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twinkletoes
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| Joined: | Fri May 29th, 2009 |
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Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 08:09 pm |
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| Hello everybody! I have been following this forum since I found it back in April of this year, but have never posted. Needless to say I was soooo excited and started to get the ball rolling right away to get my surgery. I had surgery exactly 3 weeks ago with Dr. Lee(one-stage). For the most part I feel fine, just the annoying swelling. From what I can tell at this point I feel like I am going to be very satisfied with the outcome, but there is still some swelling to go down. If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer them. If I can figure out how to post pics I will.
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luckyleaf
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| Joined: | Sun May 3rd, 2009 |
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Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 08:29 pm |
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| Congrats on the surgery, how much did your toe need to be lengthened and did you have a short toe bone as well as the short metatarsal?
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twinkletoes
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| Joined: | Fri May 29th, 2009 |
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Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 09:43 pm |
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Congrats to you as well! Well when I met with Dr. Lee the day before my surgery he took some measurements and said that I needed about 15mm of lengthening and yes I did have both the short metatarsal and toe bone. However he said that my fifth and fourth toe bone were about the same size and that because of that in the grand scheme of things i would still be able to gain significant length. When I went back for my post op he told me that he was able to achieve 100% correction on the metatarsal. So I am really excited to see the end result. Too bad I have another foot do But I'm just trying to take it one day at a time. How about you, are you worried about your toe being noticeably short even after your surgery? I think that I read in your other post that you also have the short metatarsal and toe bone.
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luckyleaf
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| Joined: | Sun May 3rd, 2009 |
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Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 11:36 pm |
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I am worried about the appearance of the toe in the end, but I am keeping a positive outlook and I know that in the end it will look much better than it was before. But that is so cool that you went with the one stage, I read that you should not have much pain one week after the surgery. I get pain whenever I turn the thing 
So what have you been up to since the surgery?
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rightandleft
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| Joined: | Sun Feb 1st, 2009 |
| Location: | New York |
| Posts: | 135 |
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Posted: Wed Oct 21st, 2009 01:51 am |
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Twinkletoes
Do you live near Arizona, if not where did you stay and how long. Contrats on your surgery.
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southernash
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| Joined: | Tue Oct 20th, 2009 |
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Posted: Wed Oct 21st, 2009 02:02 pm |
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| Congratulations on your surgery!! I am having the one stage done tomorrow on my right foot. I have looked all through the message board to see if anyone has said anything about day to day living. I am concerned about not being able to drive for several months. How have you been adjusting to that? Also, do you have any advise as far as what to have at home in preparation to make things easier? I keep thinking about things like clothes for work, showering, etc... Any tips would be awesome! Thank you
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twinkletoes
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Posted: Thu Oct 22nd, 2009 06:10 pm |
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Luckyleaf
For me the minute I found Dr. Lee, I knew he was going to be the one to do my surgery and because he highly recommends the one stage if you are a candidate that's what I went with. I was a little nervous because I have never had any major type of surgery, but his confidence put me at ease. If everthing turns out well with my left foot, I will definately go back to see him for my right foot.
As far as what I do all day, it is not much. You are right that after the first week there is not much pain. The funny thing is that I feel like that at week 2 post op my foot was feeling better than it is now at 3 1/2 weeks. It's not that it hurts but I feel a constant pressure on the top of my foot.I assume it is the swelling. So basically I keep my foot elevated constantly and ice it about once every 2-3 hours. I haven't ventured out much since I got back from Arizona. It's kind of boring but I deal with it. Hopefully the swelling will get better soon so I can do more.
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twinkletoes
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Posted: Thu Oct 22nd, 2009 06:25 pm |
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Rightandleft
I do not live in Arizona, I live in California. When I went to Arizona for my surgery, I was able to stay with one of my best friends who lives really close to phoenix. That made the whole trip so much easier and way less expensive. She went with me to the surgery and drove me to all my appointments. I was so grateful. Because I was staying with my friend, I was in Arizona from sept 27 to oct 10. Dr. Lee was aware that I was staying this length of time so he actually had me see him one extra day than usual, the Thursday before I went back home( I left Saturday). However before I went out there he told me that I needed to stay until Monday, which was only 6 days after my surgery. So basically if I would have stayed at a hotel, I would have had to be in Arizona a total of 8 days.
