Tidbits

[cjsmith]

indyansel, I don't believe this! They're awesome! They arrived in styrofoam with an ice pack. And you knew I liked dark! How'd you know/remember that??

apparentparadox, that pillow thing is a GODSEND. I used it all day yesterday and I'm using it now.

The long-acting local is definitely all gone now. It's interesting learning how to get around without letting either forefoot touch ANYTHING. I am realizing how much easier things would be with one good leg, particularly in the bathroom. But I'm still glad I don't have to go through surgery twice!

I suspect, as ouchy as this is, that I have it easy in the post-surgical pain department. After all, at the bottom of the incision just coincidentally happens to be a spot where I don't have a nerve any more.

Since the local's worn off I can feel my toes... most of them. On each foot there is a spot I will never feel again, and let me just say right now that is the weirdest sensation I have experienced in thirty-seven years on this earth. It's not half so freaky when I know it's an anaesthetic. This is ME; this is how my body is, forever. A local is also, somehow, not quite as complete a loss of sensation. I touch these toes with my fingers and it's like they're not there at all. Someone substituted plastic toes. Except that the other side of each toe is there. At that point my brain segfaults. It simply cannot make sense of the input it is getting.

For some reason I am still thinking of all this as a grand adventure.

Comments

[jtidwell.livejournal.com]

The numb-toes feeling is one I get frequently, since I managed to frostbite three toes on my right foot. Not badly, but enough to deaden them whenever they get the least bit cold or under pressure. At least I know the sensation will come back eventually, but it is weird to know that that's how it's always gonna be.

I bet your brain will adapt to it, to a certain degree.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Wow, I didn't know frostbite could have lingering effects without killing the area entirely. I guess it's worse than permanent phantom pain or something like that. Is the numbness of three toes enough to affect your balance?

Yes, other people who've had this surgery say I'll adapt. Sure is weird until then!

[jtidwell.livejournal.com]

Oh no, I'd rather have this than phantom pain! This is just a slightly-annoying curiosity every once in a while. :-) It doesn't affect my balance at all -- I rock-climb, ski, and hike over rough terrain -- but like yours, it's not whole toes, just parts of them. With oddly distinct boundaries. That's still weird.

I don't know what happened physiologically when the frostbite happened, but Rich and I guess it was circulatory damage. The numbness corresponds to times when I don't have a lot of circulation in my feet. Now, neurological damage does arise from severe frostbite or trenchfoot, but I didn't have those.

I do have to worry about frostbiting them again, though... that could be Bad.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I would definitely rather have numbness than phantom pain as well! I'm glad it doesn't affect your balance. If it's just parts of toes, that makes sense. And yeah, aren't those distinct boundaries the oddest thing? I can't remove my dressings to really get an idea of mine, but I'm still sort of figuring out the boundaries!

Circulatory problems would be my first guess as well. After all, that's a major component of what frostbite *is*, and it's easy for such a thing to damage tissue of any kind. I pray that you don't ever frostbite them again.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I just realized why you said "Oh no," before "I'd rather have this than phantom pain". I wrote "worse" where I meant "better". :-) I think perhaps I'm not 100% plugged in to reality yet!