Week 4 post op - right foot

   I have been doing my assigned exercises per my surgeon's orders and have really noticed a difference in pain and flexibility compared to my other foot at 4 weeks post-op. The other thing I have noticed is that I have almost no numbness to any area of my foot near the scar. My last surgery, I experienced numbness between the big toe and 2nd toe, on top of my scar, and below my big toe. It has improved over the past year but some of it is still there. Nerves grow very slowly if they are damaged. You never know if they will truly heal to their original capabilities or if there will be permanent damage. So it's a waiting game.

   I still ice my foot about 1-2x per day or more if I am up for a long time or out for awhile. It helps tremendously with swelling and it just feels fantastic. I'm not experiencing much pain. I just take Ibuprofen if my foot is sore. If I know I'm going to be out for awhile with my foot down, I take Ibuprofen before activity to help cut down on swelling and inflammatory pain.

  At my week 4 visit my surgeon gave me permission to manipulate my toe back and forth to help stretch it. It is very painful! However, I just try to think about the fact that the more I do this, the more flexibility I will gain back in my toe! I've continued to shower with the boot off but not weight bearing yet. My steristrips did come off.

   You can see where the steri strips were. Lots of dry dead skin ready to be sloughed off. Gross I know. I'm interested to see how the scar will look. Once all of the black stuff sloughs off, I will start using the scar product I bought. I decided to try a different one this time to see how it works compared to the Scarguard. 

   Having done this whole operation twice now, I have to say, one of the things that bothers me most is the hassle of the boot. I can take it off when I am sleeping and showering but I cannot weight-bear on the affected foot without it on. So it's just a hassle to take it off in bed. I spend a lot of time in bed anyway, keeping my foot elevated to help with swelling and healing. You can see in the above pictures I haven't had that much swelling. 

  Will report back in 2 weeks!