Hi everyone,
It was sweet to see some of you check on me. Well I had the surgery on Oct. 1st. My foot was pretty number till last night. I had been taking pain killers every 4 hours to avoid the pain. And it worked until last night it made me throw up so I did not take one so in the morning my foot was on fire. So I took another pain killer this morning and I'm fine. I got that cold water machine and it's AWESOME for anybody who has the option to use one do it!! I sleep with it on all night and it just keeps my foot cold no changing anything except maybe 3 times a day my husband has to put ice in it. That's it! It's a life saver!! Seriously.
Otherwise don't really have much pain at all.
After my surgery I really felt sick from the anetesia and felt horrible but once that was over I felt okay.
I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks for checking in. I have a post op visit on Tuesday ...kinda scared to see my foot!!!

Hi cinderella,
Hi!!...gosh it was so good of you to give us an update.
Glad to hear that you are doing ok...am sorry to hear that you had problems from the anesthetic though..oh, well...that is behind you now...and that is good!
I was nervous the first time that I saw my foot after the surgery also...the first thing that I noticed was that in spite of all of the ugliness...no bunion!...that is was got my attention. You take it easy...and let us know how you are doing when you get the chance...you are on your way to recovery now...every week gets better.



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~~Maya~~

Hi Cinderella, I'm glad you're doing better also. I'm scheduled for my 2nd bunion surgery on the 16th and I am thrilled. I know what to expect from the first surgery, maybe that's why; although I wasn't a bit nervous for the first. I'd been suffering for such a long time and now I know that soon both my feet will be bunion free and straight (like a normal foot should be). Follow doctors orders and you'll do just fine. Where did you get the cold water machine and exactly what is it? I'm interested. Good luck to you and thanks for any info.

First do any of you think its possible to ice too much? With this cold water machine I basically am keeping my foot cool ALL day long. Is that bad? Should I give it a break? It's not cold enough to hurt my skin or anything.
The doctor offered it to me. And is letting me use it for as long as I need. It's this small cooler that you put ice and water in. Then you plug a cord into the wall and there is also a dial to make the water colder going to your foot. I paid 75 bucks for this sleeve that they put under my hard cast - sticking out is two tubes that I connect to the tubes coming from the cooler. In the sleeve there are tubes all through it so the cold water runs through the tubes keeping your foot cold. It's cool.
Oh by the way my doc had be take bextra - an anti inflamatory before and after surgery. I think that helped.

Let me know what you guys think about too much cooling

I'm glad you're moving right along post-op, Cinderella.

What's the name of that machine? Where did you get it?

Sometimes, I'd love nothing more than to have my foot be cold.

But you're a better woman than I am. I don't do well with cold feet when I'm trying to sleep!

Hi Cinderella,

When I used the ice packs I used them non stop for my waking hours...so, I say go for it.

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~~Maya~~

Hi Cinderella, So glad you are doing so well. I take Bextra for my toe right now. I have surgery in Dec. I hadn't heard of an ice machine. I bet that does make it easier. Glad you are doing well, Keep us posted.
Polly

Sounds like a great machine, but there are dangers to icing all the time. Ice reduces swelling but it also cuts down on circulation. You need the circulation for healing. (Like with sports injuries they tell people to ice for a couple of days to kill pain and swelling, then switch to alternating ice and heat to get the healing started.) If I were you I'd transition to using the machine on and off so you get some blood flow. I'm on day 2 after surgery and my doctor said icing 20 minutes every two hours is a good amount.

Good wishes for your recovery, cinderella777 and all the rest of you who've just been under the knife!

[This message has been edited by CA Patient (edited 10-04-2003).]

I had surgery on sept 12 and was given the ice machine also. My physican said I could leave it on all of the time. If it started to bother me to turn it off every 1 1/2 hrs for 30min to give my leg a rest. I kept it on most of the time but 2-3times a day I shut it off for the 30 min.

I decided to not ice for a while because my foot is SO cold!! I think the blood needs to go back in my foot!! =) I will try icing again later today when my foot is warm again.

yes concidering that the tubes in the sleeve have cold water still in them it's ok not to ice. I think that my foot was completely numb!! I'm only gonna ice like 2 times a day now. the machine was great but I took advantage of it!! My foot is tingling now since I had no circulation!!!

cinderella777,if your only planning on using your ice machine 2times/day your foot may not get enough ice. Like I said before when the ice machine bothered me I would leave it on for 1 1/2 hr and off 30 minutes during the day and at night I left it on unless it woke me up and then I shut if off until the next time I woke up. If your unsure what your doctor wants you to do you may need to call him as they all have very different advice.

