Fast forward another 10 years and my foot pronated so I was basically walking on my ankle so it was a very difficult situation. I knew I would have to have foot surgery again and dreaded it. The good news was that I found another great surgeon who performs these type of things regularly. He said I didn’t have to do it immediately but soon. I chose to wait until the summer since it is too hot in Florida to do much outside. I hoped that by fall, I would be able to get around and enjoy life again.
This time it was a two-part surgery. The first one fused the bones behind my foot; the second fused the metatarsals to the joint. In total, my foot is now straight and has an arch (sort of). For the first month, I had a splint that was so padded that I couldn’t fit any clothes over it except for golf skirts.
This time I was prepared. I knew what we had to do. This time, the house is on one floor. I bought a knee scooter so I wouldn’t need crutches.
We had a walk-in shower so we didn’t have to get over the tub (yahoo) and Mike bought a toilet seat with arms so I could get up easily. Finally, I didn’t have to work so I could concentrate on me. While things weren’t easy, it was so much better.
July 12, 2016 was the first surgery. The worst part about it was the nerve block. That really hurt. I don’t remember the rest of the surgery except I had a rather large splint on my foot. Mike had to pinch my toes because I had no feeling in them for three days. July 26, 2016 was the second surgery. This time I tried to beg off having the nerve block but the surgeons convinced me it would be better for me to have it. This time it wore off in one day.
I went out for the first time on July 31st (5 days’ post second surgery) for lunch at the Longboat Key Club with Mike, my aunt and uncle. It felt good to get out of the house for a couple of hours. The knee scooter worked out well but sitting in the car was a challenge. The next day, we went out to lunch for our 29th anniversary. It was a lovely lunch at Jack Dusty in the Ritz Carlton. It is always fun to eat there. At that point, I wasn’t ready to go out for dinner so lunch was wonderful. I have to add that their floors are marble so it is fun to cruise on the knee scooter.
August 19th (5 weeks’ post-surgery) was a momentous day. My splint was changed out for a cast. It was supposed to be a walking cast but I really couldn’t walk on it even with a funky rubber-like sole that was added to the bottom of the cast with a couple of Velcro pieces. It just didn’t work. I don’t think it can work for anyone so I called the doctor and they changed it to a walking boot. That took some time to figure out how to really walk with it. Actually, it took a couple of weeks so the knee scooter was still part of the action for a while.
Started physical therapy on August 24th (6 weeks’ post-surgery). I have to say I went to a wonderful physical therapy place called Fyzical. Their methods were excellent and I know it really helped. They had a treadmill that used air pressure to modulate a percentage of your weight so you could “walk” at 50 or 60 or some other percentage of your real weight. The only thing that was odd was being zipped into the device. It felt like Captain Pike of Star Trek fame. They also have an underwater treadmill and that is really fun. They adjust the water pressure to make it harder to walk.
On September 1st, I went out without the scooter. Freedom at last! It was difficult but I was so incredibly happy. Walked to labor day party at Tiki bar in walking boot. No scooter. It was the most walking I did since surgery. Yahoo!
Seven weeks’ post-surgery, I walked with a brace and sneakers. Okay, I had to buy $170 New Balance sneakers because they had very wide ones to accommodate the brace that I had to wear. I clunk, clunked around but could walk without too much limping.
One of the things I found out as I was starting to walk without the knee scooter and any other braces was that my left foot forgot to walk. I had to stand up and wait a couple of seconds to get it to start walking. I was astounded that my foot (who I now was referring to as Frank) was just not really part of me yet. I started thinking I was only off my foot for a relatively short time but what happens to people in worse shape than I? This situation lasted a couple of months but then started to go away. By week nine, I walked unassisted (no brace) from the bed to the bathroom. Another milestone was accomplished. I also was able to walk into the bedroom closet, put on my sneakers and take Mac for a bike ride (he ran). My life was definitely on the way back to normalcy.
I also started to go back to my real life and started water exercise. By week ten, I started riding my recumbent trike. The first ride was 5 miles. The following week was 10 miles and then 15. I was so incredibly happy to take my life back.
Six months’ post-surgery, my life is so much better. I had the right surgeon and he did the right thing for me. I am walking with the dog and best of all, with Mike. My life is better than it has been in years. I don’t have to count the number of steps it would take to go shopping. I can go to a mall and not worry about going to only one store and then back to the car! Life is great!
