Bunion Op next Friday 8th August!

Foot care
1

Hi ladies,

I'm finally having my 1st operation on ONE foot at a time done on the 8th August here in Australia. I'm lucky to be having the top surgeon that I've waited 2 yrs to see, and then he goes away to another hospital!....Although I've done a lot of reading on this forum about ladies experiences I'm wondering just how long I will haveto have my foot up for before I can actually walk using the crutches. Can someone let me know please. I may be able to have Rehab in a different place for some weeks if I can't use crutches to get down the steps into my house. But I'd like to know from those who have gone through this operation how long it took them.

 

2

carol19792, I was to be "no weight bearing" for up to 6 weeks. After about 3-4 weeks I felt pretty comfy putting a little bit of weight on my foot. I of course was also wearing a lovely black Velcro closed "boot" that protected my foot. I wore that boot to bed for the first couple to three weeks.  After I had my stitches out at about the three week point I stopped sleeping with the boot on. What a relief. I waited a full year between surgeries due to work but I think even without work I would have done the same. I'm also glad I had the screws removed from both feet now. All bones are nicely healed and I am not worried about having a recurrence of bunions. I'll also choose my footwear wisely. I've worn platform heels since surgery with no issues but am down to a more sensible 2 1/2" max now. smile Good luck to you!

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Hi Carol - I am in Australia too and had bilateral scarf akin surgery this week.  I needed to be on crutches to be discharged from hospital.  This is not to say I am roaring around using crutches.  I am bed bound with my feet up but can use the crutches to go to the toilet and shower etc.  I think it depends what method of surgery you are having as some are non weightbearing for weeks.  Hopefully you are having a weight bearing method.  I have been told most impt to have feet elevated for the first 10 days to ensure wound healing.  After that I think the elevation is to minimise swelling and pain. Good luck on the 8th.  I am very pleased the surgery is over and am onto my recovery.  By the way the hospital physio has given me quite a few exercises to do already. happy to pass on any info you want.

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Hi Carol

I had both feet done at the same time..!! To get it out of the way. The pysio had me up and about on the crutches the same day, but only to get to the loo etc. I had my feet elevated the first two weeks with plaster  cast  and the lovely shoes 😁 then plaster off and stitches out😳 had to wear toe straps and shoes for another 4 weeks..!! I have 2 weeks left..!!! Woo hoo..!!! I am back to work on Monday thank goodness but have to get dropped off and picked up by my lovely husband. Good luck and let us know how you get on. Oh and I was very surprised how easy I found getting about 😋 x

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Hello Carol.

Gillian here in West Yokshire UK.

You'll be able to walk very soon after your surgery with your crutches.

I was shown how to use the crutches by the hospital's physiotherapists and they showed me how to put the crutches in front of me and then bring my feet towards them and how to negotiate the stairs. Going up you grasp both crutches in one hand and place the other hand onto the staircase rail ( if you have one). You then put your good foot onto the first step whilst steadying ourself with the two crutches hyeld in the one hand. Then bring your bad foot up onto the same step. With both feet now on the first step you bring the crutches onto the same step still holding them in the one hand and holding the handrail with the other hand. Repeat the process as before for the rest of the stairs. Good foot, bad foot, crutches etc. When coming down the stairs you old again the crutches in one hadn and hold the handrail with your other hand and bring the crutches down onto the first step, followed by your bad foot and the your good foot. So, the order of what you do going up is reversed for coming down the stairs,  ie, crutches, bad foot then good foot. These processes are slow but you'll be fine. If you have a bag which can be worn across your body you'll find this useful and I carried my house phone and mobile phone around with me in the bag every time I left my chair just in case I tumbled and needed to ring anyone for help on the days when I was in the house alone whe my husband was not there. You will feel very tired as the effort of moving around in this very limited was does sap your energy so don't be feeling you're unusual if you feel constantly exhausted. This goes on for many weeks. I bought a bed cradle to lift the bed covers off my feet and this has proved invaluable and I had unbroken sleep except for the nightly trip to the loo. You'll need to put your heel wedge shoe on even to make the short trip to the loo so allow yourself time to get it on once you feel the urge 'to go'.  I had a heel wedge shoe which I had to wear for 6 weeks ( whenever  was moving around. I didn't need to wear it inbed and I didn't wear it all the time during the day. Sometimes I kept it on though so that it gave my foot added support and it also meant I wasn't bothered putting it on and taking it off all the time

You must keep the foot very well rested and elevated above groin level and estrict your walking around unless you need the loo or soe other task. The foot will throb a great deal when the foot is lowered and you willave a huge amount of swelling or many weeks. This swelling does reduce butthe amount of load bearing you place on your foot will make it swell even more. So, esting the foot  -  elevated  - as much as possible is essential.

When oure bandages are changed ( mine were changed at 2 and 6 weeks following the surgery and I finally removed tem myself at home as instruted at week 8) you will be apprehensive about what your foot will look like. There will be a very long scar about 6 inches and along its length may be dried blood congealed to t some of the stitches. The nurse takes great care when removing the bandages so that any dried blood does not tug on the scar. When the bandages finally come off you wl very likely have huge 'sheets' of dead skin flaking off. The foot is very dry due to being wrapped up and deprived of air circulation. Theskin will lok horrendous but underneath you will ave a new layer of wonderfully silky new skin and your fot will feel lovely and soft and smooth. You may find attempting a shower tricky and I relied on having daily strip washes as I was afraid to step into the shower which is over the bath n case I slipped and fell. You could buy a 'Limbo' if you want to attempt a shower and this is like a long plastic waterprof stocking with a rubber seal at the top which will keep yur foot dry whilst you shower.

I hope my comments of my experience of my surgery will prove helpful to you.

