Day 3 - Post Op

The surgery went very smoothly. I found out more information about what they actually did. It was coded as:

Lateral sesamoid removal and plantar plate restructure

My doctor and his staff were phenomenal. The best of the best. Before they took me back to receive anesthesia, my parents brought my daughter back to me and my husband, and my doctor picked her up and played with her. It was so cute. 

I had to get pricked twice before they got my IV in, but it wasn't too bad. 

While operating, they wanted me on my stomach so they could go in from the bottom of my foot. This meant that I would have a breathing tube in and would be completely asleep during the procedure.

When I went in to the operating room, California Dreamin' was playing on the speakers. I felt kind of a warmth wash over me and I asked if they had started the anesthesia. I think the doctor said yes, and the next thing I remember I was waking up in the recovery room. 

Dr. Brodsky said that everything went smoothly and there were no surprises. Now I have this lovely thing on my foot where it will stay 24/7 until further notice. 

I painted my toe nails all different colors to try to make my doctor laugh, and to give him something interesting to look at. He looked at my toenails questioningly and said "what happened here?"

You probably can't tell much from the pic, but my toes are swollen and there is a lot of gauze underneath my foot. 

The pain has been more intense than I was expecting. At first it was kind of a tingling/burning sensation. 

When I woke up the first day post-op, I told my husband that my foot felt like a blowtorch and all of the fire was coming out of my big toe. Thankfully, the pain has greatly decreased from that point, but it is still hurting pretty badly. 

The pain ranges from stinging to burning to throbbing to numb tingling. It's a little bit of everything. 

I go back and forth from my roller scooter to crutches. The roller scooter is more comfortable but less convenient in small spaces as it is hard to turn around. 

I keep my foot elevated most of the time as high as I can get it, and I try to keep it straight up and down. If I turn it to the left or right, the pain sets back in pretty quickly. 

I wasn't able to sleep much the first night, but I remembered I hadn't been taking my Phenergan along with my hydrocodone. The combination is supposed to increase pain control and help me sleep. I slept a lot better after implementing this for night 2. 

I am drinking a ton of liquids and eating whatever I want, although my throat was pretty scratchy after having the breathing tube removed. 

When I try to move my toes around, there is a searing pain in the ball of my foot. I guess I should probably steer away from doing that for a while. 

The numbness is slowly decreasing and I am finally able to feel more of my foot. For the past few days my foot has felt how your mouth feels when you have it deadened at the dentist. I would say as of day 3, probably 30-40% of my foot still feels totally numb. 

The pain meds make me kind of loopy, but I'm trying not to miss a dose. It definitely helps to stay on top of the pain.

My first post-op appointment is in about two weeks. Dr. Brodsky said they probably won't remove the stitches until the second post op appt in about a month since the tissue on the bottom of my foot is so thick and will require more time to heal. 

As far as bathing goes, I'm allowed to shower using a shower chair and a shower hose as long as my foot is completely wrapped in a trash bag or waterproof covering of some sort. I'm hoping to embark on the challenge today. I think a shower could lift my spirits!

It's hard being on the couch all day, but I am so grateful for all of the help around me. My husband, mom, dad, and grandmother have really been great! They are wrangling my little 9 month old all day so I can rest and get well. I can't wait until I can run around and play with her as much as I want!

More updates to come. What specific questions do you have for me? Thanks for reading.