The week has ended positively, despite a challenging few days with pain and big decisions. Thank you for praying for my situation, especially this week. Several praises and updates ….
The incision wound is healing fantastically! Amazing enough, the drainage has pretty much stopped and we started using the collagen strips today on the wound. This promotes new cell growth and the cut begins to “fill in” with new, pink tissue. I started that collagen strips about 10:30 this morning and by tonight can already see a substantial difference. In several more days, the wound should be entirely closed. There has been no infection . . . it has just taken three weeks to stop draining. We have made HUGE progress on this in one week – yeah!
On Wednesday I received an e-mail from the Chicago surgeon asking me several questions and saying that she wanted me to be prepared to answer them during our phone conversation on Friday. I thoroughly thought through her questions on Wednesday and typed out my responses on Thursday evening. At 8:45pm on Thursday, my surgeon called my cell phone. She knew she would be busy with several surgeries on Friday and wanted to have adequate time to talk to me. I was thrilled because talking during the evening was much easier for me as well. I was pleased that she took time to call, listen, & offered insight to what I was sharing. We talked for almost thirty minutes on the phone & discussed the wound, physical therapy, pain, how I was doing emotionally, walking, and wearing a shoe in the future. It was a good conversation and we talked about more on the phone than at the last office visit.
She stated repeatedly how much she cared, wanted to make sure the foot was right for me, and that my “case” was a huge deal to her. She is committed to seeing it through until the end and told me that she has spent considerable time thinking through the next best step. She is concerned about my hip also and realizes that my gait pattern affects the hip. She fully understands that my pain level and inability to walk/stand are at a point that this has to be improved. She believes that the severe pain I am having now is due to me only being able to walk on the back half of the foot. God didn’t make us to walk on our heels alone.
After much discussion, we agreed that the next best (and hopefully final) step is to proceed with the toe positioning surgery to straighten the toes. If the toes are straight (not curled as they are now), this should also bring the foot down somewhat, allow me to put weight on the front half of the foot, and walk in a closer to normal pattern. The surgery is outpatient and will be done at the same hospital in Glenview, IL on Friday, April 27th (probably mid-morning surgery time). We will arrive Thursday in the Chicago area and will return home on Saturday. There is no cast involved, and I’ll be able to put weight on the foot after several days. The flexor tendons will be cut to allow the toes to be pulled up & they will be secured w/several external pins, which will remain in place for 4 weeks. Physical therapy will follow for the first half of the summer.
I feel blessed to have such a committed doctor who genuinely and sincerely wants to see me walk and wear a shoe again. She is one of my biggest cheerleaders and looks forward to the day pain free walking happens for me. I realize we’ve said before that previous surgeries will be the last, but she feels strongly that this should be the end. This procedure is rather minimal, compared to what we have done in the past. I strongly felt that our phone conversation was from her heart.
Pray for the following ….
- Finalizing work details & responsibilities, before I leave.
- Safe travels this week (Wed.-Saturday).
- Continued peace about the decision we’ve made.
- Incision – that final healing will continue to happen.
- Pain – that this will cease to exist with straight toes & the
positioning of the foot will come down.
Many thanks again for your prayers …. they were felt this week like never before. Enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather this weekend. Take a walk for me!
Jenny
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