Why am I doing a web page about my bunion?

I hardly consider having a bunion and hammer toe to be a defining experience --but it was to my Grandmother who wore soft leather bedroom shoes the last 20 years of her life because no relief was available for her painful bunions.

The reason I'm doing this web page is to give the same kind of reassurance that two friends gave to me, to the next sufferer facing surgery.

I finally got brave enough to undergo corrective surgery because I mentioned my painful bunion to a dear friend, Susan, who replied, "Oh, I had a bunion, too.  I had surgery.  It was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be!"  Then she went on to praise her podiatrist at length, how painless he was, how well he prepared her about what to expect, how considerate he was to her.  She was my "scout" who went first and proved it actually could be done without unreasonable suffering.  I got her to give me her doctor's name and phone number.

When I put in my request at work for extended sick leave and was making preparations to be out of my office for six to eight weeks, another friend, Angelina, kindly went out of her way to reassure me by her example.  I was surprised when Angelina told me that she had had two bunions surgically corrected.  She is an Activity Therapist, very fit --I did not connect her with limping and holding back on physical activities because they would make her feet hurt/ might inflame her bunions.  Nevertheless she had gone through public school wearing special shoes because of her bunions.  She showed me her surgery scars, which weren't really noticeable.  She said that she had been so afraid of the surgery that she had insisted on having both bunions done at once, which is unusual, to get it over so she would not face two surgeries.  Her refrain throughout her conversation was, "I'm so glad I did it!  And I would do it again, knowing what I know now."

I really drew on what Susan and Angelina said.  I kept "reaching up into my mind" and mentally touching their firsthand reassurance.  It was hard to allow my foot to be broken and a pin put in my toe.  I also struggled with guilt of self-indulgence for having elective surgery and putting extra work on my co-workers.  But for me it boiled down to have the surgery or painfully limp from now on.

What was the surgery like?

It was a "drive by".  It was a lot like dental surgery, rather similar to having wisdom teeth removed.  I was the last surgery of the day, May 26, 2000 at 1:30pm, at an outpatient surgery center that's run by a local medical center.  I slept through the surgery.  My foot was numbed after I was put to sleep.  I did not feel a thing until I woke up in the recovery area, and then all I felt was pressure, not pain.  Before 5pm rush hour started, I was in the car being driven home.  That evening my parents telephoned, very concerned.  I was able to honestly tell them, "My foot hurt worse yesterday before the surgery than it does today immediately after the surgery."  My mother said, "Wait til the novocain wears off!"  (Such comfort she gives me!)  So I waited in dreadful anticipation for the novocain to wear off.  Today is four full days after surgery.  I have not had any pain so far, just pressure sometimes.

To hear what happened, by all rights it should have hurt but it didn't.  The plan in surgery was to break the side of my big toe, make a three inch cut, scrap off the calcium spur and clean up some of the rough arthritis edges, realign, reconnect the two bones using a pin, and let it heal.  Well, my toe bone was so bowed out that after breaking it, realignment proved difficult.  The doctor had to remove my toe knuckle to make my toe bones fit together.  Despite having my bone sawed through removing that toe knuckle, only pressure, no pain.  I am extremely grateful for modern medicine and a skilled podiatrist!

CONCLUSION:

I am sorry I waited so long to have this surgery.  I was first diagnosed as having this bunion and hammer toe when I was 38 years old.  I was told then that I needed this surgery.  I thought the cure sounded worse than the disease!! So I put it off as long as I could feasibly do so.  Surgery finally occurred when I'm 52.  For fourteen years I've limped and suffered unnecessarily, fearing something that turned out to be no big deal as long as I follow doctor's orders, during recovery staying in bed and keeping the foot elevated.

More information, written November, 2000, in response to a number of queries to this web page:
 
There are at least three types of bunion surgery --a Kelly (simplest), an Aiken (which I had), and a McBride (the most challenging because the big toe's bone has to be broken much higher up and the recovery lasts three months and requires a real cast and crutches).  You need to find out which kind you will be having.

I wore a "walking cast" after my bandages were removed. It worked great, no crutches needed. Whenever I could sit down for any prolonged length of time, I could undo the velcro straps and take the cast off. I would have to put the cast back on to get up. I had to take tub baths sitting down and, when finished, drag up to sit on the edge of the tub and put on my walking cast.  It was do-able.

Medical technology is wonderful. I never really suffered, but my foot would feel hot, like there was pressure, which would cue me to get it elevated because it was swelling. I could only stand up for 15 minutes or so at a time for a couple of months after surgery.

Six weeks after surgery, the doctor took away my walking cast and had me to wear Reebok walking shoes that had heel cups and good arch support. I wore those until he dismissed me as recovered, so that was another couple of months.  The Reeboks were extremely comfortable. I chose "DMX" ones that had gel soles and which would blow a puff of air under my toes --had air pumps. They were pleasantly springy. Actually I sort of miss them and still wear them on weekends.

At my last appointment, the doctor had me to bring him all of my shoes in a shopping bag for him to evaluate. He threw away most of my shoes. I am now only wearing flats with wide instep areas --the doctor likes SAS shoes, and those look okay with dresses. He told me that wearing proper shoes would help me in avoiding having the same surgery redone again.

I met my cousin Cyndy by e-mail during my sick leave. She was also recovering from bunion surgery, which was a second surgery for her, the original being done 18 years ago.

My gait got okay after about four months. Until then, I would walk with my weight pressed on the little-toe-side of the foot I had surgery on, to avoid putting weight on the surgery spot, which was tender. The funny gait made my knees ache. I'm over that now.

I am walking a half hour at lunchtime and I began re-taking a step aerobics class three nights a week in August. I am doing fine with it, though I no longer do the high impact things like jumping jacks.

I am still glad that I went ahead and did the surgery. You will not be making a mistake to have it, and you will not be in pain --your doctor will give you pain-blocking medication that works extremely well.

Go to the library before surgery day and gets lots of books.  I hope you have a VCR and that someone will make trips to the movie rental store for you. You can always write your family history, which is how I spent a lot of my sick leave time.

Best wishes to you,