• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

I had outpatient surgery Monday morning

Melensdad

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
All my friends know that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, few knew that I also had a bunion. I thought it was a huge bunion. The surgeon said it was a moderate size bunion. But the combination of R.A. + the bunion were giving me 24/7 pain, and it has been slowly increasing over the past year or so. I've used a lot of medical services this year so pretty much met all my deductibles for my insurance.

When I was talking with my podiatrist he suggest I will definitely need surgery, he said maybe a few months, maybe a year, possibly 2. I asked "why not now?" and he said there was no reason. I mentioned the insurance situation and he suggested we get the next available spot to get it in before the end of the insurance year! So I had surgery Monday.

His plan was to fuse 1 or 2 of my joints, break a bone, re-set it differently, cut a v-notch into a bone, insert 2 or 3 screws, possibly a bit more and blah blah blah. I refused to let him 'fuse' the joints, largely because of coaching fencing and a general aversion to permanent body alterations.

Surgeon said I'd need pain pills for 2 days, should be walking with a 'boot' on day 3. But I would need the boot for 8 weeks, then maybe a surgical shoe for a couple more weeks.

7:30am Monday, on time, I get wheeled into surgery at the local out-patient surgery center. Had a great nap!!! Woke up feeling great. No pain. Apparently they gave me a pain blocker that should last a couple hours???

Post-Op/Pre-Pain Photo . . . they gave me a great hat!

IMG_0398.jpeg


While I was recovering the surgeon talked to the lovely Mrs_Bob. Apparently I was in the room, apparently I was awake, but I recall NOTHING from that visit. The "moderate" bunion turned out to be a very large bunion with lots of joint damage to multiple joints. He cut, ground, chipped and chiseled away at that thing. He also cut and broke some bones, not sure how many. And the local hardware store is now out of stock of their stainless steel screws since their nuts & bolts inventory currently resides in my left foot. If nothing else comes of this, my left leg muscles will grow because I'm carrying extra weight in my foot, not sure if I will set off airport security, but they did assure me it is non-magnetic.

I was promptly released, with a prescription for pain killers that were to be ready at the local pharmacy, conveniently on our way home. Pain blocker was working almost until we got to the pharmacy parking lot. And then it hit. Yikes! This was beyond uncomfortable. Lovely Mrs_Bob runs into to get the drugs ... texted out to me it will be 20 minutes! She stands there until they give them to her. 15 minutes later I'm chugging water & a pain pill. Supposed to be good for 6 hours.

90 minutes later I pop another pill.

120 minutes after that I pop another pill and call the surgeon for help . . . got his service, left a message. Every 2 hours, I am taking pills that are prescribed for every 6 hours and I am in varying states of pain to miserable pain. Some of the worst pain in my life and I've passed a jagged egde kidney stone the size of a jellybean. So this is pain. And no sleep. Up all night.

Early Tuesday morning I finally get the actual surgeon on the phone. We discuss. Turns out one of the opioid medications I take for arthritis, despite the fact that it is a very MILD opioid, pretty much desensitized me to the pain meds he gave me. So he changes the meds and prescribes me a new one.

Pharmacy calls me an hour, maybe 2, later and says because they filled a serious pain killer on Monday, they can't give me something on Tuesday that is double the strength, without actually speaking directly to the doctor. WTF? Meanwhile I'm still popping the original pain pills every 2 to 3 hours.

I call the surgeon about noon, he is in the 'other' office, but explain what is going on. They assure me they will get him to call. A couple hours later (2pm) I call back. They assure me he will call. I ask what time does the office close, strongly hinting I will be calling back if I don't get results ASAP. And still taking the original pain pills every 2-3 hours.

An hour later the pharmacy texts me my prescription is ready. My S-I-L drives to town, gets my meds and brings them to me. Pop one, within an hour my pain is reduced tremendously.

FAST FORWARD to this morning and I'm taking a pain pill about 1 every 5.5 to 6 hours. Reasonably comfortable. As long as I don't do anything stupid, I am essentially pain free. I did hit my foot, with a pillow, it felt like I kicked a brick wall. But other that, I'm in pretty good shape and healing. I will be in bed this week. So probably posting more pointless threads than normal. Hopefully on my feet soon (in a big surgical boot). Healing time is 2 to 3 months!?!
 