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twinkletoes
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Posted: Thu Oct 22nd, 2009 06:43 pm |
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Southernash
Good luck with your surgery today! Is Dr lee doing your surgery? I'm sure you are in good hands either way. How soon do you plan on going back to work after the surgery? I'm a teacher, so working right after the surgery isn't possible. However I wasn't actually teaching when I had my surgery, I was laid off when the last school year was over, so I thought this would be a good time to get the surgery.
Some things I can't live without right now are ice, pillows and my shower chair!
Although I had surgery on my left leg and I guess technically I can drive, I actally have not had to drive yet. I'm staying with my parents right now so they have been taking care of me really well. They've been really supportive through this whole process. I can't wait to hear how your surgery went. Please keep us updated.
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rightandleft
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| Joined: | Sun Feb 1st, 2009 |
| Location: | New York |
| Posts: | 135 |
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Posted: Fri Oct 23rd, 2009 12:21 am |
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Twinkletoes
Did find a doctor to do your post op
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rightandleft
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| Joined: | Sun Feb 1st, 2009 |
| Location: | New York |
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Posted: Sun Nov 1st, 2009 02:24 am |
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Twinkletoe
how long do you have to be in a cast and who is doing your post op. thank you
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southernash
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| Joined: | Tue Oct 20th, 2009 |
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Posted: Sun Nov 1st, 2009 05:57 am |
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twinkletoes
Thank you for sharing your experience so far. Surgery went well. I live in Atlanta and found a doc here to do the surgery. My foot looks great....at least I think it will after the stiches and swelling are gone. You are right, ice, pillows and shower chair for sure. I would like to add pain pills to that list Today I took a pretty bad fall on the crutches. I tried to catch myself with my casted foot being that the other foot flew out from under me and landed smack down on my tummy & face. I'm so worried now that I messed up my new bone & toe Anyway, praying for the best and looking forward to getting the surgery a few weeks behind me! I hope you are doing great and are healing well. Have a fun rest of the weekend Southernash
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twinkletoes
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Posted: Sun Nov 1st, 2009 07:24 pm |
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Rightandleft
I have a local podiatrist doing my post op care. He is really nice and did not say anything negative about the choice I made to have this surgery. I've read on here that some are not that understanding. It wasn't even that difficult for me to find him, he was the second one that I called and he knew exactly what the condition was. I was a little worried at first because it seemed like he didn't really want to follow dr lee's post op instructions. The first time I saw him when I got back from pheonix he changed my dressings and clipped the stitches, then put me back in the splint that I had on from after surgery. I was in that thing for a total of 4 weeks and I was miserable! I saw him again at 4 weeks post op and he finally put me in a hard cast up to my calf, and it's suprisingly comfy. I should be in this cast anywhere from 10 to13 weeks. I hope that my recovery wasn't hindered because of how long it took to get the cast on.
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twinkletoes
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Posted: Sun Nov 1st, 2009 07:38 pm |
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Southernash
I am so glad to hear your surgery went well. So did you have the one stage surgery done? Did you doctor take bone from your heel or was it a donor bone? That is good that you found a doc in your area to do that procedure because not many do it. I'm sorry to hear that you fell. In my opinion the crutches are the worst part of this whole process. I'm sure that you didn't do any damage to your bone. Are you in a cast? I've had a couple of close ones myself but luckily I haven't taken a fall yet. Do you have brachy on both feet or are you one of the lucky ones that only have it on one foot? I unfortunately will have to go through all of this one more time since I also have it on my right foot (ugh!). But I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end.
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southernash
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Posted: Mon Nov 2nd, 2009 04:46 am |
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twinkletoes
Thank you! I had one stage done with bone from my heal. I agree, the crutches are the worst. I am going to hopefully go in the morning for an xray just to make sure nothing is wrong. I am in a hard cast up to my knee. Next Monday I will get my permanant cast which the doctor said is less bulky and has less dressing under it...just some sort of sock. Thankfully I only had brachy on my right foot. It never even crossed my mind that someone would have it on both feet. Bless your heart for having to go through this twice! It will be totally worth it though
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loren
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Posted: Fri Nov 20th, 2009 07:12 pm |
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twinkletoes
hi there i was just wanting to know how many weeks post op are you and how is your recovery going
loren
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