Having bilateral bunionectomy , also bunionectomy on side of little toe, great toe fusion, and finally 2 hammertoe corrections. The bad thing is I have already had foot surgery multiple times. I had a pin to break off in my toe when it was being removed once and also when one of my toes was fused using a screw it managed to unscrew itself and was working itself out of my foot. I originally started out with two Keller bunionectomies due to halux rigidus. Then, several years later all sorts of things started happening and so here I am again facing surgery. I really believe I have the best doctor on my case now. My mother went down this same road years ago as did both of my brothers. So halux ridigus is definitely a hereditary thing. My question is: I am middle aged and have been through this NWB recovery with pins and etc several times. Can any of you please give me some suggestions to make it less boring? Also, I am not really good on crutches so can anyone give me helpful hints on that? Anything to make my sofa/bed stay more comfortable, more convienent, and less boring? Tv and reading get old. You would never believe I am a nurse and I am here begging for self-help ideas. I remember the very first time I had foot work done and I was actually looking forward to a little resting on the sofa/bed and watching tv and reading. By day two I was ready to be tied.....Asking for help....please

You're in a tough spot, there are no things that totally take away the boredom. I found this web site to be one of the best things to communicate with others shared experiences.
Other than that I got more cable channels and watched more old movies. I had friends bring over their favorite book. People volunteered to make me a dinner so I took them up on that and it provided something to look forward to. I exercised as much as possible from a prone position. I don't like talking on the phone much but that was a good outlet too.
Hope this surgery goes better than your past ones!

You are so right about these boards Runner. I have already become semi-addicted to them even before the surgery. I am sure my laptop will be of considerable help to me. I am wondering if you have any good "icing" hints. It seems I remember the ice bags always leaking previously. Any good ice techniques?

I would use an ice bag that the hospital gave me when I left (it was cool because it had straps on it to tie wherever I wanted) and that was good. I also would just double bag ice in two freezer strength baggies for the thinner layers, otherwise my foot didn't get cold enough. I would place the ice on top of my ankle as close to the bandages as I could. Behind the knee is a good option of you are bandaged quite high on your foot.

One other thing that really helped me was to keep a journal of what happened to me each day and how I was feeling and dealing with my concerns. It helped to be able to look back and see how much progress I was making. I had a second surgery only three weeks after the first bunionectomy and I looked at my journal often to reassure myself that the second foot was coming along as well as the first one had.

The diary idea is good. I wish I had kept a diary of all the other foot surgeries. I would remember exactly what to expect. But, what stands out vividly is how painful my feet were for the first couple of days. I see in some of the threads where several people have asked for nerve numbing procedures following surgery to cut down on pain. I have never had that before. I know all doc's have different ways to do things and have different expectations of their patients. I worked on ortho wing in hospital before and believe me they all expected the nurses to remember what they wanted but they all wanted different things. It was a no win situation. You would just have to do the best you could. Since I am new to the board is there any special way to get other posters to respond to threads.After surgeryI will be here seeking reassurance. Thank you so much for already responding. My pre-op visit is Tuesday and my surgery is the 21st. I live in ACC Basketball country and my surgery was scheduled for the 11th but that is the date of the ACC Basketball Championships so it was changed to the 21st. Could it be b/c my doc and surgery is at DUKE. My guess is Yes. At least I will have March Madness to keep me comfort. Thanks again Runner.

I sat around for about 5 mos. post three major foot surgeries.
The second foot was more than I could bear boring wise.
If you can drive, I found a great grocery store that was easy for me to access. I used the motorized scooters to kill some time in the store.
My husband would drive me to a park and he would walk the dog. I was able to have some refreshing scenery and elevate my foot in the car at the same time.

I found small frozen pea bags to be much more comfortable for icing. I also covered them in a cozy fleece bags for comfort. I did sew these easy to sew bags before the second surgery.

I am not young but I loved my crutches. I could move sooo much faster in them than anything else. They should be about one to two inches under the armpit and not right under the armpit. Also, since you will be wearing a cam walker or something make sure that the foot with the shoe is at the same height as the surgerized foot. I wore a clog which was easy to get on.
Also, the crutch is adjustable. I would adjust for the inside when I didnt have the clog on and for going outside when I did have the clog on.

