fixed, the bones have to shift back but much more quickly and the knee has to adjust accordingly.

I'm unsure of what tomorrow will bring. I continue to appreciate your prayers and positive thoughts.