2 DAYS POST-OP

   Surgery went really well. I was given a nerve block starting at my left knee. I was also given an IV medication to help relax me during surgery. I was awake for the whole thing, which I had initially dreaded. However, maybe it was the medication given or just me surprising myself but I was strangely peaceful and chilled out during the surgery. It only lasted about 25 minutes. Each surgeon has different methods so you may not have this exact treatment plan for your surgery. Here is a picture of the popliteal nerve block in the back of my left knee. Was not painful when they put it in.

   I am just going to skip day 1 post-op because I participated in a research study in which I was given a nerve block for the first 20 hours. So post-op pain started on day 2 for me. Let me tell you - it was pretty bad. I would say 9/10. On day 2 I was still participating in the study so I was given an experimental drug. A certain amount of participants are given a placebo. I'm pretty sure I ended up being one of those participants. I was allowed to have two "rescue" drugs every 6 hrs - Tylenol and Toradol (an NSAID on steroids basically, and much more powerful than Ibuprofen). Neither really helped. So day 2 was basically me having 8/10 pain all day. I was bedbound except for using the restroom. 

   This will not be your experience, assuming you are going in for routine bunionectomy. However, I mentioned it because I did gain something valuable and relatable out of the experience. I know exactly how much raw pain the surgery causes. Some of the pain is caused by swelling of the foot itself. As I've learned as an RN, everybody experiences pain differently. Some patients have more pain post-op then others.

   Last thing I did on day 2 was take a short 45 foot walk. And oh boy, initially it was extremely sensitive and painful getting up and bearing weight on my left foot. But as I started walking I realized it just felt very good to be getting up out of bed. Warning, when you sit back down again your foot will be throbbing. I recommend taking your pain medication 30 minutes prior to getting up.