Hello, everyone! Time for me to put my 2-cents in regarding ice. I had bunion & hammertoe surgery 6/3. It was a Lapidus procedure, pretty aggressive surgery for very severe condition. I was in a hard cast from right after the surgery until about 3-1/2 weeks, give or take a day or so. My point: Basically, I did not ice! Before the surgery, I had been reading (on these boards) about icing the foot once it was done. Since I was stuck in the cast, I was concerned about ice not being able to reach the area, so I asked the Dr. about that on post-op visit 1. He said ice is simply a treatment to make you more comfortable. Not icing it really doesn't affect long-term healing, so don't worry about it. In fact, too much icing can damage the tissue and impede healing. Most important, he said, is to stay off the foot and keep it elevated. That, more than anything else, will keep the swelling down and help you heal. He said I could ice on & off once I was out of the hard cast, if I felt like it. By that time, as it turned out, there was no need. Now I am about 4 months post-op and have no swelling, not even at the end of the day. I get a little stiffness in the 2nd toe where the hammertoe was corrected if I get lazy about doing the toe exercises (bad me), but that's my only complaint at this point. Hopefully this will continue.
Be well,
Chris

Glad to hear you are doing as well as can be expected! I am having my surgery Mid November. Am getting a bit anxious but ready to get on with it!

okay i'm begining to think all this pain is not worth the surgery. Yesterday my foot started to hurt and my pain killers did not even help a bit. I cried most of the night. This morning I called the doc and he took my cast off which helped a little with the pain but not as much as I'd like. I'm so miserable!! When does the pain really go away? Is it just the first week that is like this and it will get better by next week? I'm supposed to go back to work next week too.
I'm so MISERABLE. Sorry to scare some of you but it really is so painful. I thought i was in the clear till yesterday's pain!!

Hang in there cinderella! Things change for me every day too and when I get past one hurdle it's on to the next. Two days ago the only pain I had was on my heel where the surgical boot was too tight and rubbed a raw spot. I was able to fix that myself and thought I was in pretty good shape. Then yesterday I woke up feeling like I had a nail through my foot-- a stabbing pain through the whole thickness of my foot. I don't know if it's possible, but I thought I was feeling the screw boring through the bone. I was on painkillers most of the day, with only most of the pain relieved. Then at night things got better so I tried going without the percocet and kept waking up. This morning the stabbing pain was gone but I've got this burning and stinging on the top of my foot-- now it seems like I'm feeling the incision wound and stitches and they're on fire.

I just keep reminding myself I'm taking my antibiotics, so my incision is safe from infection and these are probably the different pains of healing. I wish I didn't have to take the pain meds, but that's what they're there for.

Keep your chin up, I know there are miserable moments but you wouldn't have decided on surgery if things weren't pretty bad beforehand! Remember that having bunions sucks! I'm sure things will turn around for you soon!

[This message has been edited by CA Patient (edited 10-06-2003).]

Hi Cind,
Oh...I'm sorry that you are having so much pain..with each person it is different..the entire recovery process is very individual....it WILL get better!!..You said that you are out of the cast..what are you in now? Just keep that leg elevated...slow down.My goodness, you have to go back to work next week? Are you sure you are going to be able to do that? I guess you will know by then. Hang in there...feel free to vent in here..we're here and will listen and support you, ok?

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~~Maya~~

cinderella777--

I'm so sorry you are in such pain, even after seeing your Dr.
I don't know what kind of surgery you had, but this just goes to show you that you can't expect to mirror someone else's recovery. We are all different, our procedures are all different (even if we have the same surgery) and our surgeons are all different.
I truly had no pain after the first night. Just mid-level discomfort. And that first night was because my boyfriend kept moving in his sleep and it jiggled my foot every time. I got brief sharp tingly pain off and on after about the first week. Still get those sometimes along with some sharp bone pain, and it's been a month. Just part of the healing.
Maybe your Dr can prescribe a DIFFERENT pain med. We all react to those differently too. What works for one person, may not work for the next.
Please keep your head and spirits up. I know that's easy for me to say because I'm sitting WAY over here.
A change of pain med combined with a little passage of time could be all you need. Keep us posted.
We're always here for you to talk to.

crankyc--

I'm kind of surprised by what your Dr told you about icing. My Dr said it's very important to keep the swelling down because the more it swells, the longer the swelling will be a problem. Keep the swelling down in the first days of healing and it will be less of an issue weeks and months down the line. And ice packs help with swelling, along with the all-important elevation, of course. There is such a thing as too much icing, naturally. But in moderation I think it is very helpful.
But this is just more proof that Dr's are different and have different opinions.


Janet

Oh no I am worries now! It sounds like a good suggestion to change painkillers. Keep the ice going too! I am fortunate that I can have at least a month off work - for which I am very grateful. Be patient - but I know that is easier said than done!

Thinking of you....

HI everyone. Well i'm feeling much better but the discomfort still drives me crazy. Esp that I have small kids and can't spend alot of time with them. It totally sucks.
I stopped using my ice machine because it was dewing really bad and now that I have my cast off I can't get my dressings wet. So now I use ice packs inside sleeves...works well actually.
I was put in a removable cast but I don't wear it around the house. I know i'm supposed to but it's so heavy and sits right on my stiches. It hurts quite a bit. So i'm just real careful around the house. Think that's okay? I think I'm even gonna ask my doc if I can get a different type of boot that is less heavy.
I still don't know if all this pain is worth it but I guess I'm still early yet and when I see the foot totally better it will be. But for now I have no plans to get my left foot done.
I did though have alot of work done on my right foot. Bunion and tailor bunion. Had to have 3 screws too.

Hang in there Cind! I had a bunion and four hammertoes worked on 10/8 and every day I'm getting better. First few days were hell, but I'm at the point where I don't hurt as bad and I'm actually trying to get around more. I get tired easy, but the pain is more like a skinned knee at this point. Not wonderful, but liveable.

Let's see how I feel when the stitches come out tho http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/bang.gif