Cast # 3

This is Week 3 since the surgery.
Another 2 weeks has gone by, so it was time to change the cast. It was getting a bit sloppy on the inside and a touch ratty on the outside.
Doctor Brunet had a look at it and said it was doing well. I thought it looked kind of gross. The incision is a bit crusty, and one of the pins can't even be seen, but the nurse snipped the stitches so they can dissolve.

The cast is the same as last time, in fiberglass, covered up. No weight-bearing yet.

Next time they'll take x-rays and remove the pins. Maybe I'll be allowed a little weight, or maybe that will be the next time. 

I took a picture of the bare foot today. It's nice and straight, but what a scar!

My left foot is feeling a bit beat-up these days. Mostly the skin, not the bones. Have had to soak it in Doak Oil a couple of times, and I'm trying to give it lots of care.

Left foot doctors, right foot doctors....

Well, there has been change but no progress. The surgeon Dr. Gartke wanted to send me to for my right foot problems does not want to take me. His name was Laurent, it turns out, and he is more interested in ankles!
So now I'm being referred to Georgeanne's favourite orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Brunet.  I think I've been here before, because I asked my GP to refer me to him several years ago, but I could not get in.
Heaven knows when I'll get to see him or get anything done. In the meantime, my foot gets worse.

Sun, sand and surf

My week in Key West around Nov. 1 was both good and bad for my feet. As usual, sun and water improved my psoriasis. But not as much as I would have liked. When I saw Dr. Dossetor in December, she changed my prescription, saying the Dovobet was too strong for my shins and was thinning the skin too much.
Besides swimming, I did some walking, lots of standing, and lots of bicycling in Key West. It might have been a little too soon for the biking (although the flat landscape was wonderful!), because Dr. Gartke said my foot bones had not healed as straight as they should have, or as they apparently had on the last x-ray.


I took my dermatologist's advice and went back to the land of sunny weather and salt water. This time, it was Mexico's west coast, where we visited our son and went diving. The sunshine did good work on my itchy shins and rough feet. Changing to the new cream had already made a difference to my shins in December.
As for the mechanical issues with my feet; here's the situation. The left foot, with its straightened toe bone, is getting more and more solid all the time. There are very few twinges anymore, and it seems to work well. I go back to see the orthopedist, Dr Gartke, in March. The right foot, however, is often sore and weak. I am looking forward to getting it straightened out, too, although I may have to keep the cast longer this time.

Progress, in little steps

Today I realized it was time to remove the spacer that fits between by big toe and the rest. Four weeks post-cast and my left foot is feeling pretty good. The toes wiggle some, the skin is solid, and some days, it's even better than the right one.

The right foot still has its bunion, and the blister I got in Paris is taking its time to heal up; it was pretty deep and is placed for maximum irritation.

I go to see Dr. Gartke in early December and have tentatively scheduled the right foot surgery for June 14 --  but that can't be right. June 14 is a Saturday. Maybe it's May 14, which is a Wednesday. In any case, I'm on the waiting list for cancellations before that.

I've had psoriasis flareups on my ankles and shins; probably not enough sunshine -- and too many hours in shoes! I also have an appointment with Dr. Dossetor late November/early December.  And I will spend a week in Key West this month and hope to expose my itchy bits to the sun!

We went to Paris, Looking for Buffett...

 

 

I walked quite a lot in Paris, as one does!  I would have liked to walk more, but my feet objected. Still, they held up pretty well, and only gave me a big pain one night. I took quite a lot of Advil over our 4-day weekend. My new cane was very useful, especially on the cobblestones, and especially for getting nearer the front of lines.

 



My left ankle got swollen, as did the whole foot, but as the picture shows, it is not far from normal. The old callusses finally sloughed off, and no new ones formed. The psoriasis stayed very calm. On the right foot, however, with its still-crooked toe, I got a big blister just at the base of my big toe. Had to pop it (cleanly, of course) to be able to walk the next day.

All in all, not bad for 10 days out of a cast.

After the cast came off

Last week of the cast!

I will be very, very glad to get rid of this cast. This has been the worst week for discomfort. Lots of rubbing, chafing, itching, burning. And my toes can wiggle pretty well, including the big one, imprisoned as it is. This is Sunday night, so I only need to hold out till Thursday morning. Guess I can do it. But I would like to be able to walk a little farther without it hurting.

September 16, 2013

On the weekend, Rachel painted my toenails for me.... even the one hiding under the cast!

The cast is looking pretty ratty, especially the bottom.