Well we had plans for all week.

Last night was foster son Kobe's Christmas show at pre-school. I was in bed.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to drive to Notre Dame to bring Dasha home, she will take a train on Saturday, bypass our house and go straight to our daughter's condo.

Saturday I'm supposed to ride on the Polar Express train with Kobe . . . probably staying in bed.

Sunday I'm supposed to drive to Michigan to see the Cirque du Soleil Christmas show . . . probably staying in bed

Monday I'm supposed to drive to Chicago to take Kobe to eat at Marshall's Field's Walnut Room and see the great tree and visit Santa . . . probably staying in bed? Maybe actually going?
 
Some of my rehab patients are up and walking the day after surgery, the pain meds do help.
I'm not sure if you could still do all those fun things you want to do, Bob.
The boot helps with mobility.
The pain meds mask any pain you may be having while walking.
I hope you get to do something instead of lying around healing.
 
Bunions suck. That´s a year of suffering for you. I thought of getting mine done but the doctor talked me out of it. I bought wider shoes and am sitting here with my toe spacers on hoping I never have to go through it.
 
XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq said:
Bunions suck. That´s a year of suffering for you. I thought of getting mine done but the doctor talked me out of it. I bought wider shoes and am sitting here with my toe spacers on hoping I never have to go through it.
Click to expand...
My left shoe is a 4E width!
 
I walked in the boot, from the bed down the stairs, to the kitchen and back. Not comfortable, but also didn't hurt too bad either. It was very s_l_o_w progress. Since the lovely Mrs_Bob was in the kitchen she was unaware of my departure from the bed, met me at the bottom of the stairs and was unhappy with me. But it was good to get out of bed.

She has "excused me" from all weekend activities after watching me walk. And there is quite literally no way I could come pick you up tomorrow and bring you here to visit with us. Clearly I was not prepared for the after-surgery inconvenience.

My left foot (the one with the surgical boot) is splayed outward while I hobble. The boot prevents any motion of the foot and ankle. And the sole of the boot is shaped to make sure I land on my heel with each step. So it is sort of like walking like a pirate with a peg leg. Not fun.

And the boot takes about 5 minutes to actually strap onto my foot, so not really convenient either. I think I'll spend more time with the far less protective surgical shoe inside the house, the boot reserved for 'trips' out of the house.



tommu56 said:
look at the bright side you don't need flippers for swiming at least;)
Click to expand...
Pretty sure when the bandages come off my foot will be "normal" size again and able to wear a regular width shoe!
 
Melensdad said:
I walked in the boot, from the bed down the stairs, to the kitchen and back. Not comfortable, but also didn't hurt too bad either. It was very s_l_o_w progress. Since the lovely Mrs_Bob was in the kitchen she was unaware of my departure from the bed, met me at the bottom of the stairs and was unhappy with me. But it was good to get out of bed.

She has "excused me" from all weekend activities after watching me walk. And there is quite literally no way I could come pick you up tomorrow and bring you here to visit with us. Clearly I was not prepared for the after-surgery inconvenience.

My left foot (the one with the surgical boot) is splayed outward while I hobble. The boot prevents any motion of the foot and ankle. And the sole of the boot is shaped to make sure I land on my heel with each step. So it is sort of like walking like a pirate with a peg leg. Not fun.

And the boot takes about 5 minutes to actually strap onto my foot, so not really convenient either. I think I'll spend more time with the far less protective surgical shoe inside the house, the boot reserved for 'trips' out of the house.




Pretty sure when the bandages come off my foot will be "normal" size again and able to wear a regular width shoe!
Click to expand...
Don't discount support sox I was in an industrial accident in 86 ago and thought they were stupid and a pain in the ass but go 2000 and I had trouble with swelling and broke down and started wearing them my feet and lower legs felt 20 lbs lighter still wear them to date.
 
