2 weeks post op: first check up!

   Today I had my first follow-up with my podiatric surgeon. I had X-rays done and my doctor said they looked great, healing is on target. I'm relieved about that. I've been doing everything they told me to. But now that I have seen my foot and my poor sad little excuse for a left calf muscle, I have bigger concerns:

• When can I start physical therapy (my own exercises at home)
• When can I take the boot off?
• When can I bear weight on the affected left foot?
• When will my toes come back together

   I have a huge space between my big toe and the rest of my toes. It was disheartening to see. However, the doctor assured me that the other toes will float back over by about 6 months or so. I checked other bunionectomy blogs and have seen that this does in fact happen. All of the dressings have also shoved my toes over and away from my big toe. Also, it's hard to see but my four little toes are pretty swollen. Surprisingly my foot was not swollen at all. I'll put a side by side of my foot before. So putting my embarrassment aside, here is the picture so far:

I apologize I have no good picures of "before". Wasn't thinking ahead!

   Now about my left calf. It has pretty much atrophied. This is quite normal. It only takes muscle about 2 weeks to atrophy. Luckily we are getting close to winter so I can hide it with pants. I'm sitting in a chair so it's hard to tell just how much muscle I lost but when I stand there is almost no definition in the calf. I was told I could start doing some exercises that don't jostle around my foot too much. Unfortunately I didn't get really any advice as the appointment was a blur. Oh well. I looked to other bunion blogs and orthopaedic surgery sites for some good exercises. The other issue is that you don't want your big toe to get too stiff. I've read about people that have permanent decreased range of motion in the toe. I've decided to go with this website for physical therapy suggestions. Given what I know about post-op rehab and fractures and what I've read about other peoples' experiences this seems appropriate: 

http://www.davidgordonortho.co.uk/patient-info/rehabilitation-after-injury-or-surgery/foot-rehabilitation/hallux-valgus-surgery-rehabilitation/

   I am told I can take my boot off when I am resting at home, changing clothes, showering, and sleeping. I am excited because I'm so tired of having my foot at a 90 degree angle. It is constantly making my foot feel a "pins and needles" sensation. I've still been icing my foot about every 2 hours (it feels amazing and it's my favorite part of the day). I've pretty much stopped narcotic pain meds and moved over to Motrin. I take 600 to 800 mg twice a day. I also still keep my foot propped up on 3 pillows at night. The doctor said I should keep doing this to help reduce swelling and help the wound heal. I try not to walk around or have my leg down for too long. After about an hour it gets sore from being down. I actually feel the pain more once I prop it up again. If I am going to be up a lot I use the knee rider. I have nurse practitioner clinicals tomorrow and plan on taking full advantage of my knee rider!

   Yay! My pedicure is still intact. It's the only nice thing about my left foot right now so I'm pretty psyched:) This picture also shows the difference between my edematous left 4 small toes and my normal right four small toes. The new dressing my doc put on is much lighter so my foot doesn't feel so cramped in my boot. I still wanted the ace bandage on to help with compression and moving fluid upward. It's also a nice barrier between the ice and my foot. 

   

   Up next is my 4 week follow up. Unless something interesting happens I will be posting then!