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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! :-)
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! :-)
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