Walking After Bunion Surgery - True Story

 Day 1, walking after bunionectomy surgery

All I know is that I’m lucky to have had shoulder surgery a few years ago.  Post-bunionectomy surgery is painful, but nothing like that shoulder thing.  I’m lying here with my leg elevated, enjoying my time with a little Percocet in front of the TV.  But I won’t need to take it after today or tomorrow.  Nodding off…

 Pre-Op Day 2

 Today marks two days before my bunion surgery.  This is the most stressful time for me before any surgery.  I have been weened from my lifelong anticoagulant, Coumadin, and am injecting myself with Lovenox, a type of Heparin.  This is what happens when I need surgery.  To be on Coumadin is too risky (for bleeding), but being off Coumadin means I am more prone to blood clots.  I am creeping around, hoping not to suffer a stroke or something.  Can’t wait for Monday morning to come and go so I can start back with my Coumadin.  Makes me nervous…

 I realized today that the reason my pain wasn’t bad yesterday was because I was taking the full dose of Percocet.   Backed off today and it does hurt, but it’s not terrible.  The most fun now is having Shep take care of me.  He spots me when I need to get up and go across the room for any reason; serves me breakfast in bed; brings me lunch and dinner; has either bought or rented every conceivable piece of equipment, like a knee walker, crutches and a wheelchair.  He’s even reminding me to take medication.  All with a cheerful demeanor.  Don’t know what I would do without him.

 Day 3

 Today I’m one day closer to going home. We’ve been staying at a Residence Inn since my surgery,  staying close to the hospital till we’re sure I haven’t developed any blood clots. A nurse called from the hospital last night to check on me, and she encouraged me to keep using the pain killers until I’m truly pain free.  It’s funny how we judge ourselves negatively when we use pain killers.  BUT a surgeon cut open my foot in three places, ground away two irregular bone growths, inserted a new tendon between two toes…Yikes!  Bring on the Percocet!

 Day 4 

Finally, today we came home!  Best thing: Alice is by my side, keeping a close eye on me.  She wants to lick the tips of my toes as they protrude from the bandages, but I can’t let her do that so I must keep my foot under a cover.  Another good thing: Shep washed my hair!  Yay!  I had googled “how to make dreadlocks” but I won’t need that info anymore.

  Problems: Our driveway is gravel and I can’t roll on it to get to the car.  Shep’s going to get some plywood and lay at over the gravel.  Also, I went to the Coagulation Clinic to check my blood clotting time.  Still way too low, so I’m on giant does of Coumadin and daily Lovenox injections for the foreseeable future.  I’m a little down, but I just need to adjust to my temporary disability in my house.  FYI, the coag clinic doc reiterated that I need to stay on the full dose of Percocet  for at least two more days.  When will my sense of humor return?

 One Week Post Op - Walking After Bunion Surgery

So, I didn’t “blog” for a couple of days, mostly because I was becoming bored stiff with my previous entries.  Here’s my bunion status, as of today.  I transitioned from Percocet to Tylenol with no problem.  The thing is, if you use the Percocet for five days, you will be nearly pain free when you make the change.  Smooth as silk.  The hardest part of all of this is getting into a routine where you’re not just lying around, but able to get yourself off the bed and up and around.  This is especially true if you have a blood clotting problem because you don’t want to end up with a blood clot in your limbs or lungs.

  But how to do it?  You cannot walk.  Because of my husband’s hyper-interest in moving vehicles, we now have 1) crutches, 2) a knee walker/scooter, 3) a small transfer wheelchair, and 4) an electric scooter like you see in the grocery store.  Here’s my review of this fleet:  The crutches are worthless, as helpful as a pair of toothpicks.

  The knee walker would be ideal, but I have a bad knee, so it’s like hurting Peter to really hurt Paul, though I use it at night to go to the bathroom…The transfer wheelchair is good for outings, as long as I can get to and into our car.  Shep had to put down plywood from our front porch over the gravel driveway.  The electric scooter is fun, though it was like playing bumper cars the first time I took it for a spin inside the house.  Tables and knickknacks went flying.  And it’s not quite narrow enough to get into the bathrooms.

Today was a good day.  I put the experiences of past ailments (leg ulcer, shoulder surgery) to use and took a shower, sitting on the shower bench with a small trashbag taped over my leg, washing my hair with one hand while using a handheld shower sprayer.  The whole process, from getting into the shower to drying my hair, took about 45 minutes. Also, we went out to lunch, a first since my surgery.  Then I came home and took a half-hour nap.  That is so sad, to need a nap after a shower and lunch.  It’s only a week, but it’s one less week I’ll need to do these things.  I can now glimpse what it’s like for a physically disabled person, and I wonder whether I will become accustomed to this life before I get to leave it…

 End of Week 3

 Here’s how it has gone:  Week 1–Okay, due to the pain killers.  Week 2–Depression.  Week 3–Acclimation to the situation.  Hoping that Week 4 will bring permission to put some weight on the foot.  I would love to be able to cut loose the motorized scooter, the wheelchair and the knee walker.  Here is how the foot looks when I go to the surgeon for a dressing change:

It’s a gigantic improvement.  I just hope it works as well as it looks!