I had both my bunions done on December 3, at the Royal Berkshire Hospital by Ian Nugent.
I have found it is nowhere near as painful as I expected, and although recovery has been frustrating, it's not been bad and I'm really pleased with how my feet look now and how I'm recovering.
I see a lot of the posts on here are from people wanting to know what to expect, and while everyone's experience will be different, I thought you might find it useful to read about how it has been for me.
I've been blogging about it and am continuing to do so, with details of the op, my recovery, with pictures and videos and loads of information.
It's at www.beyondbunions.blogspot.com
I did post the address within an couple of answers to people but I thought starting my own thread was probably better than seeming to spam all the posts!
Happy to answer questions on here and I will pop back, but the blog might be useful to people.
I'm 38, female, and have a preschooler so juggling life while recovering has been tricky!
Hi Fretty Chervil, I am 3 weeks post my single bunion surgery and have had a totally different experience from you so far. My surgery was carried out at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, Scotland and although I imagine our surgeries were much the same my post op has been totally different....having looked at your blog over the last couple of hours! After my surgery I left the hospital the next day with only a thick bandage and a very weird looking shoe which has a built up heel to mid foot sole (thus no pressure on front half of my foot). My instructions on leaving hospital were heel bearing weight for 4 weeks then partial weight bearing for the next 2 week before finally full weight bearing. My bandage was removed after 10days, replaced by a light one (with no toe spacer in place) for the next week. I now only use light padding more for protection and comfort when wearing the shoe. I don't know whether I feel relief that I have not had to go through what you have (7 weeks in plaster) or fear that my post surgery regime is going to be detrimental to my recovery. I have to say that my foot feels good and I am able to move about well using my weird shoe but only time will tell if my outcome will be as good as yours!
Hi Karens1956, I had a single bunion and hammertoe op 10 days ago and have the same post op advice as you - I have heavy bandaging that gets changed on a weekly basis and am on crutches with a surgical shoe. I'd be interested to know about your recovery as you are slightly ahead of me . Are you still on crutches?
Thanks
Hi lucy24, my recovery is going well so far thanks...for the past week I have been managing about the house without my crutches....don't know if I should be walking without them but they seem to be more of a hinderance than any help now! I did however use them this morning when I went to the supermarket with my husband....might have been a bit ambitious for my first outing since surgery but having them with me gave me the confidence to stand on one leg as and when I needed to!!!
It is 4 weeks on Tuesday coming since my surgery and I am supposed to progress to partial weight bearing for the following 2 weeks but I'm a bit unsure as to how to accomplish this.....but watch this space and I will keep you updated.
Hope your recovery goes well!
Hi I am due to go in for bunion surgery at Ninewells hospital next month, is there any way on knowing if your allocated surgeon is going to do a good job or is it always pot luck??
Hi annie72...sorry haven't got back to you sooner but I wanted to wait until I had been back to see my surgeon to see what he thought of my progress. Well that has happened.......I saw my surgeon Mr Tomeska at his clinic this morning and he is really pleased with how my foot is looking 6 weeks after my surgery. I have no complaints with Mr Tomeska so if you have been allocated him I should think that you will be in very capable hands. Sorry don't know of any other surgeons at Ninewells. Hope it all goes well for you!