Second post-op this morning

[cjsmith]

New pics start here. They're getting boring.

Again she unbandaged my feet, pronounced them good, and rebandaged them. This time she put a lot less gauze on them and didn't use any iodine. Less gauze feels good; my feet are closer to their normal shape!

She also said I can "start to get them wet" this weekend. She gave me some of the stretchy stick-to-itself bandage to rewrap them.

I asked a few questions.

Q: When can I get out of these funky recovery shoes?
A: When I see you again (in two weeks).
Q: Really??
A: All right, you can try next week. Go easy on them.

Q: When will the phantom pain/sensations go away?
A: They will diminish gradually and should be gone in a few months.

Q: Does the severed end of the nerve heal over or something?
A: It shrinks down into the muscle.
Q: So it's harder to stimulate?
A: Right.

Q: What can be done about the other damage shown by the MRI?
A: Orthotics, possibly physical therapy.

Q: Is that inflammation?
A: No, it looks more like thickening than inflammation.

Q: What caused it?
A: Likely something mechanical, just as with the neuroma. Sometimes tissues change in response to what the joint is doing.

(I didn't get clarification on that last vague phrase. The impression I got was that we don't know what it's going to look like or feel like after everything settles down with the neuroma gone.)

Q: Can I wear arch supports in the funky shoes?
A: Yes.
Q: Thank God.

Q: Can I take a damp Q-tip and "wash" the exposed parts of my foot?
A: Yes.
Q: Thank God.

Q: Can I drive a car as soon as I'm out of the funky shoes?
A: Give it a couple of days.

So it all sounds pretty positive, if a little bit frustrating for me because it's slow. I am, obviously, going to try to get into normal shoes before two weeks are up! :-)

Comments

[rampling.livejournal.com]

YAY! for progress! Lovely to see you out and about making fine use of that walker -- I'm so, so happy it's helping you! Thanx for sharing those pix. Purple is a fabulously lovely color, but I don't think I'd want it on my toes either.

Great job with the detailed questions. You're getting there!

*hugs-of-empathy-about-impatience*

[dafydd.livejournal.com]

*splutter*

For all that I'm really out of place to ask, Good Lord, what was that incision for?!?!

Neuroma in my spine!

[rampling.livejournal.com]

May 2004 I had mysterious pain slowly appear in my left shoulder. It just kept getting worse, and I ended up bouncing from doctor to doctor and none of them could diagnose it. Finally I got the MRI I should have been prescribed much earlier. It revealed that I had a 3cm long benign tumor in my spine in my neck, adhered to the spinal cord covering. My icon for this post shows this tumor in flashing red! I had to have major surgery to take it out, including boring through two cervical vertebrae. The looooooong saga from first realizations that this pain was serious and slowly worsening, through surgery (including pix), and the difficult recovery, is detailed in this list of LJ memories (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=rampling&keyword=Spinal+Neck+Tumor&filter=all). Just reading the subject lines of that list can give you an idea of what I went through. It was quite intense, as you might imagine.

I just had my 1-year since surgery anniversary at the end of July. My follow-up MRI a couple of months ago showed me to be blissfully tumor-free.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That walker is a GODSEND. It is stunningly obvious to me that with both feet out of commission the walker is exactly what I should have had. Crutches?...it is to laugh. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

At least the bruising isn't the kind that hurts at all, not in the slightest. I'm suprised at how long it's taking to fade. There must be a lot to clean up in there.

[rampling.livejournal.com]

It really makes me happy to see that it's helping you. And after seeing that dangerous-looking thing you did leaning back on your crutches so you could walk on your heels, I feel safer knowing you have the walker too! :)

Even though the bruises often don't hurt, to me somehow seeing the purple (and blue and yellow and green and brown for me) always kinda disturbs me emotionally, like it means something's very wrong. Intellectually I know it's a sign of healing, I know things are fine, etc., but just seeing those loud colors on my body makes me feel a bit icky. (And on my pale skin the colors can be Really Loud!) Funny, 'cause I can handle other things like cuts or incisions or scratches or such wounds without that icky emotional reaction. People are so funny about what gets to them, and funny-colored bruises are one of mine. OK, now that was TMI. I hope your bruises keep mellowing and healing nicely.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That leaning back on crutches thing was definitely bad news. :)

Interesting -- needles are one of my ickies, but funny-colored bruises are just fine. At least on myself they are (and yeah, I too have pale skin and Really Loud colors).