Fourth week in the cast

It's starting to get tedious.
Also, I'm wearing the edges of the cast down through "normal" activities.
Showering at the cottage this morning was not as much fun--or as dry for my foot--as the last time. There wasn't any sunshine, and I was sloppier about positions, etc. I thought Neil would come and scrub my back, but he was busy with other stuff.  The cast got damp on the bottom, but I dried it with the hair dryer and it seems okay. Then I stuck it into another plastic bag, put on the boot and went to see the Sundance Festival at Maberly. A small festival, but getting around was not great for someone whose foot is slippery and a little sore (also the right leg got tired of doing all the work.).
Pain? Nothing that feels like bone problems. Just rubbing at the edges of the cast and itching, burning sensations from time to time. It may be the psoriasis asserting itself. It's hard to keep my sticking-out toes clean enough, and my heel and arch are pretty flaky.

Walking around, sort of

I can get around quite well now, and haven't needed the lovely cane Roy Flett made for me very much. But it certainly helps on rough ground and "long" walks. That's about 3 short city blocks, or a store witihout a shopping cart.
The cast rubs on my toes and, of course, my right leg compensates in peculiar ways for my left foot's unusual stiffness. But while I had some pain and twinges last week, all seems to be much calmer this week. It hurts most when I'm in bed: I think it's because my brain is mostly unoccupied then and the effect is like poking at a sore tooth.
I am a little concerned about my skin under the cast. Sometimes it feels very hot, other times rather slimy or cold, and sometimes --rarely--it itches. Walking with a bare heel exacerbates the calluses and cracks, so I have been basting it regularly with Doak Oil (which has been discontinued! oh, no!) when I soak the right foot. And I have it wrapped in a piece of old t-shirt, after I put on the Dovobet. So the exposed part is doing pretty well, although a bit flaky.
My right foot is okay, but the footwear that provides the most balanced height for both feet is a Croc, which doesn't provide support and which irritates the skin on my heel. So it's socks and Crocs, or, more accurately, sock and Croc, for the right, and bare toes, the cast, a wrapped heel and the cast boot on my left.  What a fashion statement!

Bunion surgery and recovery

My feet at Mallory Square, after walking across Key West, January 2013.

 This is my left foot after bunion surgery. I had to stay entirely off it for 2 days (counting surgery day, August 7, nearer to 3 days). Once the nerve block was used up and removed, yesterday, Friday, August 9, I was able to walk, although it was more difficult last night than this morning.
Today, it hardly hurts, but I think my vigorous garden and patio weeding operations (mostly seated or leaning) did some skin chafing with the cast. But it's okay.

Less than a week...

I'm going for bunion surgery on August 7. Two or three days of bed rest, then 6 weeks in a cast, then 6 weeks of limited exercise. I hope it is worth it.
I got the shoes worked over by the shoe specialist: they make me taller by about a centimetre, and they are very heavy. They can be hot to wear, and rather dorky sometimes, when I'm a tourist, but they do help my feet and hip work better.
My psoriasis is pretty calm, since it's summer, and remains more pronounced on my shins than on my feet. 
Will report after surgery.

Internal and external updates

Internal
Footbones
Well, I have been to the orthopedic surgeon to find out about getting my bunions fixed. And I'm going to get the first one done this summer! After they break the long toe bones and realign them, they put you in cast for 6 weeks. Then there's 6 more weeks of gentle motion, and after that, things should get to a new normal. She also prescribed a shoe-fix to help the metatarsals, expecially in my right foot. My new shoes at are at the shoe expert's now. I'm getting the left bunion done first, because the bunion there, although less pronounced than the one on the right foot, accounts for more of the pain in that foot.

External
And the skin?
I have nearly no psoriasis on my feet, except below the ankle bone on my left heel, mostly. But it has been all over my shins all spring. Flaming red, bumpy shins are not nice in shorts weather! It's fading a lot on the left leg and a little on the right. I just keep treating it with Dovabet and the tarry-salicylic cream, and Vaseline if it gets too itchy between doses. I think I've kept it under control: no infections anyway. I have an appointment with Dr. Dossetor next week, so we'll see what she says.

January in Florida

I am in Florida, sunny Florida, and so my skin problems are greatly diminished. The bone problems (bunions, etc.) are no better.
Hooray for sunshine!

These are my feet after walking across Key West to Mallory Square.

Sore feet (bunions)

I have been buying shoes and experimenting with socks.
Winter seems to have damaged my feet: there are strange red spots in some places, and callusses and blisters forming on my inner left heel and the bunions on both feet, but worse on the left.
I am heading to Bonaire next week, so hope to be barefoot, underwater, and/or exposed to sunshine.
I see Dr. Dossetor at the end of May.

The picture is from October 18, 2010.

Salt water and sunshine did my feet a lot of good. Even though I did more walking than usual while in the DR, the feet were very good. I managed to scrape my heel on a limestone rock when we went swimming in a cavern, though, so there is still something sore. And while there I had a big blister on my left big toe, and a smaller one on the end of my middle toe (also left), but they resolved themselves. I was careful to use my creams and socks, dorky as I felt some of the time. Towards the end, though, I was going barefoot in my sandals some of the time, and not suffering.