I got to see my new feet yesterday!! I'm very pleased with my results. It was such a weird mix of excitement and awe (because the shape of them is totally new, cute, tiny, *and straight!* for the first time).. and then the gross out factor of seeing the stiches and essentially all the colors of the rainbow within my bruises.. yikes!! It was really affirming to see my dr, though- he was very pleased with my range of motion and how quickly I'm recovering. I'm wiggling my toes now whenever i'm sitting around, to help circulation and keep my ROM. I can actually walk around a little now on my own.. without crutches, for 10 minutes or so till they start to swell a bit.
Like Sharon, I too have really enjoyed these boards- but I feel the need to say that I don't think that "we" (as a collective) represent an unbiased sampling of people who have suffered or gotten treatment for having foot problems. Afterall, the subject is called foot problems, not foot successes.. and i do think it tends to attract people who are having a more difficult time with their experience/ surgery. I hope I'm not offending anyone here, it's just that the fear factor is such a huge thing with approaching surgery...and sometimes I think these boards tend to fan the flames of fear, not intentionally.. just because that is our honest experience. The people who have really smooth, positive surgeries don't tend to stick around and answer the posts. Anyway, really hope I haven't ****ed anyone off- that's not my intention!
If you are someone who's considering surgery, by all means, utilize these boards & take the positivity and support that is available here- but take the other stuff with a grain of salt, keeping in mind that you are only hearing a few select experiences.. not necessarily an accurrate or similar scenario as to what your own experience will be like.
Above all, keeping a positive attitude and being in a good place mentally, physically, and emotionally is the greatest tool in your own recovery.
Megan,
Sounds like you are really doing well and that's great! I know what you mean about seeing feet for the first time and that sense of awe! My left foot had looked so gross for so long that I catch myself staring at it all the time. I TOTALLY did not get the surgery for cute feet though!! I did it because the pain was terrible 24/7 and keeping me from some of my favorite activities. I just want to put that out there for anyone who might want to do foot surgery for cosmetic reasons. THis surgery and recovery is no fun! BUT, not that I'm ****ed or anything like that, I do disagree with your statement that sometimes the boards fan the flames. We all want to hear that good and bad experiences and we all should tell the GOOD AND BAD experiences. Some people seem to really have an easy time with recovery but we all must keep in mind that not all bunionectomies are the same. Between 1-10 mine was about a 7 as far as severity and what all my doc had to do. Lisa's was definilty a 10!! So we all will heal and recover differently. There is absolutly no way I would have been able to wiggle my toes or put any weight on my foot at 1 week post op nor would my Doctor have wanted me to. A person reading these boards needs to hear all experiences so he or she will know they could either walk fairly soon or be off there feet for 6 weeks hobbling with crutches like me. That is why I love the boards so much. There was such a range of emotions and experiences with this surgery. This poor girl from Louisiana bragged about how well she was doing after the first week (I am not saying you are bragging!!!!) and she started doing waaaay too much too soon and landed in the hospital, she screwed her foot up bad and had to have more surgery. Plus, some of us don't get the fancy boot where you can walk on heel. Anyway, my point is that anyone reading the boards doesn't need to take all that is said with a grain of salt. They just need to read them all, find a doctor they trust, ask lots and lots of questions, get help, and take good care of themselves if they have the surgery. Then they can write on these boards what their experience was just as you have. Again, im glad you are doing so well! And, I am super glad to be 12 weeks post op!!!LOL
Sharon
Glad your new feet are just as you hoped, and glad your recovery is going so well!
I take NO OFFENSE with your post or thought. I agree that we may see more long-time posting from people who have had unexpected results (and we all know that any surgery entails risk, and results may not be as expected). I think most of us would expect that, since a person may be searching for answers., I feel that the MAJORITY of the posts are not negative or frightful, but rather more “venting” of the long period of recovery that people are or have faced. Megan, your only a little more than a week post op, and you or I can not possible know how we really will be doing 3, 4 6, or 12 weeks from now, or what we may be posting. ( I hope it will be 100% positive)
I feel like my recovery has been good so far as well, and foot number 2 is already scheduled for next month, and I find this board invaluable in knowing how others are doing or have done in the past. Reading all the archives, it appears to me that we do have a good “collective” group, some with easy, text book recoveries and others with not such good outcomes.
All good feedback. I agree that the collective group of people here is fairly positive overall. I can only speak for myself, but my own experience reading these boards made me anticipate a much harder journey than I've had so far. (Maybe that is simply because *I* was afraid.. so I was reading fear in the posts.. who knows )
Yep, I'm only 1 week post-op.. a week from now I could be biting my tongue.
I was told my bunions were fairly severe. My big toes pushed into my second toes and I had occasional arthritis. Given this, I think I have had particularly good results so far. I've also been taking glucosanine & chondroitin, which is supposed to help rebuild the cartillage in the joint. (Who knows if that's been helping, but I figure it can't hurt)
In any case, I am doing so much better than thought I would be. I was thinking 2-3 weeks in bed with no activity at all.. and my reality is that I can already walk around and move my feet really well.
So, everyone thanks for the continued sharing, venting, feedback.. and for being mature enough to agree to disagree
The thing about these boards, whether it's sharing how happy we are with our new feet, or venting about trying to get into the bathtub or go up steps on crutches, is that there are others who are experiencing exactly the same thing. Where else can we vent with so much detail? I'm not going to call my perfect-footed friends and vent or even tell them how much ROM I have in my toe now - they're just not going to get it. These boards (especially Sharon!) saved my life in those first weeks.
Yes, we can all agree to disagree, but what exactly are we disagreeing about? I don't understand. I'm not being snippy or anything - I honestly don't get it.
Most of us don't post about fear; if you read closely, you'll see that it's usually someone's very first post that has the words, "scared", or "so scared", or "nervous wreck" in it. The posts that answer these people usually just share their experiences. I'm not going to lie to anyone and say that I was up and walking after a week, just so they won't be afraid. All I can do is relate my own experience, but when I read a post by someone considering foot surgery and thinking they'll just be able to get up and go to work in a week, you bet I'm going to tell them to wait and see how the operation turns out and what their doctor says. Is that fanning the flames of fear? This week, a woman posted saying she'd be having a double bunionectomy on Friday and would have help lined up for every night EXCEPT her first night after her surgery. How many exclamation points did Sharon use when answering her? There's fear and then there's information.
Since every single case is different, there's no way there can just be one thread called, "Bunion surgery is easy!" It is easy for some, and difficult for others. If all the posts I'd read before my surgery were about how easy it was, I wouldn't have taken so much time off, or made sure my fiance could be here for me, etc. I would've been in a lot of trouble later on, not to mention being totally ****ed off for being misled.
I don't know, maybe you weren't even referring to me - but I had a really tough time. Easier than I thought sometimes, and more difficult in other ways. I wasn't a complainer. My cast created a big problem and I got it taken care of. I'd never had a cast before, now I've had four and I can share the experience if someone asks.
I'm in week 12. I'm still working on my ROM in my big toe. It's getting there, and I can now go down steps with alternating feet, (but only if I put my foot on the step with the toes hanging off), and my ankle swells every time I walk on it. The muscles in my foot (mid-foot, not where the bunion was) hurt big-time when I walk on it too much and I'm getting frustrated. I have to do my other foot next month. That said, I'm very happy with my surgery and am doing my exercises as much as possible, all day long.
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