This is my third thread since I've signed up! Firstly, I would like to thank everyone one on the boards who have offered me advice and support :-)
I had my surgery yesterday- I can't explain how nervous I was but the funny thing was I was excited but cracking jokes throughout the whole time!
I arrived at the hospital at 7:30am, I was promised EMLA cream to numb my hands for the IV. The nurses were cracking jokes saying it's for children and that they will give it to me. I went to the toilet and when I returned he said they didn't have any and I asked if they were joking and he wasn't and I was like you HAVE to find it cos I need it!! and he said ok, and he found some, still cracking the jokes that it's for children so I said did you have to go to the children's ward! I aslo asked that if it was hair gel to shut me up -the placebo effect!!!
When it was time to be wheeled in for the surgery I was laughing and crying at the same time and they were laughing too-they were saying you are having fun- I was not sedated, nor did I take any drugs on that day!!I asked I won't see any tools in there will I!!! Once inside, I asked them if they've got the black and decker ready and of course they were laughing at me. I was petrified of the IV injection, and the nurse said he is gentle-and I thought for a moment and asked 'how do you now!!!' (In a jokey tone) she was stunned and laughed and thought for a moment and said I can tell by their faces. I was shaking like mad throughout and giving them the cheek! When they injected the IV I was 'ouching' and giggling at the same time-very weird!!!I then said see, did you see my face!!!? Prior to that my anesthesitist(sp) said if the he can't get the IV in he'll gas me and I said can you just gas me!!!??
Anyway, they got the IV and the EMLA worked perfectly, so good, it definitely wasn't hair gel. I was very stiff from nerves, they the put a gas mask which really helped and the feeling was great, I fell asleep!!! I then woke up in the recovery room, full of questions and very very happy, I awoke ten miniutes after surgery and I did not feel sick, I felt fantastic, like nothing happened! Then I was wheeled back into the ward, and I had a big smile and the nurses were laughing-again, ten minutes later I was eating and drinking, my foot ached but no pain what so ever, I walked to the toilet and the nurse was shocked she said 'she's quick'! Since after the surgey while in hospital , everytime the docotors, surgeons, and nurses saw me or walked past me, they were laughing at me...I am very curious!!!!!! I hope I didn't talk mumbo jumbo!!
Everyone knew I was a real chicken and all were so friendly and humorous, just before it was time to go home at 2:30pm, I had to have the IV out and was a big chicken again, pulling faces before they even pulled it out and another doctor found out I had the EMLA and also said ain't that for kids!!! I said 'oh Be quite!' The staff were fantastic, I couldn't ask for a better team, I hope they will all be there when I have to have my second foot done.
So, today is saturday, the day after my surery, I have taken a total of three dosages of mediaction- ibrofen 200mg and co-codamal 8 500mg-there is no need to take them cos I have a local block, but I just do in case. My foot feels weird but there is no pain. I am not to walk on it for tree days but must excersie it, such as twisting my ankle around-although I do kinda walk on my heel to go to the toilet and it feels very uncomfortable but no pain- i get paranoid. I am to walk on my heel for six weeks. I have a surgical shoe with a flat heel, so it's difficult to walk on the heel. I go back in two weeks for an xray and to have the stitches removed. Oh and I am bandaged with a splint up to the high-step. I am not really looking forward to walking on my heel for six weeks as well as being off from work for that much time but we will see.
I forgot to mention that I had a chevron osteomy, and the tendons etc were corrected too. I have no pins nor screws which may explain why I have to walk on my heel for six weeks. I ope it is a success and everythig goes smoothly and also my next surgery ill be as good as this
so yeah, sorry for the long post, any questions please feel free to ask
Thank you debbie :-) I sure hope it does, plus I am expected to be back at work in 4 weeks time but will be working from home from teh second week!
I must say the evenings are slightly worse but not in terms of pain, just the tension and uncomfortableness. It is very hard to heel walk on from mid afternoon because it is always elevated and hardly used! I am stricly following the drsrs orders! It's hell to walk up the stairs though!
Congratulations, Dark Light. I wrote you a nice chatty message last night. When I clicked the Submit Reply button, I got sent to a window which said that HealthBoards was doing maintenance on the site for about twenty minutes. I assumed that it would post my message when the maintenance was done, but that was obviously not the case. I don't have the time or heart to rewrite it today, but wanted to tell you that I'm thinking of you and hope you continue to do well.
