Post-bunion surgery part 3

I had surgery on 25th September on the NHS for a bunion on my right foot – a scarf and akin osteotomy. I’m documenting my rehabilitation.  Well it keeps me occupied. It’s 18 days since my surgery now. I’m continuing to improve, but do have painful moments. On Sunday I woke up and my foot was very sore. I vaguely remember having some kind of toe spasm in the night when I was asleep, or maybe I got my big toe caught in the blankets, I’m not sure, but that morning it was quite sore and remained sore all day.  Walking to the loo and back was quite painful.  I took some paracetomol and stayed in bed. Fortunately I had some Tramadol left, so was able to take one later on that evening to help me sleep. Next morning it felt comfortable again and the swelling felt like it had gone down again.

I’m still moving around using my bunion boot. Every time I get up I have to put it on – even just to move a few feet to the toilet. I’m sitting at my laptop and am able to do a bit of work from home, although I’m still officially off sick. It’s good to sit up for a bit although I do make sure I lie down and elevate the foot. This reduces the swelling and any discomfort that can arise from that.

One thing I have noticed is that I’m putting on weight. Not surprising really because I’m not moving around very much. I do have some small dumbells near my bed and I try and do leg exercises to keep the circulation going.

 

Foot, dumbells and socks!

 

It kind of gets me down a bit to think of how unfit and wobbly I’m becoming but there’s not much I can do about it while I heal. I knew this would be a long haul with 6 weeks off work and a lot of patience required. On the whole I’m doing really well, but do get occasional pockets of frustration and counting the days.

My appointment at the clinic to get my bandage changed is on Thursday afternoon. I was supposed to go in two weeks after my surgery but they didn’t have any free appointments *rolls eyes*. I phoned the nurse at the ward where I had my op and she said that would be fine, there’s was nothing to worry about from a clinical point of view. Well, that’s ok then. Just as well.  I’m looking forward to the appointment to get the dressing changed because it will be a milestone on the road to recovery, but I have to admit to being a little bit nervous. I’ll see my foot for the first time since the op — and I hope it doesn’ t hurt! The stitches are dissolvable so at least I don’t need to have them out as well. I’m a wimp, I know.

I wonder how people cope if they have a bi-lateral scarf and akin procedure. I can’ t imagine how hard it must be to have both feet done at once. How on earth do you move around to get to the loo!

My carers (mum and dad) have escaped to Ilford today to go shopping and probably give themselves a break (from me!). I was fine until I started to feel cold. The window in the toilet had been left open (not normally a problem but it’s chilly today) so as I can’t reach it, I tried to close it with the end of a broom. The knob thing at the end just came off. I managed to get it back on the broom again, and then had another go with the furry end of the broom. That worked better, window now closed. Also managed to drag the heater into my room and get it plugged in. Feel better now I’ve got some heat. It’s tricky when you can’t move around very much to warm yourself up, you tend to feel the cold more.

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