First day back to work

I went back to work today, just for the afternoon.  All the students loved my "scooter" and want one.  I did pretty well, although I did notice I was yawning all afternoon.  My desk is definitely not as restful as my recliner!  I am a little concerned that I still can't put any weight on the foot.  I'll go back to get my stitches out on Thursday.  Then I'll be able to ask all my questions.  And I can't wait to get this dressing off my foot!

First trip out!

Blackened Mahi Mahi at Sharkys

Tonight Jon and I took Zach and Elizabeth out to eat. After an entire week holed up in the house, every bit of cool evening air felt amazing, every bite of food was scrumptious, and the company was delightful!  It was sooooo great to be out of the house.  I would make a terrible hermit.  I'm not even that great of a couch potato.  My foot did fine propped up on a chair during dinner, but it was tiring on the crutches, and I'm glad to be back in my recliner.  It's always interesting to me how a bit of deprivation makes the small pleasures in life that much sweeter.  I thoroughly enjoyed going out to eat, something I do almost weekly without even really thinking about it.  The lesson of gratitude is a good one.

Day 6 . . .

Progress:  

• Yesterday was the first day I was able to space out the pain meds somewhat.
• This morning I actually slept in--not woken up at 6 am needing to take something for the pain.
•  I can wiggle my toes!

Frustration:

• I still can't put any weight on the foot, even just to touch it down for balance.
• Last night I put on the surgical shoe that I'm supposed to be wearing each time I get up, and it made my foot ache so badly within minutes that I took it off.  What's that about?

This process obviously takes patience.  I can't WAIT until Thursday when I get my stitches out.  I want to see my new foot!  I'll try to put a bit of weight on my foot today and let you know how it goes.  After all, I can't live in this recliner forever, can I?

Day 4 . . .

This is my landscape . . . has been for 4 days now.  Can't complain, really.  Comfy room, lots of good reading, yummy food, and great company.  I did get the first wave of stir-craziness today.  I tried to quell it by getting up to rinse some dishes, but the foot throbs in any position but propped.  So . . . propped it is.  All in all, I'm THANKFUL on this Thanksgiving Day 2010.

The big reveal . . .

Credits . . . Videography by Kayla . . . Ripstick Stuntman Jono.

Uphill from here . . . I hope

So here's the pain meds story: as we left the hospital, the nurse told me to start with the hydrocodone, but right before bed, change over to the stronger pain medicine, something new called Nucentra, so that I could stay ahead of the pain that would come when the local block wore off in the night.  Nucentra was hard to find (Jon had to go to four pharmacies, and when he did find one that had it, the pharmacist had to get it out of the safe!)  I started taking it, but had a horrible night. I would take the Nucentra and fall asleep, then be woken up two hours later in severe pain, but not able to take anything for two more hours.  This went on all night and all day Tuesday.  Finally, exhausted by fighting this incredible pain all day, I called and spoke to the doctor on call. She said, "Don't mess with the Nucentra.  My patients only ever have hydrocodone, and they never have a problem staying ahead of the pain.  Switch to the hydrocodone and stay on it.  Elevate your foot, and you should be fine."  It actually occurred to me in the middle of the day to try switching back to hydrocodone, but I had been convinced by the doc and nurses and pharmacists that the Nucentra was so much stronger.  As soon as I switched over, at 7 pm this evening, I felt so much better.  What an ordeal!

C'mon clock . . . go FASTER!

Eight more minutes until the next pain pill.  This is some pretty intense pain!

A la carte . . .