I feel you, I have hereditary bunions on Both feet, my dad had them. I have been wearing EEE wide shoes my entire life. They don't give me any trouble unless my shoes are too tight. I hate buying new shoes. AS got older I even have to shoe stretch some of the EEE shoes or boots before I can wear them. How long did they give you as a recovery time?
 
New pain meds are working well.

I went from 1 pain pill every 2.5 hours the first day and a half to 1 pain pill as needed, but 6-8 hours seems to have become the average.

I think the healing process is also starting. The fact that I've been in bed and not walking on the foot has probably helped get the healing started. The doctor said the LESS time on my foot the first few days the FASTER that I will heal. And I have been staying off my foot!

Pain pills on Thursday were taken at 7am, 1:20pm and then 10:45pm. So only 3 pills total on Thursday! I took 7 or 8 pills on both Monday & Tuesday, and 6 pain pills on Wednesday. So only 3 pills today is a big improvement :-)
 
Melensdad said:
New pain meds are working well.

I went from 1 pain pill every 2.5 hours the first day and a half to 1 pain pill as needed, but 6-8 hours seems to have become the average.

I think the healing process is also starting. The fact that I've been in bed and not walking on the foot has probably helped get the healing started. The doctor said the LESS time on my foot the first few days the FASTER that I will heal. And I have been staying off my foot!

Pain pills on Thursday were taken at 7am, 1:20pm and then 10:45pm. So only 3 pills total on Thursday! I took 7 or 8 pills on both Monday & Tuesday, and 6 pain pills on Wednesday. So only 3 pills today is a big improvement :)
Click to expand...
Watch the pain pills or the next pain will be lack of doing #2
 
I go into the doc's office in an hour and get the stitches removed. I'm pretty squeamish about those types of things, not planning to watch, just hope it is quick.

What I can say is that my left foot, which was a size 11 EEEE width now looks much more similar to my right foot in width. I'll probably be able to go back down to a 10.5 D after the healing process. But the doc warned me that it will be about 2 months before I put my left foot in a normal shoe.
 
Good luck with that recovery.
In my experience, nothing makes getting though the day more dreadful than painful feet. I do hope your surgery amends that condition for you.
 
Well the nurse took out 5 stitches pain free.

Doctor took out 2 stitches, he was not gentle, but she couldn't get them out.

Doc says my foot is still pretty swollen, more than he would have hoped for, but within "normal" range of swelling so nothing to worry about. No infection in the wound, healing nicely, he says toe is in a good position, bunion is noticeably gone, my foot does not look like a misshapen ogre foot anymore; not that it will be on the cover of a foot fetish magazine, but at least it should fit into a normal shoe when I am recovered.

Recovery is slow. Now to January 15 he basically said stay off my foot as much as possible. Wear my "boot" when I move. But at least the wound dressing is gone and I can shower tomorrow without needing to tape a plastic bag over my foot. Mid-January I can return to limited coaching (verbal only) but I can walk around while coaching, as long as my foot is in the boot.

I return to the doctor for x-rays late January. I also will be coaching at Notre Dame a few days after the doctor's visit so I am hoping the visit to the doc goes well and I don't have to cancel out on the coaching.

The big boot will be on my foot at least into early/mid February.
 
Melensdad said:
All my friends know that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, few knew that I also had a bunion. I thought it was a huge bunion. The surgeon said it was a moderate size bunion. But the combination of R.A. + the bunion were giving me 24/7 pain, and it has been slowly increasing over the past year or so. I've used a lot of medical services this year so pretty much met all my deductibles for my insurance.

When I was talking with my podiatrist he suggest I will definitely need surgery, he said maybe a few months, maybe a year, possibly 2. I asked "why not now?" and he said there was no reason. I mentioned the insurance situation and he suggested we get the next available spot to get it in before the end of the insurance year! So I had surgery Monday.

His plan was to fuse 1 or 2 of my joints, break a bone, re-set it differently, cut a v-notch into a bone, insert 2 or 3 screws, possibly a bit more and blah blah blah. I refused to let him 'fuse' the joints, largely because of coaching fencing and a general aversion to permanent body alterations.