Good Lck,

Gillian

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Hi Carol,

I am an Aussie, too, though based in the UK. I had my scarf akin osteotomy done on 8th July, so I am now almost 4 weeks further down the line.

We all seem to have very different experiences and as someone else said, some of us have had dissolvable stitches, with different variations on the basic operation and outcomes, I suppose. I went home about two hours after I recovered from the anaesthetics. I was issued with two uneven crutches, one too long and one the right size! So used those to get into the car to go home and everytime I went to the loo. I also have the heel wedge shoe which I wear whenever I am vertical but I never wore it to bed.

We have stairs too, but I have been going up and down them on my bum, and at 72 see no indignity in that, and would highly recommend this.

I had to go back to the hospital the next day because my bleeding hadnt stopped and my bandage was somewhat saturated with blood, but even though I had stopped taking the aspirin two weeks before the op, it still seems it was affective. By the time I saw the nurse at the hospital the bleeding had stopped when they removed the bandages. I got a pair of right sized crutches, too.

About 12 days later the bandages were removed once again, and a much smaller dressing was placed over the incision site. My foot wasnt particularly swollen and it was a thrill to see no bunion poking out.

After a week I was told to remove the dressing which I did somewhat tremulously, but I need not have agonised as the scar is healing very nicely now.

I bought a plastic foot cover for the shower which is a walk-in one, and have been showering every day, though the first week much less. I have a plastic stool to sit on in the shower.

As I didnt have any pain the first night until the local anaesthetic must have worn off, I didnt take any painkillers until I just couldnt get to sleep. The pain wasnt that bad either but enough to keep me awake.

I just took 1 Ibruprofen before going to sleep the 2nd and 3rd night and since then havent needed anything else. I was advised to take lots more, and  everyone on this forum will advise that you follow instructions, so it really is up to you.

I keep my foot raised most of the day, and was advised by the D, not to do much, though was told I could walk on the wedge shoe, though that didnt imply a marathon. Everyone advises keep your foot raised and be patient and do nothing. I tend to go with how I feel.

Best of luck for Friday 8th. You will be fine.

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I had an op for  43% bunion on the left foot 6 weeks ago yesterday! I think the precoedure was called 'lapidus'.  I am very positive  about the experience, although don't expect the foot to LOOK good for a good while - m Ine doesn't but improves daily

I have to say that I stopped using the crutches after two days, and managed to peg leg up and down stairs on thge 3rd day. I live alone, and the only thing I have had to have help with has been watering the hanging basket for the first week! And lifts when I could not get the bus. I shopped alot to be ready, and a neighbout brought me fresh fruit and veg - I used  online shopping once too.  It has helped that for once ther English weather has been warm and dry  - I didn't fancy my chances of getting into wellies! And I will not even TRY driving for 8 weeks after the op because I have a manual car and I don;t think it would be safe to risk dodgy clutch control as yet. I am a community carer so can't work yet, but if I had had a desk job I reckon (provided I had managed to get to work - see below) I could have been working after a fortnight if I had been supplied with something to put my foot up on from time to time.

I am an unathletic but ft 66 year old (and joined a gym for 4 weeks prior to the op to do some simple cycling and treadmill exercises, which I suppose I could have done at home. Maybe this helped?

After one week I could hobble 100 yards to the bus and go to town- rucksack for shopping cos I needed extra balance - the idea of falling was NOT APPEALING!. My foot swelled abominably but recovered after sitting down and putting it up. Apparently one can expect swelling for quite a time. I bought and used some slipper socks to go round the house and garden (when dry) and some flat velcro fastening sandals when the bandage came off.

I confess, I took it off the bandage  after 4 weeks tho I was supposed to keep it on for 6, when the dressing was removed. I found this more comfortable for walking cos the bandage dug in to my instep.  I didn't like the surgical boot I was given to wear for 6 weeks as it made me walk lopsidedly (My heel also got sore) but I kept it on and used training socks and then hiking socks under the boot to make up for lack of bandage thickness/protection!

I have had intense itching on the instep when the dressing came off which apparently is a histamine reaction after an op (and anti histamine cream works - as does soaking, tho not until the dressing comes off - 6 weeks)

I am now wearing a sort of ugh (sp?) boot with a knitted bit all the way up from the calf, so I don't have to bend my toe too much.

I have started (gingerly at first) flexing my toe as recommended (internet exercises are easy to find) and after 3 days could actually see the bone as I flexed (I compared it to the other toe on the other foot!) A friend was given physio exercises which involve putting the sore foot flat down and doing sort-of lunges with the other leg to stretch the back of the operated leg/foot cos apparently the back of the leg is affected with a foot op which is why, I suppose, I still find walking DOWN stairs ('up' is not  a problem) a bit  iffy.  I hope these simple exercises will help.

Each day it gets better. I stay in bed as long as poss in the morning and then get about as normal,  tho walking three times slower than normal, and  not for more than about 20 minutes at a time, and not further then about a quarter of a mile.

Find some flat-footed sandals with adjustable straps.  I wouldn't get anything too expensive cos your foot will change si\e weekly! To be honest, I have used second-hand shops. Of course, my OTHER foot still has a bunion to accommodate, which i hope to have done next year.

To be honest, I have enjoyed the excuse to be lazy and catch up on paperwork, sorting out all the technology (or lack of it) in the house and labelling my photos.

I can't honesly say I have anything other than the very odd twinge of pain - just discomfort, which you would get after an exceptionally long country walk, for example!

The only time I felt a bit like an invalid was the first night after the anaesthetic operation when I was not allowed to walk for about 12 hours and kept having to have a bedpan all night long! The more I knew I couldn't get up, the more I needed to go! I was in hospital for a day so the nurses helped, of course.

Good luck.

NB I had no stitches, and scar seems to be healing well..