Day 125 – Feeling Good

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to do a quick update.  I am feeling really good, and my scar is looking really good as well!  I worked out today for the first time in all these months, and although it wasn’t very “impressive” in terms of what I did, I feel so much better for doing it!  I am feeling like I am really getting back to normal, and I think that before too long I will be back to my usual workouts, although I feel so out of shape right now I think that it will be more like starting all over again in terms of what I can do.  Oh well, not much I can do in that sense except get back to business.  I’ll  include a pic of my foot so you can see my scar.  I think the gel pad is really helping.  The top part of the scar is looking light and is fading, but the bottom part, which was always worse, is taking longer.  It’s looking better, just not as nice as the top part.  I also think that the skin on our feet naturally heals better than the skin on other parts of our body.  I think it’s because the skin on our feet is pretty thin, which makes for a good final result, so that is good news for us all.  Although my foot doesn’t feel too swollen, it is still bigger than my other foot.  When I measured around the middle of my foot the other day, my right foot was still about 1/2 inch bigger than my left.  It will be interesting to see how long it really takes for this to go down.  I also noticed in most of my pictures that it looks like a have a bunion on my brachy foot, and I don’t.  This must be due to the swelling.

I am excited to see that there are so many brachy blogs that have started since I started my own.  I have most of them listed on the sidebar, and there are a couple of new ones that I’ve added today.  This is so great, because I know this is helping and will continue to help all of the other brachy sufferers out there decide whether or not they want to do their own correction.  Although our stories are all pretty similar, they are all unique, and the more information that others have, the easier it will be to make the decision on whether or not someone wants to go through with brachy correction surgery.  It took most of us a very long time to make this decision.  If I had had this many blogs to read, I don’t think I would have hesitated at all to go through with it.  Either way, the stories are all great, and they help us feel a connection to one another, and make us feel like we are not alone, there are so many of us out there! This is truly the best part of all.

Take care and have a great week!

scar update

Photo Timeline 2 – photos documenting changes since last timeline

May 11, 2012

May 19, 2012

May 19, 2012

May 19, 2012

May 19, 2012

June 7, 2012 Day before second surgery

June 8, 2012 Day of second surgery

June 8, 2012 Day of second surgery

June 8, 2012 Day of second surgery

June 9, 2012 Day after second surgery

June 11, 2012

June 11, 2012

June 11, 2012

June 11, 2012

June 18, 2012

June 18, 2012

June 18, 2012 after stitches removed, compression bandage around toe

June 18, 2012

June 21, 2012

June 28, 2012

June 28, 2012

July 6, 2012

July 9, 2012

July 9, 2012

July 11, 2012 showing scar gel pad

July 11, 2012

Day 118: Photo Timeline 2 Coming

 

Hi Everyone!

Everything is great here.  My foot is feeling better and better everyday, with a little less swelling each day too.  I am back to doing everything as normal except I still can not work out yet- or at least not any heavy-duty working out with lots of pressure on my foot.  My husband and I spent a couple of days recently working outside, planting lots of flowers and doing general cleanup outside (since I couldn’t do any of this before I was very behind in planting my usual flower pots all over)- anyway, it wasn’t that hard, I just had to be careful if I was carrying anything too heavy and walking on uneven ground.  By the end of each day I was certainly tired, and my foot and toes were a little swollen, but nothing at all like the swelling I had before.  My scar is looking pretty good as well.  I am wearing the gel pad every day and using the drops that came with it at night.  Scars take such a long time to heal, so I don’t think that I can expect any miracles with the treatment, it’s just going to take time for it to fade.

I’m posting an updated time line, showing how my foot has looked since the last timeline that I posted, up until a couple of days ago. If any of you are worrying about how your toes are looking while still “in the process” , this might make you feel better.  Although I did have the additional problem of the short toe bone that required an implant to give me a teeny bit of extra length, I think that anyone who is going through this can take comfort in the fact that what your toe might look like even the day before your final surgery (if having one), is not necessarily what your toe will look like when it’s all over with.  That final adjustment that some doctors do at the end can make a big difference in your final result.  I also think that my toe has been changing little by little since that last surgery.  As it is adjusting to its final “place” it is looking a little better all the time.  It may still be a tiny bit short, but I am very pleased that I went through with this and with my new “cute” toe!  Have a great week!