Surgeon said I'd need pain pills for 2 days, should be walking with a 'boot' on day 3. But I would need the boot for 8 weeks, then maybe a surgical shoe for a couple more weeks.

7:30am Monday, on time, I get wheeled into surgery at the local out-patient surgery center. Had a great nap!!! Woke up feeling great. No pain. Apparently they gave me a pain blocker that should last a couple hours???

Post-Op/Pre-Pain Photo . . . they gave me a great hat!

View attachment 171928

While I was recovering the surgeon talked to the lovely Mrs_Bob. Apparently I was in the room, apparently I was awake, but I recall NOTHING from that visit. The "moderate" bunion turned out to be a very large bunion with lots of joint damage to multiple joints. He cut, ground, chipped and chiseled away at that thing. He also cut and broke some bones, not sure how many. And the local hardware store is now out of stock of their stainless steel screws since their nuts & bolts inventory currently resides in my left foot. If nothing else comes of this, my left leg muscles will grow because I'm carrying extra weight in my foot, not sure if I will set off airport security, but they did assure me it is non-magnetic.

I was promptly released, with a prescription for pain killers that were to be ready at the local pharmacy, conveniently on our way home. Pain blocker was working almost until we got to the pharmacy parking lot. And then it hit. Yikes! This was beyond uncomfortable. Lovely Mrs_Bob runs into to get the drugs ... texted out to me it will be 20 minutes! She stands there until they give them to her. 15 minutes later I'm chugging water & a pain pill. Supposed to be good for 6 hours.

90 minutes later I pop another pill.

120 minutes after that I pop another pill and call the surgeon for help . . . got his service, left a message. Every 2 hours, I am taking pills that are prescribed for every 6 hours and I am in varying states of pain to miserable pain. Some of the worst pain in my life and I've passed a jagged egde kidney stone the size of a jellybean. So this is pain. And no sleep. Up all night.

Early Tuesday morning I finally get the actual surgeon on the phone. We discuss. Turns out one of the opioid medications I take for arthritis, despite the fact that it is a very MILD opioid, pretty much desensitized me to the pain meds he gave me. So he changes the meds and prescribes me a new one.

Pharmacy calls me an hour, maybe 2, later and says because they filled a serious pain killer on Monday, they can't give me something on Tuesday that is double the strength, without actually speaking directly to the doctor. WTF? Meanwhile I'm still popping the original pain pills every 2 to 3 hours.

I call the surgeon about noon, he is in the 'other' office, but explain what is going on. They assure me they will get him to call. A couple hours later (2pm) I call back. They assure me he will call. I ask what time does the office close, strongly hinting I will be calling back if I don't get results ASAP. And still taking the original pain pills every 2-3 hours.

An hour later the pharmacy texts me my prescription is ready. My S-I-L drives to town, gets my meds and brings them to me. Pop one, within an hour my pain is reduced tremendously.

FAST FORWARD to this morning and I'm taking a pain pill about 1 every 5.5 to 6 hours. Reasonably comfortable. As long as I don't do anything stupid, I am essentially pain free. I did hit my foot, with a pillow, it felt like I kicked a brick wall. But other that, I'm in pretty good shape and healing. I will be in bed this week. So probably posting more pointless threads than normal. Hopefully on my feet soon (in a big surgical boot). Healing time is 2 to 3 months!?!
Click to expand...
My mother has rheumatoid arthritis as well. She's lived with it for twenty three and a half years, now. Life had been tough at times, but with my help and her own strong will, she's braved the perils of time well. I hope you do, too, better than her hopefully. Modern medical science is working on better ways to treat everything all the time and we've come a long way in the past two decades. May you overcome your arthritis, or at least find a way to make living with it as bearable as possible.
 
Gunsrus said:
My mother has rheumatoid arthritis as well. She's lived with it for twenty three and a half years, now. Life had been tough at times, but with my help and her own strong will, she's braved the perils of time well. I hope you do, too, better than her hopefully. Modern medical science is working on better ways to treat everything all the time and we've come a long way in the past two decades. May you overcome your arthritis, or at least find a way to make living with it as bearable as possible.
Click to expand...
I was diagnosed with RA ate age 25, but know I had it a year earlier. So literally 39 years of fighting it. Honestly doing well with it, my doctor treated it seriously and aggressively from the onset of the formal diagnosis.

