i am going on my 7th surgery!!!! - Foot Problems Message Board

debbie g · 04-29-2008, 02:56 PM

i have been posting about my dislocated toe surgery and i could never understand why i didnt have pins in my toe. well, i saw my dr today and the surgery did not work. i knew it all a long. i now have to have another surgery with pins, but i have to wait until mid june. he will have to make an incision under my toe called a tendon transfer. i think i read on these boards a long time ago that under the toe does not give good results. september will be 4 years of different foot surgeries. this will be #7. i forgot to ask the dr about the results of this new surgery because i was in shock. my toe is too swollen for him to work on it and that is why i have to wait until june. there goes another summer without tennis or running. i called my husband after the appt. and told him the news. he wants to take me on a vacation to anywhere i want to go. i would like to think this is so wonderful, but where does one go when walking is terribly painful! sandals are not supportive enough. anyway, has anyone ever heard of this surgery and do you know about the incision under the toe? i think i need all the emotional help i can get. how much can a person take.

lcweiden3132 · 04-29-2008, 04:11 PM

Girl, get thee on a cruise baby!! All you have to do is sit, look out at the ocean, drink and eat...and you don't have to leave your room! That's what I'd do

I'm so very very sorry you have to endure yet another surgery. I don't even know the words to say.....so very sorry. I hope this one will be the last.

Teddie2 · 04-30-2008, 06:26 AM

Debbie I have been following your posts and I am so sorry to hear this.. do you trust this doctor? If he did not do it right the first time.. have you thought of getting a second opinion or at least thinking of having someone else do the surgery. Hard to trust someeone who did not do it right the first time.
I know nothing of the surgery you are scheduled for but in the meantime, reseach get all the info you can.
Having been unable to play tennis for the last two yrs because of surgery for tennis elbow and then my foot, I understand the frustration of not being able to do the things you love. I still feel that now from time to time.. feel bad that my friends and husband are going to tennis camp and I cannot go. But I have tried in the meantime to turn that into doing things I might never have done before..I took a stained glass class that I had always wanted to do..
I think sometimes we have to make lemonade out of lemons and make the best out of the moment.. hard to see when you have struggled for so long.
SO go on a cruise like icweiden suggested and be waited on.. and get your pshye prepared for another surgery and recovery. I wish you the very best and will monitor your progress....think about that second opinion..

jean2003 · 04-30-2008, 07:42 AM

I am so sorry for you. Please get a second opinion. If it wasn't done right the first time, I think that I would be afraid to have it done by the same doctor. We don't think how important our feet are to us until we have surgery. The recovery time is so long, just for what a person thinks is a simple procedure.
Jean

sorefootsophie · 05-01-2008, 12:15 AM

Debbie, Time for me to chime in! I have been following your posts and, in fact, all of the posts but do not post so much right now. However, I DID have a flexor tendon transfer and since you asked...I will speak up! I THINK?? that since your doctor is taking the plantar approach, he must be doing a plantar plate repair or at least be checking your plantar plate. I had my flexor tendon transfer done as part of my 2nd metatarsal shortening osteotomy. The flexor digitorum longus originates at the middle posterior surface of the tibia. It attaches to the distal phalanges of the 2nd through 5h toes. I don't want to explain too much of what you probably already know. BUT....the toes (2-5) have two joints the pip joint (proximal interphalangeal joint) and the dip joint (the distal interphalangeal joint) and they join the metatarsal at the metatarsal phalangeal joint (MPJ). I am explaining this because I need you to know that after the flexor tendon transfer, the toe will bend at the MPJ but not at the DIP or PIP joints! So the toe itself will move up and down but it will not bend in the toe joints themselves.

If your plantar plate is ruptured, you will need to have it repaired...hence the plantar approach. I did not have any pins. I did not have a plantar appraoch as I did not have a problem with the plantar plate. My 2nd met was shortened and the flexor tendon transfer was done to keep the toe from becoming floppy! Since I had an osteotomy at the same time, I was NWB.

I'm sorry you have to go through yet another surgery. You need to remember that foot surgery is an art. The biggest hope is to relieve pain. My foot is back to 90% and that is GREAT for me as it was only at about 30% before! I needed 4 surgeries but I am so very thrilled with the outcome. Even if your doctor is aggressive, you can shoose to take the laid back approach. There is no hurry (hahaha, I never would have believed that) but just get this done....take your time healing....keep a positive attitude (this IS the hardest but I have been there myself) and things WILL get better!

I can answer any questions you have but I am here tomorrow and then away from computer access until early next week. I would love to help in any way I can! Just try and remain positive....it is sometimes the biggest hurdle to overcome. Sophie