travel advice needed for after neuroma/possibly bunion surgery

06-07-2008, 04:25 PM

hello all, i tryed to post this last night, but it isnt on here so i will try again.
i have neuroma surgery in 10 days in another town. will stay nearby at my folks place for the 48 hours i must elevate my left foot. then i am to drive 4 hours to a friends. will visit with her for a couple weeks and she will help me while i am not mobile. then from her town to mine, is about a 9 hour drive home. for only the neuroma surgery i am not too worried, but if he decides i need bunion surgery, then the 9 hour drive home 10-14 days later concerns me. does anyone know what the advice is on this, or if anyone has experiences i would appreciate hearing them. my bunion is very mild. however, several days prior to my last cortisol shot i noticed swelling in a toe, and little bumps at the base of the toe that looked like bones. nothing showed on xray, so doc said the inflammed nerve probably was inflamming the surrounding tissues. the second toe is all misshapen now as it is pushed over towards the bunion, and crossing over. if i have shoes on, at work, i am always taking them off to uncross my toes. so this is why i think i may need the bunion taken care of. i am hoping the surgical podiatrist will agree with the fellow i have been seeing, that it is just inflammed from the nerve. sorry, i am terrible at 'condensing' these thoughts. any help appreciated. i leave in 5 days or so to drive down. Dee

06-07-2008, 05:26 PM

sit in the back seat on the passenger side and bring pillows and things to put your foot up on. If you can keep it elevated in the car, you'll be fine. Your bottom might not feel too good though. The other option is sitting in the back-middle seat with your foot up on the front console. The drive will probably take longer than usual so you can stretch up bit. I had to make a 4 hour drive the day after spraining my right ankle and the car ride forced me to sit with it up.

I have to fly 16 days after tailors bunion surgery (osteotomy on right and exostectomy on left) My brother is going to fly in so he can turn around and fly back with me. Should be fun...

06-08-2008, 12:34 AM

Oh dear, oh dear. problem is i AM the driver, going alone. my friend originally was going to be the driver on the way back with me in back seat as you say, but she says she cant get away now, some health problems with family. so i am on my own. it is my left foot getting surgery, and i have an automatic, so that part is ok

06-08-2008, 08:29 AM

If you just have the neuroma removed, you should be OK. You might want to stop a little more often than you normally would and walk a little to dissipate the swelling but it shouldn't cause any damage or set back your recovery to do the drive. As I said with mine, I drove 350 miles on the second day after my surgery and the 350 miles back 2 days later. It wore me out more than normal but that was about it.

06-08-2008, 11:09 AM

It is important to elevate the foot so that the tiny blood vessels can heal. I looked up Neuroma and it seems the surgical area contains very small blood vessels, nerves, and muscles and complications can occur. It is not so simple.
Do you know whether your doc plans the dorsal or plantar approach to the area?

Can you take the bus? That way you can sit with your foot up. Don't fly, that could cause swelling. (My doc said no flying for 4 months, but I had a different procedure.) Call your surgeon tomorrow and ask for advice: he knows the details of your surgery and expected recovery. The last thing you want is complications that necessitate another surgery.

06-08-2008, 12:47 PM

As clarification to my earlier posts - my incision was dorsal..only four stitches were required and my doctor instructed me to walk all I was able after the first day.

06-08-2008, 02:58 PM

I wouldn't drive it. If you do, I would do it over two days. Stop in the middle for the night. I've flown as early as 3 days after ankle surgery. Traveled with my mom and bought and extra seat so I was able to keep it elevated. I did fine with the swelling, but was just worn out. Can you fly?

06-08-2008, 05:34 PM

thank you all. yes i have considered leaving my car at my friends, and bussing. i shall see. hopefully it is just the neuroma. i am surprised to hear the doc said to walk on your foot Tichou. i have never met the surgeon, but the foot doc here had told me i would be off work 6-8 weeks for a neuroma surgery. (i couldnt walk for a week after his cortisol shot, so i no longer go to him) so i assumed non weight bearing. then i met someone who had same surgery, same doc and he was quite happy, back to work several days later. but he had desk job, i carry heavy things sometimes. but i find the long hours sitting in the vehicle even now cause more inflammation than when i am at home. stopping often and putting foot up sounds good for the 4-5 hour drive. i think on final 9 hour drive (which will be 10-20 days post surgery) i will break it up and get a motel. make a vacation out of it. i asked the referring doc if the surgery would be from the top of foot and he said yes. but i will be sure to discuss that with surgeon. i wouldnt have known to ask, but i read it here, thanks. i hope IF i have to have bunion surgery, that i can still use the treadmill after i heal. thanks for all the tips.

06-08-2008, 05:41 PM

i also thought of leaving car, bussing up and flying back, but airport is over 2 hours through the city anyway, plus time waiting for luggage. so seems the benefit is lost.

06-08-2008, 07:10 PM

I strongly suggest talking your doctors and seriously taking their advice. Feet are nothing to mess around with. You may compare the procedure with the same name, with the same surgeon, but the fact remains it is a different foot on a different person, which are the bigger variables. You may have had trouble with the cortisol shot because of factors involving your foot, not the doctor.

Think of this analogy: Joey mows your lawn and he mows my lawn. Same procedure, same guy. But my lawn takes 4 times as long and costs 3 times as much. Why? Because of the size and complexity of the job and maybe my grass is knee height. Get my drift?

And foot surgery is not simple. When people get frostbite or have diabetes, it is the feet that have the most problems because of many factors. My doc told me it is the tiny blood vessels in the feet that are the critical factor in healing, not the skin incision or the bone. I am being religious about keeping my foot elevated. The world can stop, I am taking care of my foot.

06-08-2008, 07:47 PM

dncergrl53, thank you. good advice. it is all food for thought. but i agree. nothing can be lost from elevating the foot. will see what the doc says. but regarding your analogy about mowing the lawn. what about if its the same lawn in same condition? i understand it could simply have been a fluke, perhaps he nicked the nerve or something. something similiar happened with a blood test once, and thought i would pass out. but he only gave me one shot, another doc gave me two, one on two different occasions. his technique was gentle and slow, there was just a tiny *****, like when you get a blood test. it was of course uncomfortable. but the fellow here appeared not to bother taking time to do that. he jabbed it in fast at an awkward angle. of course my perception may have been tainted by the pain. once burned, twice shy.

06-08-2008, 08:32 PM

I am in no position to evaluate your doctor, your foot or anything else. But I would advise you to listen to whichever doctor you do trust.

06-09-2008, 04:06 AM

I keep forgetting that you're in Canada....I would do whatever the surgeon who actually does your surgery tells you to do. Since you haven't even seen him yet and don't even know for sure what all procedures you'll be having, I suggest to just wait and see what he says and go from there.

06-09-2008, 02:38 PM

i would not drive if i were you. obviously, you dont seem to be comfortable with it either. can anyone go with you.

06-09-2008, 02:49 PM

I think it depends on if you're talking about your right foot or left foot, the compexity of the surgery, and how quickly you heal. My neuroma surgery was on my left foot. I missed one day of school, and was back in class (crutching across the hilly university campus) two days later. I was walking within two weeks. Granted, I was 18 years old at the time, but the surgery was a mere blip in my schedule. 6-8 weeks seems like a very long time. Your surgeon must see something much more serious than I had. (Mine turned out to be a grape-sized neuroma, no bunion.)

travel advice needed for after neuroma/possibly bunion surgery

Sign Up Today!

Join Our Newsletter

Whoops,

Thank You