Wednesday, June 23, 2010

These Boots are Made for Walkin'

I know you've all been dying to see gross foot surgery pictures, right? No? Well if not, then you might want to skip this post. It's all about feet!

Here are my pathetic, deformed feet on the morning of my surgery. See those giant knots where my big toe meets my foot? Yeah, those aren't supposed to be there. And, in general, toes should go straight out from your foot, not diagonally.
Anyone who knows me well knows that having to go all day without food or water before my surgery was quite possibly the most traumatic part for me. I set my alarm for 4:50 that morning so I could get up & eat some dry toast & drink water before my 5:00 am cut-off. Yes, it's pathetic but true.

We had to wait a while for the surgery to get started since they were running a bit behind, but once we got going, that process was a breeze. I just remember being rolled out of my room & then waking up half a second later in recovery. Thank goodness for general anesthesia! Once I woke up, I was overjoyed to be given water!
The jello they made me eat didn't make my tummy too happy, though, so we had to hang around a few hours while they got my nausea in check. You can barely see me over my moon boots!
Once home that evening, my sweet husband hooked me up with some IceDream from Chik-Fil-A, so all was right with the world. If this isn't high fashion, I don't know what is!
To make my "old lady who has bunions" profile complete, I even got to bring home a lovely walker to help me get around. I totally didn't mind how ridiculous I looked, though, because without this, I wouldn't have been able to get up at all. My other accessories in this pic are my nerve block pain pumps slung over my shoulders. Each leg had a tiny catheter threaded behind my knee that was connected to one of these bags, which held a ball full of numbing medicine. I had a little dial for each one so I could adjust the level of numbness in order to control my pain. These lasted for three days & were awesome, though I was definitely ready to drop my extra baggage when they were empty.

Oh, and there were also oral narcotics involved. Not that you would have guessed that by my dazed expression! Overall, the pain hasn't been too bad. I had one evening of shooting pains & muscle spasms that I didn't know if I'd survive, but it thankfully only lasted a few hours.
Okay, here's the only gross picture I'll include. These feet do not, in fact, belong to the Bride of Frankenstein. Instead, this is what my feet looked like yesterday at my post-op appointment. I hadn't had the boots off in a week, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Dr. Cook said they're doing great, & I'll get my sutures out next week.
In between napping, watching old seasons of 24 & reading, I've also had some great cuddlebugs who aren't quite sure what's wrong with Mommy. Luckily, the fact that Mimi & Nana have been here has kept them thoroughly distracted.
As of Saturday, I rid myself of the pain pumps & the walker. Yesterday's big accomplishment was getting to take my first actual bath. Don't worry, there are no pictures, but it was certainly a hilarious occasion as Justin lowered me into our tub while keeping my feet, wrapped in Target bags, propped over the edge. Thanks honey!

Today's monumental event was actually getting to wear shorts. Up until yesterday, I couldn't remove my giant boots even to change clothes, so I had to stick to dresses & skirts. Like my summer look?
So many of you have been praying for me & my family over the last week, & I want to say a heartfelt thanks. We've still got a ways to go until we're back to normal, but recovery is going better than I had expected, so we're thankful for that blessing!

6 comments:

AmyB said...

Oh, bless you! That looks crazy painful but at least the nerve blocker thing is pretty cool. I hope you have lots of help until you are "back on your feet"...:) Wish I was there to help!

Winters said...

Goodness, what a trooper you are! And it sounds like you have great helpers, big and small :-) PLEASE let us know if there is anything we can do to help. Good luck with your recovery!

Carrie said...

Ok so my feet look just like your before pictures. My big toe sits at a diagonal just like yours. I am a little worried, maybe we need to chat about this. Does it cause long-term effects? Did your feet hurt before? I thought feet just looked that way!

Glad you are on the mend back to normal!

Miranda said...

You look really good...even in the drugged up pictures!!

Hattie said...

Glad you are able to be up and move around more. I know you were getting pretty bored!

Andrea said...

I am glad to see that you are doing well and are on the mend!