Well, the deed is done!  Surgery went off without a hitch. Good thing I was on my toes during the pre-op check-in, though, because the nurse had the WRONG foot written down on the surgical orders.  She read me the procedure for the left foot, off her chart, and I said, "NO!  The RIGHT foot.  The right foot, oh my goodness. The RIGHT foot!"  I was laughing and almost shouting, because that's the sort of thing one hears about but never imagines will actually happen this close to home.  She she scratched through it and wrote RIGHT and made me initial it.  When she walked away from the chart, I said, "Jon, go over there and get a picture of that paper for my blog!"  As soon as he approached the chart another nurse saw him and said, "Sir.  Sir.  You can't read the chart!"  Sheesh.
When Dr. B came in to discuss the surgery with me, I looked on the menu and picked another procedure a la carte, just for good measure.  I told him my fourth toe is turned sideways, and so it hurts a lot and gets this horrible blister on it and what do you think?  He told me a few different options for surgically fixing it.  I hesitated, because I had asked both podiatrists that I consulted the same question, and they has said, "Yeah, I could fix it, but I guarantee you'll complain about it more than the big toe repair."  Such an important decision to make in just a few seconds!  So unlike me. What about the tons of googling and hours of research I would normally put into it? But Dr. B encouraged it, and so did the anesthesiologist standing around giving his two cents worth, so I decided to go for it!  Now I have officially had a Chevron Bunionectomy with Akin Procedure and Hammertoe Correction of the Fourth Toe. Let's hope I don't live to regret it! Here's a picture of my "yikes!" expression, just after I decided:

First post-op pic, comin' at ya:  

Last day!

Today is the last day my right foot will look like it has for 25 years.  The big ole bump sticking out the side will be gone!  It's amazing and kinda freaky to think about.  The countdown timer on this blog at this writing says 21 hours, 12 minutes.  I am racing the clock, with 10 tasks still on my "to do before surgery" list.  So this post is short!  Here, for the record, is a "before" pic of my feet.  Last day . . .

Me? Nervous? Pshaw . . .

So I've been tooling along in Julie Mode, making lists of things I need to do before surgery, and then making lists of lists so I don't forget anything.  Working the lists, checking things off as I go.  That's me, calm, cool, collected, productive.  Noooooo problem.  Being jittery about the surgery is not on any of my lists, so there's just no time for it, right?  I've actually been really excited about my surgery plans, looking forward to a pain-free foot (eventually) and looking forward to lying around with my foot up all week during a quiet Thanksgiving break.  Then I experienced one night, then two nights, of sleeplessness, my mind very wakeful, and noticed that my shoulders and neck were sore from tensing up.  Uh oh.  Maybe I'm not as relaxed about this as I thought.  Emotional check-in  . . . yup, feeling overwhelmed and cranky all the sudden.  Am I scared?  Freaked out about the loss of control over my life for a few weeks?  What's going on?

I decided to pay attention to the symptoms and be proactive.  (Aren't you proud of me? Normally I would just barrel on through, no time, no time to stop and reflect, there are things to do, so much to do!!)  I went searching and found Dr. Weil's recommendation for a pre-surgery program that actually has a double-blind, placebo controlled research backing.  It's put out by psychotherapist Belleruth Naparstek.  It is a series of audio files that contain guided imagery for before surgery, affirmations for after, and relaxation music for during surgery (earbuds--I don't want my surgeon falling asleep!).  I downloaded them and have been listening to them just before bed.  I do like them, but can't say I've heard any of them all the way through, because as Belleruth puts it, "Some people fall asleep the first few times they listen, because they are not used to being both relaxed and awake."  Ummmmm, yep.  That about sums it up!
The studies on these audio relaxation aids show that patients who used them prior to surgery had reduced blood loss, used less pain medication, experienced less anxiety, and spent less time in the hospital.  We'll see . . . for now, at least I'm easily falling asleep at night!


Next time on the blog:  The Big Reveal of the Winning Ambulation Device!