I am soo cautious now because of the foot surgeries. I will take no chances on ice. That is because I now realize that anything that I break bone wise will take 6 wks to heal............ It is so nice to done with the surgeries which have turned out sooo well.
Good luck

Cosmic, Some very good ideas. I have heard of people using bags of frozen peas for ice bags. That sounds like a good idea b/c sometimes ice bags are hard to situate in exactly the right place and they are also heavy on the foot sometimes too. I like the idea of putting them in little fleece bags. I am also not young as you can tell by my sign-in name but I was so clumsy on crutches last time I thougth I was going to kill myself. Especially when I went down my sunroom steps to go outside. Dangerous, to say the least. I felt like I was an accident waiting to happen. The most common phrase around my house for several months was "Watch out for my foot". My precious grandaughter was saying her prayers one night and her mom said she asked God to Please not let anybody step on Nana's feet......I also liked your grocery store idea and just going for a ride in the car. I feel my walls in my house are going to become very very boring. Thank you so much for you input. And, also thanks for taking the time to respond.

having friends over also helps. if you are interested in any arts or crafts, that may be a good idea. i cant stand my 4 walls either and its almost 3 weeks for me. i had a previous foot surgery where recovery was a lot longer. i am an avid reader so i just finished a trilogy where each book was about 700 pages long. get outside of the house as much as you are able to. ask your grand daughter if she has any suggestions!

Now's a great time to discover scrapbooking if you haven't already. I did a little of it, but what I did mostly was organize my recipes and learn a few computer programs.... there are online tutorials that came with my computer. Also, as far as the computer goes - Every time I thought of something I wanted to read about, I'd just write it on a list and when I felt like spending some time on the computer, I'd take my list out and pick a topic and read about it. And then, of course, you always have us here on this board!

Hey now, badfeet51.... if your name means you're 51, that's not old! Especially once you have better feet..... You'll be dancing, right? Haha. I'm 50 and honestly, I feel great! You're having bunionectomy surgery, right? I'm not familiar so much with that, but I hope you do well!

I am also not young as you can tell by my sign-in name

Debbie G and Hey 19...Thanks for your replies and suggestions. I do love to read and have about 8 new books waiting for me. I hope the weather will be nice enough to sit outside on my deck some as I love fresh air and sunshine. I do like tv but just not all day. Hey 19, I am not too much into scrapbooking although I do have tons of photos that need organizing. That is a wonderful suggestion. I have had them basically "crammed" into several shoeboxes in a cabinet. I need to get some new albums beforehand . That's a great idea and it had not even entered my mind. Yes, the 51 indicates the age. This is not my first foot surgery and I remember being so miserable many times before. What type of ice bags did you two use? Cosmic suggested frozen peas and I have heard that is good. I have a couple of gel bags you can freeze but they don't stay cold to very long. Thanks for your support on this board. This board is just great. I have been reading all the different post and I feel like I already know some of you. My pre-op is tomorrow and my surgery the 21st. Please remember me and come back as I am sure I will continue to post.

debbie g....by the way, which triology were you reading? I love reading, and especially books in a series.

the books were written by penny vincenzi. they are from 2001 so they are paperbacks. i went to the book store today and bought 5 new books. its too hard to to go to the library and i need to fill my library with more books! good luck to you and just keep posting.

what types of anesthesia were all of you all given prior to your surgery. I am worried because my surgeon told me he planned to use proponal (the med they use for General anesthesia) in a small amt. to sedate me to numb my feet and then he planned to just use IV sedation. I sure hope I don't feel anything. Also, I do not know what he will give me for pain when I go home. What were some of the meds some of you were given. I have had a lot of foot surgery and the first three days were always pretty painful and after that OTC meds did just fine. I just hope he gives me something for the first three days. I guess I am just getting antsy. This is a very good surgeon from Duke University so I should be fine.

Anasthesia: They didn't tell me yet. I'm guessing it's local and IV sedative. I've had that for a 40-minute dental procedure, taking out all wisdom teeth, and for an endoscopy. Both times I have absolutely no memory. As far as I know, I was deeply asleep the entire time. With the dentist, (fentanyl and morphine), it was like a light was switched off. I passed out in the middle of a sentence and woke up with the rest of the sentence still in my mind, wondering why my mouth wasn't moving any more. Then I realized my mouth was numb, then I knew it was all over.

Trust me, with what doctors know about sensitization these days, the last thing they're gonna do is let you have pain during the procedure itself.

For my surgeries I had a blend of things that included valium (which explains why I was pretty upbeat after each surgery) and was in what is called "Twilight Sedation". It is low level and you are responsive to questions I believe but I don't remember any of it. It's an amnesiac. Anesthesia is so much better than in previous years that you should have no anxiety whatsoever about feeling any discomfort during the procedure [U]and[U] you won't be aware of what is happening while it is going on.
Vicodin is pretty common for post op pain management. I didn't have any problems with nausea or stomach upset although the other side effects are a bit uncomfortable.
I worried about the surgery much more than I needed to and it was only two days that were very uncomfortable... don't forget to stay ahead of the pain curve. Take your meds before it starts to hurt.