We are done with the Chicago visit today and are headed back to the farm to stay with family. The Chicago orthopod spent about 20-25 minutes with us and listened carefully to everything that has happened in the past 4-5 months. She agreed that we have lost all the mobility and forefoot toe motion ... the forefoot is rigid and will not move. She thought the transfer area looked good, but agreed that what we have now is not functional.
She injected a steroid into the top of two toes .... it will take three days to see if it helps the area to relax somewhat. No guarantee that it will work, but we tried. I've had it done in the past and it had not helped. She recommended that I resume physical therapy right away and try it for the next 4-5 weeks and see what happens. I have an appointment to begin again on Wednesday. She agreed that the pain is likely due to the toes not working and not walking normal .... it is a shuffle motion now. She said that removing more bone in the forefoot might/might not work .... not really sure since it didn't work before. If the April toe surgery had worked, we would know it by now.
She gave me a smaller compression stocking that is thinner than the Ace bandage. My right foot is smaller than looking than the left foot. My left leg length is about 1/4" shorter (due to the hip problem). We didn't discuss what to do if nothing improves with exercise. No one wants to talk about "plan B" until you get there. She did everything that she could today and it was fun to see her. We will likely follow up with her in August. We did a little shopping today, but it has been rainy and hot here.
Happy weekend!
je
No comments:
Post a Comment