After The Stitches ......18 days

My stitches were removed on the 14 day and the removal was painful but it was minimal. The doctor took a small wire cutter and tweezers and cut and pulled out the stitches. There was a stinging pain that was sort of expected but nothing too bad.

The doctor didn't give me too much in the way of instructions, he just advised me not to soak my feet as of yet but that i can take showers and get my feet wet.....yaaayyy!!!! So I immediately did just that. But my doctor didn't give me too much more insight so i'm sort of winging it.

Now for the semi troubling part.....

When the stitches were removed from the fifth toe on the right foot there was a wound that was still open...i asked my doctor what to d and he told me to use Neosporin and that I was healing well. I also asked if I can use Mederma yet and he told me sure....Now the problem with my doctor is that he is very nonchalant and really isn't as informative as I would like so I get most info from the web. So I found out that Vitamin E can be useful in healing but some people have adverse reactions ( so use at your own caution, and I also learned that Mederma can be used on closed wounds once stitches are removed, so I immediately begin using both except for the toe that didn't heal properly...I just use the Neosporin on that.

here is a photo of what my feet looked like after the stitches were removed and what the open wound still looks like.....

The open wound is not painful but i am very concerned about the scarring....and the doctor didn't remove the excess skin from the previous corn so once the toe heals I will be figuring out how to remove the excess skin..... here are the other photos.... there is alot of dried up blood from not being able to wash for 2 weeks.....

Now the weirdest part of it all is that the left foot was stitched 10x better so im assuming that the scars on that foot will heal faster and less noticeable....but we will see....

Here is the right foot and the scars right after the stitches were removed......

Left Foot again............

Right Foot........

So all in all I am pleased with the removal of the hammer toe but now am waiting for the the scar on top of the skin to heal and the internal scar tissue that is making a lump under the skin to heal......Using Mederma 1x daily formula and vitamin E oil , cocoa butter, vitamin E pills, fish oil pills, and neosporin.....I know i'm buggin but it's my skin!!!!!! Wish me luck!!!!

Recovery

Today is day 10 post surgery. Since the surgery i've been recovering well....i've been walking independent of crutches since day 4. In my research from online it seems that the more you push yourself back into a normal routine the faster you recover. I began driving a little more now and have little to almost no pain. I can honestly say the most concerning part of it all now is the healing process of the scars once the stitches are removed.
I stub my toes twice and almost freaked out. The pain was bearable but painful.......all in all the surgery hasn't been too bad for me...

First post op appointment

So my first appointment was pretty easy. I just had my bandages changed and we're able to see my feet for the first time since surgery.

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my left foot is healing "straighter" than the right foot. But for the most part they look like they are healing pretty well.....

The pinky toe has never been more staight and these photos were taken on day 5......

I have 9 more days before the stitches come out and am very happy with the results thus far.....

below is the right foot it is still very swollen but not very painful.... pain scale at this time is about a 2....

Under the bandages

I am so tempted to see what's going on under the bandages. Looking forward to my appointment tomorrow. One of the other issues is bathing with the bandages. I was given latex? Rubber boot bags to wear while showering. The shoe/bags are very effective. They allow you to pump all the air out and keep the water out. So showers haven't been a problem. The problem has been walking upstairs to the shower. There is a lot of pressure when I walk. The pain seems slightly better and I can only pray that the toes are healed a little more before next friday. Will post some pics and info from the doctors office tomorrow.

Oh the pain!!!

I am in unbelievable pain right now. The foot surgery was at 2:50 pm. I was prescribed percocet but surprise, surprise I'm immune to this stuff. I took on pill as directed at 6pm but my toes were still numb and I didn't notice any effects. I took another one at 10pm and noticed that I was feeling a little more pain. As I tried to get some sleep the throbbing and pain is getting worse and worse. I called my mom and she said to try taking 2 I also called the pharmacist and was told the same. (If you have this problem, check with a doctor or pharmacist). Still no luck with these pain meds so my husband is taking me to the ER. Update: At the hospital I was given a shot for the pain and that helped so much. The doctor prescribed me dilaudid??? Never heard of it but its doing the job....p.s. This is the third day and the pain has subsided some. My first post op is tomorrow at 3pm. I can't wait to see what's going on under the bandages. Right now my toes are swollen and still slight painful. Looking forward to the pain stopping.

Post op

Just got out of surgery. And so far so good. My doctor put me to sleep first before he stuck me with needles to numb the feet so my feet are very numb. No pain yet. My feet have been wrapped in gauze and ace bandages and I've been given ice packs and surgical shoes. My post op instructions are simply, elevate and ice my ankles. My follow up apt is in 4 days and my stitches will be removed in two weeks. Outside of that thumb ups. 

anxiety

On my way to the hospital for the hammertoe surgery. Oh yeah fyi. This procedure is sometimes done in the doctors office. It is said to be a "simple" surgery. But being that I'm having multiple toes done at once, it's being done in the local hospital. I had to get a clearance from my primary doctor that included getting a chest xray, ekg, physical, and blood work. No I'm not sure if it was a neccessity, but I assume thet the podiatry office is a little more used to operating on more mature adults. Before I get to the hospital I will be stopping at the pharmacy to get vitamin E oils and vitamins A E And C pills as well as cocoa butter. I'm under the assumption that I won't be using the skin creams until the stiches come out but being that I have to be imobile for a while I'm going to get it out the way.

FYfeet I

So I have been plagued with physically unpleasant feet for 15 plus years now. My problem stemmed from wearing shoes that was just "a little" too tight and the result ended up being hammer toe and corns. I've been on line for years looking for corn removal alternatives, I've used all types of home remedies and Dr. Scholls products with no luck. So now I'm at my last resort and will be having surgery tomorrow. I'm posting this blog because the web has been very informative and I appreciate all the info I've received, so I've decided to pay it forward.

So with that being said let me share with you my experiences. I first started trying to have surgery and was told by doctors that it was cosmetic and the price was 600 per toe. I was tempted to go that route and went to one last podiatrist that advised me that if they are painful the surgery is covered by my insurance. Which is great for me. Now for the differences, cosmetic surgery is done in a way that would minimize scarring and regular removal is done to stop the pain, scarring is not a concern. So this is definitely my biggest concern.

Now my doctor hasn't been too comforting either, and from what I've read on line no podiatrist is. It seems that there are so many variables that can occur due to different skin types that they make no promises. My skin usually heals well so I'm not too concerned but you won't ever know will you.

Its 9pm now and I can't eat or drink after midnight and my surgery is at noon. I'm would like to share my before picture and will be giving you guys info as soon as I can.

I will keep you updated about the pain, medication, time frames and everything that I couldn't find the answers to.

Here is what my feet look like now.

My right foot is having hammertoe surgery on the second, third and fifth toe and the left foot is having surgery on the second and fifth...also the doctor will not be removing the one on the right foot upper second toe...:(

so we'll see!!!

Will post more photos after surgery. Wish me luck!!!