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

Feet are looking better!

And I'm right there with you with impatience for medical things to get better :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh, no KIDDING. At least mine I *know* are gradually improving and I *know* there is an end (at least to the post-op stuff). Yours, gah, I'd be climbing the freaking WALLS at this point. Yeesh!

Thumbs up for progress!

[irascignavojo.livejournal.com]

Good to see you with that walker... and the progress with the foot seems really quite good. And will get better and better... and never boring for us friends, as we like to see you as well as possible.

Re: Thumbs up for progress!

[ckd]

Completely off topic: your icon is hysterically funny. Have you seen the video THG made using characters from Summoner and Red Faction with that comedy bit for the audio?

[irascignavojo.livejournal.com]

Not yet, but maybe you can help me out with that, where to see or get it?

And if you can appreciate my icon you just might also like and appreciate my LJ-Community myraworld. I make it a point to tell everyone to join the community, if only to lurk and see what we're up to, and then you can have and use that icon too :-)

[ckd]

Try this link, but it requires registration (bah).

Re: Thumbs up for progress!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And yes, the progress is definitely good. No setbacks, continual improvement. YAY!

[perfect-autumn.livejournal.com]

lovely feets!!

Hrm, I would agree with the "dont know what they'll look like" assesment on the feet. Once the wounds close, a little gentle massaging (just your thumb over the area with moderate pressure) should help too much tissue build up - if you interested. (I apologize if I'm handing out useless medical info here).

But you're so healing, and its great to see. :)

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

lovely userpic. :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip! I suspect she meant "don't know what they'll look like" in terms of the thickened plantar plate and flexor tendons, but yeah, I'll certainly have a scar. Anything that keeps too much of one from forming is a good thing -- the whole problem in the first place was that there wasn't enough room for everything!

[perfect-autumn.livejournal.com]

gentle massage will help everything under it as well - tendons and plate. skins only so thick. :)

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Future clean feet and mobility... yay!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

YAYAYAYAY! 8-) If I can "start to get them wet" this weekend, why then, this weekend starts at 12:00:01 Saturday morning and I am going to WASH!!

[pixiecrinkle.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you're doing ok -- and I love the continuously decorated shoes.

You have so much patience -- I'm impressed. I would definitely not be handling this nearly as well as you. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I find it much much easier to have patience when I know there's an end to it. If this were some indefinite thing I'd be climbing the walls. (And I'd be a major bitch to everyone around me, too. Glad it's not that!)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Woo-hoo for what sounds like healing to me!

*hugs*

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Sure does! Any extra healing vibes go toward you and Toni, 'cause I have enough. :)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Why, thank you! That's awfully decent of you. :-)

[melanie.livejournal.com]

i'm glad things are going well so far, and i do hope that the phantom pains diminish over a few months as she says. i hope you can restrain yourself from overdoing it in the meantime!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Yeah, pain is a GREAT motivator for not overdoing things :-). She said to let how it feels be my guide, and when I asked for clarification she said "weird sensations are okay, mild discomfort is okay, pain means STOP." Good to know.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

looking good :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

At least it's still color-coordinated with my wardrobe. (I am still in skirts, although now that the bandages are significantly smaller I could transition back to jeans. The skirts are: 1 purple, 1 black, 1 blue, 1 green!)

[jupiter29.livejournal.com]

New pics start here. They're getting boring.

More shower pics! Er, I mean, no they're not. :)

Seriously, I'm glad things are going well. I'm sure it will be a huge relief to have them washed. :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

OHHHHHHHHH YES. :-) It was!

[jupiter29.livejournal.com]

Wow, now I'm curious just how good it was. It you were making noises like that, you should have recorded them as an audio file to go along with the other foot porn you've been posting. :)