jprinz99

Dear Zer,

You have the right to be nervous and scared - any surgery can be a tough thing to deal with - let alone a biggie like you are facing. While I have not had a triple yet, it is in my mind as I face it down the road. Knock wood it will be in several years. I am getting transplant surgery (hopefully it takes and I can put off fusion for a few years) and am also getting nervous. It is my last option to try before fusion.

There is a lot of info on the web about triple fusion as well as some posts on this board (use the search feature). This is the limited info I know about triple fusion (after talking about it with my OS and PT):

After you are recovered and into rehab (VERY important) the PT will help you learn how to walk easier as your gate will be altered. PT will also work on strenthening other muscle groups that will "take up the slack" during walking, etc. My surgeon said most folks hate him initially after the surgery, but then decide it was well worth it after they get over that first month post op { just like with any foot surgery }You will not have much, if any, ankle joint movement. While this sounds horrid it gives you a solid and reliable foot/ankle. If you have arthritis/injury, pain and/or stability problems you'll appreciate what I am saying. Essentially they cause your ankle joint to become a one piece/solid unit. This gives stability and lessons/eliminates that joints pain.

An older patient spoke to me about it, he had it done to both feet (was done a long time ago) and it relieved his chronic pain. He was glad he did it as he could again walk and do normal everyday activities. He even golfs three times a week. He said it was a tough rehab but he got thru it. He said it was on par with his hip and klnee replacement surgeries. He can not do some things like running and jumping, but he said it was an acceptable trade-off. He does have occasional aching and some pain if he was on his feet a long time, but this was not a bad "pain" type of pain. He likened it to a full day of shopping and coming home needing to kick back in the lazy-boy, pu on his slippers type of thing. He eventually had some issues in other parts of the foot and his hip, but this was after many years. He told me high heels are "out", but he said he never cared wearing them anyway- ha ha

I hope all this info is correct - check it out, do some gogle searches (there are some excellent sites, but we cannot post links on this board) and read the fusion posts on Healthboards forum. I wish you the best and hope this is the answer to your problem. I don't know why you are having this done, but trust you have tried other remedies and feel confident in your surgeon. Remeber, a second opinion is never a bad thing if you are nervous or unsure in the slightest.

Hugs-
~Jane