Put Your Best Foot Forward


Happy Monday!

How was weekend?  Mine was spent convalescing and I am doing well.  I watched the The Bodyguard on Netflix   This is definitely not my normal type of show but Knox McCoy named this show as his awesome of the week when he was a guest on The Sorta Awesome podcast.  David walked in and asked why I voluntarily was watching a show that he'd choose.  There is definitely some violence and language and other adult content but I did enjoy it.  There are only six episodes in this first season and I powered through all six Friday evening.  

I thought that I would share a little about my foot woes and the surgical procedure that I had on Friday.  I was feeling what I thought was a bunion or something of that nature.  It finally reached a point that my daily life was being affected so I went to a podiatrist.  They did an x-ray and it looked something like this.


Image result for big toe bone spur

See that hook on top of the big toe joint?  It's a bone spur or Hallux Rigidus.  Fancy, huh?  It is surprising how much difficulty that hook can cause.  The entire toe joint seems to be affected and the ball of my foot was often throbbing from the limited range of movement of my big toe.  One of the most difficult things has been finding shoes that don't press on the bone spur.  I've been reduced to two pairs of shoes that are tolerable and nobody has time for just two pairs of shoes. The procedure involves an incision and sawing the bone spur off.  Apparently one of the biggest possible setbacks after surgery is that my incision comes open and the possibility of infection.  The recovery is not too long; I will be in a boot for 4-6 weeks and I can't drive for TWO weeks (more on this later). 

While we were in Florida this past summer I began having heel pain too.  I followed up with my podiatrist and he diagnosed plantar fasciitis.  He gave me a heel shot that was very painful and recommended some stretches and icing.  I did see some improvement but I required another shot.  My doctor wanted to delay my toe surgery until we were sure we would have improvements in my heel.  I received my third heel shot during my surgical procedure today.  Those shots into my aggravated heel are so painful so I am glad that he was able to give me the shot while I was knocked out.  When he gave me first shot I did not contain my discomfort very well.  When the doctor opened the door to walk out of the room after administering my shot there were a few of his staff peeking in to see if I was alright.  I just started acting like I was all good and nothing to see here folks.  Embarrassing but hilarious!

Now more on the NO driving for TWO weeks thing.  I was like awww heck no - there ain't no way.  I left the doctor office and drove a lot that day.  I work far from home and have a LONG commute. I began really paying attention to how often I use my big toe.  Big toe, you are the boss of me!  My foot constantly on the gas and pressing on the brakes put a lot of pressure on my toe.  I was so surprised and realized that my doctor wasn't being unreasonable at all.  I am very blessed to be able to work from home two days a week so it really isn't too huge of a deal to work from home for a couple of weeks, especially with Thanksgiving being next week.  

So I just shared a lot of words about my foot.  Don't worry Kellie, there will be no feet pictures in this post. 

Have a great week!! 


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