Week 7

Had to count the weeks to figure out which week it was.  I guess that is how fast time is flying by.  My scars are healing pretty nicely.  Iam not particularly excited to see how my right foot is healing.  I have less pain now in the left foot and more in the right.  My right foot looks like it still has the bunion bump...which I will post in the pics from today at the end of today's blog.  I am hoping that it will slowly but surely go away and I am hoping that my feet are still swollen and hence they look the way they do.  I guess you can't change genetics and I will have wide feet for the rest of my life with less bump....however still wide.  I love my Birckenstock sandals.  I wear them in the house as slippers all the time.  I got the idead to get them from a fellow bunion- survivor and her blog...and decided to give them a try.  I might get them in Madrid or Boston style...not sure yet.  They are not cheal and I am not ritch...lol so maybe a pair every 2 months or so.  But I like them.  I also have the Bear Paw slippers which are snuggly and super comfy...and so so warm.  They are particularly useful in the morning when it is cold in the house and I have to get out of warm bed and step on a cold floor....that's when I really appreciate them.  But I am back at the gym for 3 weeks now.  The last 2 weeks at the gym and the week bofore that it was mostly working out at home because it was impossibly cold outside and I had to get used to the idea of getting up in the morning, working out at 4 am and going to work at 7:30...I am back to the grind now...I have put on few pounds as I indulged a bit much over the Holidays and haven't been exercising like I normally would.  My workout now includes everything with the exception of HIIT such as jumping rope, burpees or sprints and I have not attempted lunges.  I am waiting for more range of motion before I will do that.  Right now I have a feeling that it might still be difficult to do that.  My next xray is beginning of February...if I get ok from my doc and there won't be any pain I will go for it.  But for now I just stick to my lifting routine and eliptical machine or recumbent bike or ARC machine...which I will hop on tomorrow as it is leg day.  Off to bed I go now...but here is a preview of week 7 in pictures....My daughter Sabrina says that my feet don't even look real....Apparently they are too white and they have raised scars which makes them look like feet unreal....lol  Love my Kidds... :)

5 weeks

So today is exactly 5 weeks after the surgery.  It seems like it has been much longer since I had the operation. Today is also my birthday.  Tomorrow I am going to the gym in the morning.  I have been going to the gym but not as regularly as I would like to.  First of all it has been really super super cold. I also had to adjust to going back to work.  I have been at home for 4 weeks after the surgery.  It was bit on an adjustment to going back.  I think I am getting back into grove of things now.  I started going back to the gym after 3 weeks, but I haven't been doing cardio like I used to.  So before I would do sprints or some other form of HIIT.  Now I get on the recumbent bike or elliptical trainer, as there is no impact and it doesn't hurt my feet.  I have been pretty lucky and I am able to do "light" squats. I am going to try to go heavier but I will wait until at least 6 or 7 weeks.  That  is how long the bones will take to "mend" as my doctor described it.  So I don't want to do something too soon and hurt myself in the process.  I have been doing squats with about 40 lbs...I haven't gone higher than that.  I was thinking about doing leg workout as so far I have been pretty much doing light cardio and upper body workouts (I love lifting) but have not done good leg workout yet.  I know that because of the low range of motion in my big toes I will not be able to do full lunges...That might have to wait.  I want to start doing more and more, because 1.  I gained weight...and 2 I feel like my body is getting soft...I even have a little "pooch" growing where my flat stomach used to be... lol
I have to find myself or I will go crazy...
As far as the healing goes, my scars are healing nicely.  Minimal pain.  I am somewhat uncomfortable in shoes.  My feet are still a bit swollen and the bottom of them is sore when I walk and when I try to bend my toes.  I think I am expecting a bit too much at times.  But I was never great when it came to patience.  In that respect I am like a kid.  I also ordered Birkenstock, gizeh style, I am pretty comfy wearing them for most part. My feet are not used to them just yet, and when I wear them for too long my feet get little sore on the outer sides...as after the operation I noticed that I try to walk mostly on my heals and outer soles of my feet...hence they get a bit uncomfortable in hard bottom shoes.  I even formed some calluses in those spots...ohhh...but such is life.  I will put up some pics today...some from last week and my docs visit which was pretty much un-eventful.  I was told I am healing wonderfully, my right toe is more stiff than my left and I need to exercise it...by massaging my feet along with pushing my toes back and forth with my hands by grabbing them at the base...not on the top as I have been doing.  I have hard time bending my toes on their own.  My other 4 toes will bend just fine, but my big toes will barely move.  :(

 This is 4 weeks progress...after my docs appointment... :)

And below I will put up pics from today...

Excuse my swollen feet...this was taken right after work....I really don't care how my right foot looks...You can tell that my big toe is "sliding" to the right...I will ask my doctor if I can wear a brace to make it more straight...I knew going into the surgery that it will not be "perfect" but I was hoping for a bit less curve..

