- All the little steristrips have officially fallen off (some of the dangling ones had a little help), as of today.
- My mobility in my boots seems to get a little better each day.
- I am showering barefooted and doing a little barefoot walking around the bathroom in the morning and to the bathroom in the evening.
- My swelling and black & blue toes are slowly getting better.
- I am in my second week of 8 hour workdays (from the couch) and no longer need a nap to get through the day.
- I have been doing non weight bearing exercise almost every day starting the day after surgery.
Two weeks from tomorrow I will be completely out of boots and in tennis shoes. Hard to imagine except when I think about what has been gained in the last two weeks!
Here's today's pics of the feet, showing what the healing incisions look like and what's left of the swelling and black & blueness.
Question for anyone who's reading that has experience in treating scars - is there something I should be putting on the incision area yet (lotion/oil/etc) or should I be waiting until all the scabbing is gone and the skin is clear?
Last, I thought I'd head in to work a couple of days next week, however I forgot to mention this to my doctor when I saw him last week. A friend was shocked by this concept and asked if I had my "doctor's permission" to go back already? Huh? I hadn't even thought to ask. So this morning I leave a voice mail asking if this makes any sense to plan for on week three post surgery? When I put it this way, I think in reality this might not make sense yet. We'll see...
Go back and read Sara's blog. I think she used vitamin E on he scars and I thought I read someone else doing that too. Keep me informed of what you use. Feet look great. Especially those colored toe nails : )
ReplyDeleteYou sound good and it's good you can look back and see what you all have accomplished on top of house hunting for your son. AND just think in 2 more weeks you will probably be back to driving and adding in more activities! How long a week feels - hey.
Keep doing what your doing Deb!! Did you skin peel a lot? I recall Sara mentioning her shedding or something. Can you wiggly your toes or don't you really try?
I will research that and let you know.
ReplyDeleteMy feet did not peel at all. They never smelled either. They were barely wrapped. I only had them wrapped from my toes to the back of my foot for a week. My toes and heels hung out.
I do practice wiggling my toes and moving my toes forward and back, just to see if I can do it and see if I notice any change day to day in the range of motion. The stiffest toe, of course is my big toe and it's kind of stange how one day the left side is more stiff and the next day the right is more stiff. My doctor didn't want me to try anything more formal yet and didn't give me any exercises yet. He said to give them a few more weeks to heal.
I have been using Bio Oil. I think my scars look great! My Doc said at my 6 wk check up that I would hardly be able to see the scars in a few months. I started using it when my incisions were healed but still had some scabs on them. I did read where some people use Vit E oil, and I believe one of them was Sara. I'm sorry I was never able to email the pic of my feet to you or Julie. I use an IPad and for some reason they wouldn't send. Maybe I'll figure it out someday! Your feet look great! My incisions are on the top. You esp won't be notice the scars with them being on the side. Your black an blue does look like it's fading faster than mine did and the swelling looks minimal. I think you'll be back to your normal routine before long! Hang in there! Oh I had forgotten to mention that I had done a lot of my Christmas shopping on line while I was recovering. But you should have plenty of time when you get to be on your feet more. You will see improvement every day!!
ReplyDeleteHey Jen, This is Stephanie (from Julie's blog) I had my bunion surgery on Nov 2. When I went to the dr. today, I asked the nurse if I could put anything on my incisions because they are very dry. The nurse said vitamin E, but then later in the appointment the dr. suggested me to buy Mederma to help with scarring and with skin elasticity. Does your dr. have you doing toe exercises?
ReplyDelete-Stephanie
Hey, Stephanie - thanks for the information. Looks like our surgeries are about a week apart. I don't have another follow up appointment until Dec. 14 when I get to wear tennis shoes.
ReplyDeleteI've been putting just a little vaseline on them at night time before I go to bed and that seems to be doing good. I will probably switch over to Vitamin E or Maderma as soon as the scabs are gone completely.
My doctor said not to do any formal toe exercises until after my boots are off. He said fine to wiggle and stretch toes a bit, but doesn't want me to actually work on it. Said I need this time to heal. He said he recomends 2-3 visit with a physical therapist after I am out of my boots, which will be week 5.
Wh is there a three incision looking scar? I thought they only made one incision...
ReplyDeleteCan't believe it's been over 5 years now since this surgery! I am not sure why the photo makes it look that way. I think the sutures were there on each side of the incision. There was only one incision and it has healed into a very fine line that most people wouldn't notice. I am completely satisfied I did the surgery!
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