There's No Crying in Baseball! Or Shoe Shopping - 6 Months Post-op

6 months post-op

   One of the draw backs of being your surgeon’s last patient before he retires is being left with unanswered questions. The expected healing time for Lapidus surgery is 6 months and I’m there. Of course, as a health care professional, I acknowledge every patient heals differently. But that’s hard to accept when YOU are that patient with a potential prolonged healing or even, complication.

My concern:

   I avoid walking on the inside of my foot and do not use my big toe (Biggie) to push off.  Biggie has a limited range of motion, so putting my body weight on her to propel is uncomfortable. To compensate, I use the outside of my foot and my third toe (Small) to take on Biggie’s load instead. This is particularly painful when I walk around the house in socks or bare feet. I prefer to wear something with a sole like slippers or even running shoes for more support.

My question:

   Will this resolve itself with time and patience? I can’t imagine surgery as a solution, but is there something I can do to improve my range of motion? Or, is this just the way it’s going to be? I need to know….

   I saw my family MD today and we discussed my concern and question. He told me he would refer me to an orthopedic surgeon in Ottawa who was in his graduating class in 1977. I promptly belted out: “My boyfriend was born in 1977,” not to make him feel old but because nearly every appointment I have with him, he enjoys recalling the opening of his practice, the month and year I was born, August 1981.

   Despite this set back, my feet look great (I love my scars) and I went for my first pedicure a couple weeks ago.

 My shoe shopping experience was not fun. It felt like a FAIL! Shout out to my friend Nancy for witnessing it!  I went to multiple shoe stores and could not find comfortable fitting shoes.    My old frustations returned, everything felt super tight or loose on one foot or the other. Clearly, my feet are about 1/2 size difference due to the natural healing or some long standing edema. It is apparent that I can’t wear cheap shoes and I don’t think I will ever be able to wear anything other running shoes and flats with good support. High heals are out of the question. I did find one cute pair of flats at Aldo which I would have never been able to wear before my surgeries. They are leather so they will stretch but I cannot wear them for more than a couple hours because the sole isn't strong enough. 

My new Aldo kicks! What do you think?

   So, my journey continues......