Home from Dallas with corrected toes ....

We're home from Dallas and the trip went well .. yeah! We had a good meeting with Dr. C on Wednesday and it went better than I anticipated.

As we were on the elevator riding up to his office, there was a nurse and mom & I on the elevator. She asked us who were going to see, so we told her. She said that he was the BEST doctor in the practice .... another office person told me that people come from all over the US to consult with him. Sometimes he has two operations happening simultaneously.

The problem was not what Dr. C thought he was going to see, so it was good for him to see it in person. He really felt like since we had previously lengthened the main tendon in the foot (Anterior Tib) and it was weak, another tendon (EDL) had "taken over" and was majorly over compensating for the weak one .... to the point that it caused the toes to become contracted and stay in a fixed position. He had know idea why it happened, but he wasn't totally surprised by it. His suggestion was to lengthen the EDL tendon, which is the main tendon that causes the toes to work, pull up & function. This would cause the toes to go back down and hopefully remain down. It was more of a problem w/the tendon leading to the toes than an issue with the toes themselves. Lengthening anything does cause weakness, but it is better than cutting the tendon totally, which would cause the toes to be limp & that can lead to the foot drop issue.

The toes would still have structure to them, but would likely not be able to grip. The operation involved a 2" incision on the top center of the foot, so we did not have to open up anything near the toes.

He wasn't convinced it is a nerve problem, but he said diagnosing a nerve issue in something complex like my situation is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Dr. C compared this to playing one the those carnival games where the mole or animal pops up at various spots/times and you have to keep trying to hit it down ....... in my case he said we're just going to have to treat whatever arises as things surface. He was excited that we had 15 mo. of things being nearly perfect.

We did the EDL lengthening surgery at 2:30 on Thursday, May 13th. As procedures go, it was relatively minor and uneventful. The surgery was about 40 minutes and I left in a surgical shoe. We stayed with friends and rested on Friday ... weather in Dallas was rainy. The flight home was fine ... we know the drill w/using a wheelchair and getting through security.

The pain is better now ... first few days are always rough. I can walk on it w/the surgical shoe or boot, but I'm doing only what is necessary ..... I'll use the scooter at work. I can see that the toes are down again and are back in the correct position.

Thank you so much for praying for us this week .... everything went very smoothly and we felt your prayers! I can't think of any glitches or problems ... the medical trip went very well.

The stitches come out in two weeks, so we are praying that all heals well and for no wound issues. There really was no "extra skin" on the top of my foot to draw up to stitch together .... it looks to me like Dr. C pulled enough together to sew it closed, but I'm praying that it remains closed. He did not have a lot to work with.

I will be at mom & dad's house for the next two weeks and plan to return to work tomorrow. We were thrilled that there was a relatively minor "fix" and that we were able to get the problem corrected while we were in Dallas last week. I will do post-op care with my STL ortho doctor. Thankful to Him who provides in our time of need!

Jenny