Thank you for your reply! I wasn't feeling too positive yesterday because I think the anesthetic began to wear off, although there was no pain, it sure did ache and burn! Ice is a god send! Today isn't so bad, a lil achey (sp) but nothing intolrabale. I just hate the boredom and the fact that I cannot get up and do what I want to do!
I am struggling to walk on my heel, I can't seem to bent my foot up to walk on it, it seems to be very stiff, but not very swollen becasue I haven't walked on it since the surgery, only when I need to use the stairs. I am trying to exercise the ankle so I can bend it to walk on the heel of the foot, as I do not want to get DVT!
Last night I slept on the sofa because I couldn't bare climbing the stairs and this morning when I got up to walk, I felt very faint and was sweating, I think I need to get up more!
I did try going up and down the stairs on my bum but I struggled to get myself up, I didn't want to put any weight on the pu, as you would when you get up! I really hate the stairs and worry about knocking/bending the bone out of place since i don't have any screws or pins in there!
Kathjack, I still appreciate the kind gesture, many of times that has happened to me, so no worries :-) I really can't wait for that acheing (I can't spell!!) feeling to go so I feel more confident to walk on it, it has only been 3 days since the surgery so I will be patient for now! But I do have to say I am glad I only had one foot done!
I think the aches makes me feel a bit sick though. Oh well, its better than pain! I have to have my stitiches out in 12days-2 weeks, I hope I feel better than this!
Well, I am 4 weeks post op and feeling relatively good. I had bilateral chevron bunioectomy's so getting around has certainly been a challenge! I have managed to spend most of my time sitting on my behind with my feet elevated and my family has waited on me hand and foot! No pun intended...I did go to the grocery store last week cause i was feeling so good and figured out that was a bad idea after the fact. I was swollen and throbbing by the end of my trip! That brought me right back to the reality of the situation i must say. My doc removed stitches and pins last week and I found that was not as big of deal as i had made it out to be in my head!!! Anyway, just thought I'd drop in and say keep your chin up. I think the boredom has been the hardest thing for me so far>
I hope I am not throbbing too much after four weeks, actually the only thing I hope is that my bone hasn't moved out of place and the surgery is a success, especially after trying to climb the stairs on my heel, because the stairs aren't wide enough to get a whole foot on there! I sometimes wish I had a screw in there I am so so scared of it moving out of place, I go in for a check up next friday- xrays and stitiches removed.
I am a bit worried because I struggle very much to bend my foot up to walk on my heel, it feels very stiff and again I am worrried of moving the bone. Is it normal to feel stiff? I Tend to use both crutches and lift the left foot above the ground. I also feel sick and light headed if I stand for too long, I am off the pain meds. In fact today was the best because it didn't even ache, but it's now 4:30pm so it's begining to ache just a little and the nerves twitch every now and then! Very annoying! But please tell me the ankle/foot stiffness is normal!
I don't think we have those medications, and I've never been in pain thankfully, it just aches. Last night I only got one hours sleep, my foot came to life! It was twitching and I could feel the nerves going crazy-again no pain, but very annoying and uncomfortable, I did take an Ibuprofen, but that didn't help, and I didn't want to take the co-codamol. Today is good, I was able to stand for longer without the feeling of blood rushiing too soon and I didn't feel so sick. I was able to bend my foot a bit to walk on the heel, but to do that it's difficult to bend the knee, otherwise I feel that I'll bare weight on the front of my foot.
I was wondering if the bone moved out of place, how could I tell, would I be in pain?
Also, when I go to bed, do I have to elevate my foot, it's really uncomfrtable. Also, can I sleep with my foot laying on the side (Non-surgical side) rather than upright?
I have to say each day is different and it does get better, but as for my butt, that's another story!!!
dont spend alot of time worrying about your bones being out of place. I had the unfortunate pleasure of tripping and stepping on the top of my left foot with the surgical shoe on! I dont know if you have those over there but here they are really stiff soled shoes so that you cannot bend your foot. I smashed the front end of my foot with the heel of the other foot! Right on the surgical site boy, i was in alot of extra pain but went to get it xray and found that i had done nothing but bruised myself. having said that, did you say you have no pins just stitches??? I am still having that nerve tingling thing just more randomly than at first. Sleeping is a whole other ball of wax. I am a side sleeper as I see most people on the forum are, and having pins in the instep of both feet had made sleeping almost impossible! the pins and stitches have since been removed and now i have been given permission to get my feet wet Im very excited to finally take a shower!