Maybe I need time...I hope that once swelling is all gone I will have more normal looking feet.  I am happy but on the other hand I was hoping they would look a little bit better than they do now...Maybe I am just vain...Vanity is a sin...isn't it? lol....

My right foot with screw fixation....(obviously mislabeled)

My left foot with the screw fixation

My feet before the operation....

Side view of my feet with the screws...

4 Weeks Post Surgery....

Ok...so it has been 4 weeks since the surgery...Everything has been healing nicely.  I have not been posting much because it was  kind of difficult with holidays...shopping ...which I did with the help of my daughter  and some online...  I have few friends from my older days when I worked for DME company, and so I was able to get a wheelchair for a week at no charge, and my daughter was able to push me around so I was able to do some shopping without putting too much strain on my feet.  I have been pretty much mobile on my own since 4 th day after the surgery.  First it was only at home with the help of my furniture...So wobbling around keeping steady by holding on to my furniture.  After about 7 days I was able to move on my own, with my post op shoes on, but slowly.  Right now I am still a little slow...and still walking in my post op shoes in the house as they feel the most comfortable, but when I go outside, I put on my sons gym shoes.  They are a little bit wider than my gym shoes and I was able to use them with superfeet insoles which are somewhat rigid, and give me more of a stability while walking without bending my toes too much.  The pictures below are from my first post op check up, 8 days after the surgery.  I thought that the doctor will only change my dressing but much to my surprise, he said he will remove my stitches.  I was not ready for that.  I was really happy how my feet looked after the dressing came off.  There was minimal swelling, and stitches, I thought looked pretty nice and clean.  There was no blood on my dressing or anywhere around my sutures.  I thought that Dr. Loder did excellent job.  I kept looking at my feet and couldn't believe that my bunions were not there and my feet looked somewhat normal.  As normal as expected with the sutures.  My daughter said I had Frankenstain feet.  I was looking at my feet while I was waiting for my doctor to come in and inspect them, and I had this weird feeling that they are not mine.  That they belong to someone else.  I started feeling really dizzy.  I started seeing white spots before my eyes.  Like I couldn't concentrate and I kept feeling more and more dizzy.  My husband told me to cover my mouth with my hands and keep breating like that and tilt my head backwards.  Apparently I became really ashy...and lost color in my face.  I guess I started hyperventilating...It was really scarry and unpleasant feeling that I have never experienced in my life.  So the doctor came in, and just started taking my stitches out.  It didn't hurt.  I just felt little tugging.  Then, when all of the stitches were out, there was minimal bleeding ...just couple of drops in the spots where the stitches didn't want to come out and he had to tug harder.  He put few 2 bandaids on my feet and said I was all set and ready to go....I don't even remember him saying anything to me, but my husband told me he was telling me the whole time how to take care of my feet from now on, and told me to come back after 3 weeks to take ex-rays...to see if everything is mending just fine.  I have an appointment on Jan. 6 for my second check up.  I will put up pics tomorrow of what my feet look like exactly 4 weeks after the surgery as that will be tomorrow.  I have been icing it only about once a day now....but for the first 2 weeks I was doing it pretty much all day...every hour or so, for about 20-30 minutes.  I never was in a lot of pain nor did I have much swelling.  The only time I was in a lot of pain was the first day after the surgery when I had to walk to the bathroom....my hubby had to help me and stepping down put a lot of pressure on my sutures and I was feeling it.  The fact that I was taking pain medication every 4 hours like clock work (under watchful eye of my hubby who made sure I did not miss it) was probably very helpful, but again I only took meds for the first 4 days and then I stopped because I didn't need it.  So either I have high tolerance to pain, or I was lucky and my surgeon, Dr. Loder did such an excellent job, that I didn't need it meds for too long.  So for most part I just sat there, watch TV and read other blogs about bunion surgeries.  It helps to compare and it is kind of nice to know, that my experience is not half as bad as some of the ones I have read about.  Again...I consider myself lucky.  I went to my job after two weeks to bring a dish I promised them for Christmas pot luck and my co-workers were surprised how well I was walking and how fast I was recovering.  Tomorrow is my first day back to work....to actually work.  I have been lucky enough to be able to take 4 weeks off from work and had my hubby stay with me the whole 4 weeks.  And he was there with me every day....all day...with the exception of few days when he went shopping for Christmas, as he has big family and lots and lots of little kids.  Other than that...he was here...putting up with me...and I am not the easiest person to be around.  I have hard time relaxing and I have tendencies to control everything, and take charge...and have everything done my way.  So you can only imagine that I can be a realy bitch sometimes and people around me have to have high tolerance to take minute orders from me....lol  So I give my hubby a lot of credit for putting up with my bull....very patiently....and lovingly.... so did my daughter....and my son....(when he was around, because most of the time he was hiding upstairs not to be bother by me and my orders...lol)