(Almost) 6 Weeks post op: xrays & the big ‘check up’
Everyone knows that the first check up, post op, is to make sure you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing and not showing signs of infection or neglect, etc. It’s the six week appointment where you get a taste of freedom, assuming everything’s been progressing as it should.
My ‘six week’ appointment was yesterday. I breezed through, too, after showing up early. It was a pleasant Valentine’s Day surprise! Plaster Room > X Ray department > right into the Exam Room. I was greeted right away by my surgeon (which is also such a nice surprise as it’s never a guarantee you’ll be seen by your doctor).
Overall, foot is looking good! Healing okay, some problem scabbing on my toe so I’m back on the band-aid wagon (I’m a big ‘let it breathe’ person so I opt to go without probably more often than I should). The extra bone growth (osteophyte) that was removed from my ankle was a big one and there was some manipulation of tendons and nerves which is why I’ll be swollen there for a while. My toe is now ‘looking normal’ after a lifetime of being deformed. My shoes feel so strange and I have to ‘rebreak’ all footwear in to fit this ‘new toe’. I also finally have the same shoe size for both feet - something that I’ve never had in my (almost) 39 years on Earth.
I have had the MTP Toe Fusion surgery done before (left foot), when I was seventeen. Let me tell you friend, I was NOT into fitness at that time. I was not athletic at all. So I don’t remember the following restrictions being ‘a thing’: no running/jogging for six months. No skiing for the same. No real sports til August. As expected, this winter is a bit of a wash for me sports-wise, but I am happy the procedure is in the rearview. I will have to adjust my fitness goals/expectations from June to maybe the fall now but that is ok.
I plan to take this family day long weekend to settle back into a normal routine which means not having my husband do everything for me (and the kids) 24/7. I can drive! I can walk (sort of)! I will be not just okay but better with each passing day. I made it and I’m gonna keep going.
Thank you, Ottawa Hospital. Your doctors, nurses, techs and care workers are such a critical part of my life and the lives of others like me. They have used their lives to study medicine in the pursuit of helping others which involves sacrifices of its own. Their efforts are not lost on me and there is no thank you big enough to express how grateful I am, and continue to be, with my care team.