Thank you for replying:-) I feel a lot better inregards to the bones not moving out of place! I was extra cautious because, yup, I have no pins nor screws, so there isn't much to keep the bones in place but it was a chevron procedure. The worry was caused from trying to walk up the stairs on my heel. Now I just walk up and down on my bum and my mum lifts me up to stand to avoid putting weight on the foot!
I am really sorry to hear what happened to you, I cannot bare to think of the pain and worry it caused you, but I am glad you did no damage :-) Congratuations on getting your stitiches out, mine are due out next week. Did it hurt lol? I was wondering though, they say you can get your foot wet after they are out, but don't they re-bandage your foot? I cannot imagine being two weeks after surgey without bandages!
As for the nerves, that is my biggest problem at present, at night it drives me crazy and keeps me awake. I am so tired of sleeping with my foot on a cusion and not being able to sleep on my side or stomach, this has caused me to have a back ache! My little toe, is worse than the surgey site, they have crammed/squased it in the bandages, and there is nothing i can do otherwise it will loosen the bandages! I can't wait for Friday to arrive! I can't wait to walk on my heel properly either! Yesterday I was so frustrated and angry that I couldn't simply walk on my heel!
Excuse me for interrupting but I'm new to this and having my dbl bunion Jan 3. What I find hard to understand is this sleeping thing. Everyone says you have to sleep on your back. Why? If you're on your side and soft pillows are all about and elevating your feet, is it pain that keeps you on your back? Or is it the elevation height? Is it the "rule" to keep toes pointed up? Or is it just plain impossible to get comfortable?
I had double bunionectomy 2.5 weeks ago, I am able to sleep on both sides with elevated feet. It will feel weird when I quit elevating them. Anyway
good luck on your upcoming surgery. What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger.
Excuse me for interrupting but I'm new to this and having my dbl bunion Jan 3. What I find hard to understand is this sleeping thing. Everyone says you have to sleep on your back. Why? If you're on your side and soft pillows are all about and elevating your feet, is it pain that keeps you on your back? Or is it the elevation height? Is it the "rule" to keep toes pointed up? Or is it just plain impossible to get comfortable?
Hi Pohtr, welcome to the boards :-)
well, I have been sleeping on my side, but, for me, when I do sleep on my side, the nerve in my little toe would go crazy, this is because it is squashed in the bandages. I was also unsure and worried about the blood traveling to one side of my foot and wasn't sure if it should remain at the bottom (Heel) to prevent swelling and DVT. Also another paranoid thought was that if my foot was leaning on the side, the big toe would lean towards my other toes and would return back to it's normal position, hence moving the bone slightly out of place! I am just a big worrier!
Dennis62, you lay on both sides! Do you lean your foot on the surgical side??!!
Does anyone know when it is ok to sleep with an unelevated foot?
Just a quick update: It is now 7 days after the surgery and yesterday was so much better, my foot was quite, hardly any aching and nerve jumping! I slept much better and I did wake up with a bit of aching, but went back to sleep, although I do have the flu and I am taking Neurofen cold and flu tablets! Still finding it difficult to heel walk. I avoided the stairs yesterday and remained in my room!
Any questions, feel free to ask :-)
Last edited by Dark_Light; 11-09-2007 at 02:31 AM.
Dark Light, congratulations on your surgery, it sounds like you are doing well. I would think that the tingling you feel should lessen as time goes by, that's been my experience after three surgeries.
I agree with Debbie, go up and down on the stairs on your behind. It's safer, if you happen to lose your balance or something, you would do some serious damage to yourself.
I will be having my stitches removed on Monday, and noticed you said you get yours out next week. The best way I can describe it is uncomfortable. It's not really painful, you feel some slight pressure as the thread is pulled through your skin. I think that in my case, my brain tells me that this procedure looks gross and it should hurt, and I work myself into believing that. I try not to watch while it's going on, but I can't help it, I watch as they pull them. It's over pretty quick though, it doesn't take them long if they are good at it, and most people who do it are good at it, they know it's uncomfortable so they try and do it quickly.
Good luck next week, and I hope you have a good recovery.
I had severe bunions. Both of them have been repaired. It required the second toe bone cut on the l foot and the great toe, second toe and third toe bone cuts on the r foot.
I had external fixation devices, which are brutal, on both great toes and internal screws on the other toes.
I was told to sleep in the cam walker which is just huge almost up to the knee.
I am slender and slight of bone so I skipped that (sleeping in the cam walker) and just slept on either side or my back as I pleased.