As for the foot, I’m almost 4 weeks into healing and doing pretty well. I’m wearing a ‘boot’ when I move around, it’s a pain but it does work. Doc said the more sitting I can do early the faster and shorter the healing process. First 2 weeks sat with my foot elevated. Initial 5 days were painful but by the end of week 1 the pain was mostly gone; at least if noting touched my foot.

Now I can stand barefoot if the weight is only on my heel. I can move my toes without pain. But no way I can walk without the boot. Dramatic improvement. I’ll begin coaching again next week, in the boot!!!
 
Melensdad said:
I was diagnosed with RA ate age 25, but know I had it a year earlier. So literally 39 years of fighting it. Honestly doing well with it, my doctor treated it seriously and aggressively from the onset of the formal diagnosis.

As for the foot, I’m almost 4 weeks into healing and doing pretty well. I’m wearing a ‘boot’ when I move around, it’s a pain but it does work. Doc said the more sitting I can do early the faster and shorter the healing process. First 2 weeks sat with my foot elevated. Initial 5 days were painful but by the end of week 1 the pain was mostly gone; at least if noting touched my foot.

Now I can stand barefoot if the weight is only on my heel. I can move my toes without pain. But no way I can walk without the boot. Dramatic improvement. I’ll begin coaching again next week, in the boot!!!
Click to expand...
Kudos to you. Keep up the good work. You got this.

In the coming years, we'll beat RA. It'll die soon. We just need to keep pushing the blade deeper and deeper into it.

By the way, I overstated the timeframe for my mother's RA. It's been almost 19 and a half years.
 
Honestly I credit my first rheumatologist (who retired about 3 years ago) for aggressively treating my RA at early stages.
I know people younger, with RA for much shorter durations, but in far worse condition. My new rheumatologist, who was recommended by my first one, worked with him for a couple years, seems to be just as aggressive.

Despite my foot pain, and the big orthopedic boot, I am returning to coach saber fencing at Purdue University tomorrow evening.
 
Just a surgery follow up report. Surgery was 2 weeks before Christmas Day. Went back to the surgeon yesterday morning for more X-rays and another regular follow up visit.

UNEXPECTED good news. I get to transition out of the big boot. Not to a rigid surgical shoe, but to an actual tennis or street shoe. Spent the day yesterday in house slippers, but obviously not a lot of walking around, just whatever you do in the house. Went out for dinner with the family to a local restaurant, but I wore the BOOT simply because there is plenty of snow on the ground, even the sidewalks in town, figured if I slipped the boot would give me protection. Didn't slip, but only walked about 50 steps total as I got a parking space right in front of the restaurant's door.

So today I got up, slipped on a pair of thickly padded Hoka running shoes and headed out to Walgreens and the local grocer. Walked into WAGS just to test out walking in a real shoe. No issue, but walking from the car to the Pharmacy and back to the car is not a very long walk. Still, all felt OK. So off to the grocery store, picked up a couple things we needed and did not stray up and down any extra aisles. Still, a much better test of walking.

Definitely limped while walking but really didn't feel too bad. Not in pain while walking but it was noticeable that I was limping to avoid too much pressure.

Got home, unloaded the truck, made a quick lunch out of leftovers from last night's doggy bags, and sat down. THAT is the moment that I realized I was actually in discomfort. Not major pain, but clearly throbbing. Couple of Advil and now flat on my back. I was actually hoping to get on the treadmill . . . uh, not happening. But I am planning to go to the fencing club tonight, there is a special high school practice so we are opening up the club to the kids so they can get extra practice in before this weekend's HS Individual Championships. I will be wearing my BOOT this evening.

But this is positive progress :coolshade

This weekend I will be coaching the Purdue fencing club at a large "dual" type meet at Notre Dame. We face off against 9 teams. I'll be on my feet all day. Probably wearing the boot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top