Almost week 3

Today is the 19th day after surgery. The pain that I mentioned in Day 5 left after about 3 days. I no longer take vicodin and am done with my antibiotics. Occasionally I pop an ibuprofin to help the swelling but it's not that bad. I tried to walk in a pair of crocs and OUCH!!!! Every time my toes touch the shoe, my joints are pressured and the pain is ridiculous! At this rate, I don't think I will be able to walk for at least a few more weeks. I get my sutures removed Monday (will be posting pics) but I don't think I will be capable of walking normally.

Anyone thinking about getting this surgery, be prepared for a long recovery. I can't believe how naive I was in thinking I would be back to work in 3 weeks! Yea right!!! Getting your bone chopped off, especially in a place as sensitive as your toes, will require some extensive healing. The more you push yourself to walk and get back to normal, the longer the process will take. I have accepted this and plan on putting minimal pressure on the toes even after the sutures are removed. No regrets because I hated the way my feet looked before but I would certainly recommend people be realistic and understand that it may take 6 months to a year before your toes to get completely back to normal.

Day 5

WTF was I thinking!??? OMG. This is the most painful feeling ever. It started on Day 3 and hasn't gone away. I have been popping those vicodins like breath mints! I felt the sensation slowly come back to my toes and with it came the pain! It feels like someone smashed my toes with a hammer. I also went in today to get the dressing changed and I couldn't walk without support from someone else. I am still icing the feet 15 mins at a time every hour and elevating the feet. But something as simple as walking to the bathroom has now become dreadful to the point that I don't even want to brush my teeth (I know, disgusting).

On a positive note, the dark color on my third toe went away and now it is more normal looking. Still slightly darker than the other toes but not much. I didn't know the pain would be this intense. :-/

Day 2

Ok soooooo, today my third toe on my left foot is DARK. I'm kind of paranoid because I read some disturbing stuff on gangrene and I surely hope this is going to go away. I text my doc and he told me to keep the foot down for now because blood flow may be restricted!? Not cool.

As far as pain goes, toes are still numb and I'm not experiencing any pain at all. Feet are swollen and toes don't sit when I walk in the post-op shoes but I that's normal. Sleeping last night wasn't as bad as I expected it to be but you definitely have to be cautious of your toes and make sure they aren't crooked or anything. I'm usually a wild sleeper so this is going to be a struggle for the next few weeks.

Day 1

The first day of surgery was cake. My feet were incredibly numb so I didn't feel any pain after I left the hospital. I was pretty immobile nevertheless and walked at the pace of a snail when going to the restroom. I have been elevating my feet and taking the prescribed antibiotic and ibuprofin. I haven't taken a vicodin yet at this point. As you can see in the pic, no pins were used on any toes. My doc said it was because the bones were pretty cooperative during surgery. *shrugs shoulder* I'm not mad, the idea of those pins sticking out would have drove me crazy. But he says they are really just a mind f**k, and not painful at all (unless you stub them of course).

The beginning

First of all, let me apologize for not taking ANY before pics of my feet! That's how bad they were. I also didn't plan on doing a blog so I didn't think twice about capturing a pic of them. Anywho, just know that they were very unsightly with corns on almost every toe. The second toe on my right foot was a hammertoe. The second toe on my left foot had a nasty corn on it but wasn't a hammertoe. So my doc and I figured it would be best to fuse the left second toe anyway (toe shortening) so that they would be the same length since hammertoe surgery requires the shortening of the toe. Honestly, there isn't much of a difference in the procedure for the hammertoe and the toe shortening in my case. He didn't insert any pins in my toes. The rest of the toes that I got done simply had bone removed to get rid of the corns and straighten the toes.