When one is laying flat in the bed, the whole body is really in a perfect fluid balance.
One really does not have to worry about elevating the foot.
When one is sitting up in the bed, then one should elevate the foot.
Just think of your body position.If I had slept in the cam walker, I would have gone insane!!!!!!
All went well, and I am just fine and my feet are great!
When I was sleeping on my back, I had a small, fleece material, rolled into a cylinder and placed that at the heel of the surgerized foot to keep the foot from tilting downward. It just made my foot much more comfortable.
I bought the material at a fabric store. Trust me that little cylinder was invaluable through both surgeries. No sewing necessary. Just roll it up.
Thank you Debbie, I have continued to walk up and down on my behind! Although, I did kind of master coming down the stairs without putting hardly any weight on the left foot! Still I like to be safe!
Thank you dbgoalie. Good luck with getting your stitches out, let us know how you got on, well I will visit your thread! I can’t wait to get mine out; but I am still nervous! My foot and nerves are very sensitive. If I gently run my finger under foot that is padded and bandaged, I can feel it! So I’ll be looking away and gripping the bed! I also have the same frame of mind concerning what the brain tells you and the actuality of it! I really can’t wait to get the x-rays either, to put my mind at rest, even I though I have been told not to worry about the bone moving out of place (I have no screws, pins or anything in there). It’s just that during the first 3 days of surgery I heel climbed up the stairs and I feel that I put my foot under a lot of strain (trying to lift the foot upwards to heel climb).
Cosmic1, thank you. Your surgery was complex, making mine look very minor! But I am glad you are happy with your feet and that it was worth the while.
I couldn’t imagine sleeping in a cam walker, it’s so bulky, it’ bad enough sleep with the foot!. I too am slim, in fact, at the moment my surgery foot feels too heavy for my leg. Also, my left leg looks like a match stick and it’s only 8 days after the surgery! I need to get the muscle back soon J I haven’t really used the leg or put weight on the foot since the surgery!
The body fluid theory makes sense plus I lay on one pillow, I sort of sleep on my side, left side, but done feel comfortable to turn my foot. I will try rolling my blanket and doing what you described, because my foot does pull down and again I am worried if the bone moving out of place or away from the joining bone that is yet to fuse together!
I have been thinking though, more so since I have had the surgery, those who had their stitches out in two weeks, and were then were able to walk in a sneaker/trainer, isn’t that dangerous, because the bones have not yet fused together? I won’t be able to bare full weight until after 6 weeks! I’ll be in a Velcro surgical sandal for 6 weeks and probably still using crutches still!
Anyway, I’ll give an update! So I am eights post op, and so far each day has been different, it gets worse first and then better. Today was good, but it feels a little tight and heavy, and I can feel small sparks around the bone where it was cut. It’s still gets hot, but the throbbing is very modest. In fact the foot has never cooled down and I never needed to cover it! Still can’t bend it upwards to heel walk, but I can rotate the foot around the ankle and move/flip it up and down gently. I would love to clean it!!! Don’t think I’ll be able to do that for a while even after the stitches come out, as it will be bandaged up again! I would love to strengthen my leg again because it is very very weak.
As for sleeping, I can fall asleep easily but for the past three nights I have woken up at 1am. The flu is getting better also. The swelling has been minimal from day one, you wouldn’t even notice the swelling, this is because I always, 24/7, elevate my foot.
Been off the pain meds for about 3 days now, I never took them regularly, it was only to calm the aches.
As the hours pass during the day, my foot begins its work and I do feel a lot going on in there! Sparks, nerves and bone work, I hope it’s all good! I pray the surgery has been a success.
Anyway questions, please ask J
Sorry for such a long post but I feel this is the only place to vent!
Thank you
Gee, having the flu at a time like this. That is just not fair! At least you're feeling better. You're at about a week now. Have you been able to be up long enough to make yourself lunch? Or wipe a counter?
What's DVT & pu?
thanks
Re: Had Bunion Surgery on 2nd Nov 2007 
Re: Had Bunion Surgery on 2nd Nov 2007 
boy, i was in alot of extra pain but went to get it xray and found that i had done nothing but bruised myself. having said that, did you say you have no pins just stitches??? I am still having that nerve tingling thing just more randomly than at first. Sleeping is a whole other ball of wax. I am a side sleeper as I see most people on the forum are, and having pins in the instep of both feet had made sleeping almost impossible! the pins and stitches have since been removed and now i have been given permission to get my feet wet
Im very excited to finally take a shower! 