A Lift, a Lie, and a Luxury

My orthotic shoe inserts are finally ready! I went on Tuesday to pick them up from the podiatrist who I am NOT using for my surgery. I was so excited for the appointment. These inserts are a major investment and should go a long way towards keeping my left foot from getting as painful as my right foot has. They are custom-made for my feet and will have the arch support and the pronation correction I need. When I arrived and slipped them into my shoes, they felt great. Wow. Major change in the tilt of my foot! This could really make a difference, keeping my foot from turning inward and stressing out the big toe joints with every step. I did notice, though, that where the orthotic ended, about 3/4 the length of my foot, the seam between it and my shoe was quite noticeable on the right foot. He said they could shave it off to a more gradual incline at the lab. Just let him know if it continues to bother me.
As excited as I was about picking them up, I was also feeling sheepish about not choosing Dr. L for my surgery. I had already told his nurse when she called to finalize the scheduling that I was not going to do it at this time. So I was hoping it just wouldn't come up. No such luck. As the appointment was ending, he said, "SO . . . see you next week for pre-op appointment, right?" Uh. I totally chickened out.  I should have said, "I got another opinion and decided to go with someone else." Instead, I just mumbled something about considering putting it off until I had a longer break off from school. He replied, "You know, there's never a good time. You just have to schedule it and do it. But . . . it's your foot!" Yes. It is. Content with that conversation and ready to be out of there, I started packing up to go, and he said, "See me back in two weeks to check the fit of those orthotics." YIKES. In two weeks I will be in my recliner with my foot up in the air. Giant bandages around a newly constructed foot with incision running all down the big toe. No hiding that! I told myself, "It will be okay. The orthotics will feel fine, and I just won't need a follow-up appointment."
Again, no such luck. The left orthotic feels fine, but I really think I need the right one adjusted. I don't mind sending it back to the lab, because after this week, I won't need it for a while anyway, as that's the foot that's having surgery. But that means I'm going to have to call the office and 'fess up tomorrow. I'll have to say that I need him to see me this week and send off this orthotic now, because I can't come in the following week. Even if I could just drop it off and tell him what I want done to it, I would have to go back in to try it on when it was ready. Honesty = always the best policy.
So there's the lift (the orthotic lifting my foot into correct position), and the lie . . . now for the luxury--I bought new shoes! The typical foot-owner cannot understand why this is so exciting, but to me, it's a major event. I've been trying to buy new shoes to replace my worn-out Born shoes for a LONG time. But when I go to the shoe store, everything just HURTS my feet, and I end up going home dejected and empty-handed. I was down to one pair of shoes I could wear--my tennies--and I was wearing them even to work with my professional clothes. Then I found out that Dr. Andrew Weil, one of my favorite health gurus, has worked with a podiatrist to develop a line of shoes! Here's the link: http://www.weilbeing.com/. And here's the video showing how they work: http://www.weilbeing.com/technology/. So I found a Dillards nearby that carries them and grabbed a friend whose feet also hurt, and we went comfort shoe shopping. By the time we had run those clerks ragged pulling every shoe in the store out of the back in two or three different sizes, I had found TWO pair of shoes that felt wonderful! One pair are Weil shoes, and the other are Borns. Here are the ones I got:

My New Weil Balance Shoes

My new Born Quinces

8 days until surgery!  And I have LOTS to do to get ready.  Better stop blogging and get to work!

Ambulation--it's a beautiful thing

I recall learning in elementary school science class that animals are distinguished from plants by the trait of locomotion--we can move around.  As I get closer to my surgery, I've been ruminating a lot on the gift of free locomotion.  I like to go, go, go, and it's hard to keep me down.  Although I am really looking forward to the great excuse to chill in my recliner and read/watch movies for a week, after that it's pretty safe to say I'll be restless, and I'll need to return to work.  Working with multiple grade levels at my school  means I can't just sit at my desk and prop my foot.  I'm all over that building on a typical day.  I dread the thought of crutches, so I did what modern man does when confronted with a problem--I Googled it.  (Do we still have to capitalize Google when we use it as a verb??)
Who knew there were such interesting crutch alternatives out there?  I've found two I really like.  One sounds cool and fun, and the other seems more practical.  I'm currently trying to decide which has the greater likelihood of causing me to fall and break my neck (Julie Grace)!  So, Faithful Readers, let's put it to a vote.  Check out the videos in the following 2 posts and then cast your ballot.  Which one should I get?  Cast your vote in the polling place to the right. 

The iWALKFree hands-free crutch

The Amazing RollerFoot