Got the cast off .... yeah! The good news is that everything has healed inside the foot very well. The two pins on the outside edge of the foot were removed and one "leftover stitch." The foot is still extremely swollen, so this is going to take some time to come down. The big toe and foot appears to now be straight. No signs of infection, just puffy toes and a thick foot.
The bummer news is that more surgery is going to have to happen on the "droopy toes" sooner than I would have liked. The toe problem was another issue that I had prior to the last surgery, but I had hoped we'd need to correct them later and not sooner. The way the toes are now, they get in the way of trying to walk - hard to explain, but they do. There is no movement in any of the toes, so they all need to be pulled up and fixed in a permanent position.
The disappointing news is that at the moment, the foot doesn't lay flat or make contact to the ground .... as everyone had hoped. It is straight, but not flat. There continues to be a gap on the left side of the foot, and only time will tell whether or not this improves on its own, will stay the same or get worse. I need to put weight on it for several weeks & see how things progress. My experience in the past has been that if the foot doesn't make contact w/the ground after surgery, then it continues to remain too high (wrong position) & continues to creep up. The swelling needs to decrease and I need to put weight on it for a bit, before we decide how to proceed.
We'll likely begin physical therapy and/or discuss how to fix the toes in three weeks. The pain issue will be known w/more time, too. We took digital photos today to try and gage if the positon of the foot changes in the near future. I'm trying not to get discouraged about this yet .... the surgeon thinks that it is better than it was, but "not perfect." Myself and everyone else had pictured the foot laying flat on the ground today and that was not the case, so I'm trying to think optimistically. Improving the toe issue will aid in walking, but won't solve the foot positon issue (tipping to the right). Thankfully, God has all this under control.
All this to say ..... keep praying! We are not "out of the woods" on this one yet. The need to have the toes "fixed" was not a surprise today, but the idea that what we just did (surgery wise) might not have fully worked was something new. The foot needs to respond appropriately (e.g. stay in the correct positon) & the skill of the surgeon must happen together, in order for the foot problem to be solved. At the moment, I am still very confident in my surgeon, his staff and continue to enjoy working with them. Time and more prayer are definitely needed!
I did find out that my surgeon is a Christian and has three kids in Christian schools in St. Louis, which was neat to discuss with him. (He happens to go to attend an Evangelical Free Church also.)
Merry Christmas!
Jenny
1 comment:
Dear Jenny,
I'm so sorry you didn't receive the Christmas gift you so wanted - results that exceeded your expectations. The enemy of our souls would want you to give in to despair and self-pity (based on my personal experience anyway), but don't succumb! God is incapable of failing us and, as Gabriel declared, "nothing is impossible with God." Zechariah, whose body part - not feet, but mouth - was similarly rendered temporarily inoperative, prophesied "because of the tender mercy of our God by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven...to GUIDE our FEET into the path of peace." (Luke 1:78-79) (I hope this makes sense, but, as I read it, it seemed to make sense to me :)). In His tender mercy, He who began this good work in you will continue to guide your feet and, more importantly, your soul for your faith is of greater worth than gold (I Peter 1). Please know that others will "keep praying!" You are not alone for God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
Linda
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