Day 111: All Done!

Well, I had my last doctor’s appointment this morning with Dr. T!  I was so excited, but actually a little sad too!  I’ve gotten so used to seeing them all there after all these weeks and months that I feel like I’m going to miss them a little bit.  I took them some homemade cupcakes with a thank you note, and they gave me my foot model with my old fixator attached!  I’ll include a picture 🙂

We took some x-rays to check for consolidation, and Dr. T says that my bone is about 99% healed, which was great news – although he said it didn’t look very “pretty”.  I asked him what he meant and he said that it looks a little wavy and a little strange right now, but that in time it will completely heal and look normal.  He checked out my scar and I got some scar treatment to use to help with the healing.  I’ll include this in the picture too.  It is a reusable pad with some gel that I am to use continually until it wears out and the gel is gone.  I had a little bit of build up of scar tissue around the area where the pin holes were that had the infection, so he gave me a shot of a steroid that should help break that up a little bit.  He said that I needed to really moisturize the scar well too.  This will help it soften up and heal better.

So that was pretty much it.  Everyone was very happy for me, and I had to intentionally keep it light, otherwise I was afraid I would get all blubbery and teary, and I didn’t want that to happen.  Dr. T is amazing, as is his staff, and I can’t ever thank them enough for what they’ve done for me.  All of you with this condition understand what I mean.  We live our whole lives hiding part of ourselves, and to think that doesn’t have to happen any more, ever, is a little overwhelming, and a little surreal too.  I find it hard to believe that it’s over and my foot now looks like a normal foot.  It’s amazing!

I can get back to lower impact exercise anytime, just nothing heavy on my foot for another 4 weeks or so.  I still can’t completely bend my toes, so I couldn’t do anything like jogging or high impact cardio anyway, so I’m ok with waiting a little longer.

As I was leaving and saying final goodbyes, Tana played some “graduation” music!  They do that for all of their patients who have completed a long process of treatment and recovery- so funny!

I have so many people to thank now that this journey is about over, and they include:  Dr. T!  The number one podiatrist, ever!  Tana, Byron, Brooke, and Amanda of Dr. T’s staff – they made this whole process so much easier on me than it might have been without their support and compassion.  My husband Joe!  I know it was a little bit tiring driving me everywhere for all of my doctor’s appointments and shopping trips, in addition to playing nurse, chef, and housekeeper at times.  I love you!  My family, especially my Mom!  She had to listen to just about nothing but “toe talk” for all these months!  And she gave me lots of support and encouragement whenever I needed it.  Thanks Mom!  My sisters, especially Sheila and Julie, who also had to hear lots of the same talk, and also lent lots of support!  Lanelle and Bill- thank you for the adorable sandals and your card, it was so very thoughtful of you! Finally, my fellow brachy supporters!  Brachyfemme, Byebyebrachy, Brachywoman, and “newcomers” Brachygoneforever, and Littlebrachytoe.  You are all amazing, strong women who helped me so much in this journey.  Your support and encouragement was so incredibly helpful.  I’ll never forget any of you, and wish you all the very best in your future – with those beautiful new toes of yours! 😉

So, here are some pics from today.  I plan on doing an updated time-line in the next day or two.  Other than that my posts may be limited, I’m not sure if I’m ready to say goodbye yet, but I probably won’t have a whole lot to post in the near future.  I will do an occasional update on my healing though, and let you know how my exercising and scar healing goes.  Take care all – and thank you, thank you, thank you for following!

scar treatment pad and gel, and foot bone model with my fixator!

after last dr. visit, still a little swollen, and have a little bandage covering the spot where I got a shot today

one more from today