12 Days post op: mtp fusion and ankle debridement

Hello,

I had surgery on Thursday, January 9th at the Ottawa Hospital (General) to address some long-standing issues relating to my disease (diagnosed in ‘88 w/JIA: juvenile idiopathic arthritis previously known as JRA: juvenile rheumatoid arthritis). The surgery was a success and I am forever grateful to have a capable and compassionate care team.

I’m often told ‘woah, that doctor is the BEST in the city/province/country/world’ and it’s true. My surgeons are next-level and as my most recent contributor-to-such-accolades (anesthetist) informed me, it’s because I’m a complex case. I have been through the wringer from diagnosis to now. It has destroyed my body and the best of the best have the skills to help me. As I said to her, “If you’re gonna be sick, you’d better do it right!”

It’s 12 days post-op (I think?) and I feel very rough. The TL;DR of my disease is that I have an immune system that is designed to kill itself. As such, I get very sick (even with common, non-serious viral infections). While trying to recover from the double procedure (toe fusion + debridement of ankle), I caught a bug. Last night I had a fever just under 104 and it was awful. Fever broke before 10PM and I was able to get back to baseline by this morning.

Trying to heal physical wounds while also battling autoimmune disease (without the aid of arthritis meds/can’t take ‘em due to infection risk which complicates surgery/recovery) AND a viral infection; why do I always feel the need to do everything at the same time, all the time? I’m exhausted.

Exhausted, but on the mend.

I expect to be in good health by Friday to attend my first post-op appointment. This is when I’ll have my stitches removed and should be able to start weight-bearing on my operative foot. I will be unable to drive (pedal foot in air cast) until late February and may have to adjust my fitness goals! I was hoping to be back in shape by spring but fall may be the new goal post.

Here is the before and after photo of my foot (not photographed is the second wound where a large bony growth was removed from my ankle):

As you may be able to see, I had my left MTP fusion done previously (age 17, missed gr. 12 finals which ended my highschool experience). I look forward to improved function, less pain and better overall health. I share this stuff with those who choose to read about it/follow me because I want to provide real, garnered-through-lived-experience hope to kids and/or parents/guardians of kids with physical disabilities. It hurts. It’s painful. It’s a grind. Don’t give up. Keep going. Like I said before, “If you’re gonna be sick, you’d better do it right.”