Last year, someone emailed me to ask about my fore-foot reconstructive surgeries.
I was looking forward to my new feet, but little did I know that the surgeon would refuse to do the second foot, until after I had two of my cervical vertebrae fused.
You can read about it here.
Warning! If you are squeamish, please do not scroll down to the end in that post. It's a picture of my foot post-surgery, complete with pins sticking out of the end of my toes.
It seems that my body wanted to expel those pins. Some of them came out over the course of the three-month recovery period. I have one toe that did not fuse well, so if you are having this surgery, I'd advise asking your surgeon how best to prevent that from happening.
On How Not To Be Bored During Your Recuperation, I said that I learned how to draw. Since I couldn't find any pictures of my before feet, I'm including a copy of a sketch I included in the thank you card I sent to my surgeon. It is an approximate illustration my before and after foot.
I had forefoot reconstruction surgery 3 times so far and that should be the end of it. If I run out of topics I can do a post on that. I only had the pins once.
The first time was so long ago that the pins concept to give you a more cosmetically appealing foot had not yet come into use. Four surgeries in one year sounds like a lot to take
Annette
Oh, 3 times! I feel for you, Annette. The pins actually augment the fusion. The toe that prematurely expelled the pin is curled over. 🙁
In the spring of 2009 I had reconstructive surgery on my foot. My choice of surgeon was not very smart as he managed to totally screw up my foot. I had three pins in my toes for 6 weeks and when they were yanked out one toe got infected. The result was “sausage toe”. He also pulled the tendons too tight on one toe and as a result it is longer than it should be, hitting the end of my shoes in a painful way when walking. I found a new surgeon, who is supposed to be the best in Toronto but due to our system, his wait is very long. My initial appointment took TWO years and he informed me his wait list for surgery was about a year and a half. It’s been longer than that and I’m still waiting. I think before he gets to me I might end up wheelchair bound. If I had money I’d go to US or Germany for this surgery, alas I am not therefore I wait…ciao
Rosita,
I’m sorry that you had such a bad experience the first go-around.
Did you catch this article in The Globe re. surgical wait times: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/wait-times-moneys-not-the-answer/article12351348/?
Wishing you a speedy due date.
I am now waiting for the “best” surgeon. He tells me he could do 10 surgeries a day but operating room space is limited since they closed some. I’m going to take my wonky foot to Greece for a couple of months and hope the fall brings a resolution.
It’s the same story across the country. Happy travels!