I'm Tweedle Dee'ing and Tweedle Dum'ing my thumbs...

Not a whole lot has happened today. It was another day at work, another evening relaxing, resting my poor throbbing feet. I started looking at fitness instagram pictures and MAN let me tell you that is one quick way to sink into a low mood. I so want to get up and get my body back to where I had it before, but I see no point seeing that all my work will go down the drain as soon as I have surgery. I also canceled my tanning sessions (gonna be kinda hard with a foot that is all kinds of torn up). I will miss having a bronzed glow...

Wow, this seems so low and in the dumps. I am happy, I am so glad to get this done so that when I run I don't have to deal with this intense "oh my god my foot is breaking" feeling ten minutes into the workout. I am so excited for the results! This is only a small blimp on the timeline of life! YA! 

(picture above was at Disney World when I was about eight or nine, notice those awesome kick butt Esmeralda shoes!) 

 

DOWN TO SINGLE DIGITS! 

Only nine days till surgery.

Today was the first day back at work since the three day weekend. Running around for eight hours helped keep my mind busy. The downside of running around for eight hours is that my feet are throbbing! I feel this sharp nerve pain every now and then. This little sweet reminder really helped remind me why I am going to go through with this. 

I have begun planning my vacation on the couch for two weeks. My mother will be flying in before the surgery to help take care of me (yes, I have the worlds best mother). She will stay with my husband in the waiting room during the hour and forty-five minute procedure and then be my nurse when my husband is at work. 

I still haven't posted a picture of the boot I will be wearing. You can't really see what it looks like in the bag so I might just wait until after surgery day to post a picture. I might seem silly but I don't want to take it out of the bag lol. 

Well it has been a long day...only nine more to go.  

Holy Cow

I went to the appointment today. Man alive was it informative. I was given all of the "could happens" and had to sign off on all of the paperwork . The nurse also gave me my boot that I will need to bring with me on surgery day. I think that is kinda weird, like why even take the risk of someone forgetting the boot on surgery day. After the nurse left the room the doctor came in to give his sh-peal. He then went over the day of the surgery schedule for me. We will get a  call a couple of days before surgery day to get the time of the procedure. (I thought this was weird, why can't they tell me now?!?) I was told not to eat anything after midnight and not to wear toe nail polish (if they need to check for oxygen the polish will interfere with the sensor they put on my toe). He also told me that I would be given a blocker behind my knee, this will numb me from my knee down (sorta like an epidural for a woman going into labor). The blocker should last between 48-72 hours. I was ecstatic to hear this. He instructed me to put ice packs on my calve instead of on my foot to avoid the ice from sweating and getting my bandages wet. This will lessen the chances of infection. I am also NOT ALLOWED TO MESS WITH MY BANDAGES. Duly noted. He let me know that I need to do three things, rest, rest, and rest. When I told him that I would be traveling in the back of a car five days after surgery he told me good luck. Haha, oh boy. I also asked him if my shoe size would change, he gave me a chuckle and said of all the patients he has seen over the years, none have asked that question. He then told me no, my foot size will not change that much. He told me that my pins will be flush with my skin and that I will not put weight on my foot for two weeks. That was the pretty much the gist of the appointment. At the end the doctor handed me my paperwork and sent me on my way to have my labs done. Yep, the time had come to get stabbed. Now, I hate pain, HATE IT, and when I walked through that door to have them poke at my arm my heart could have beat right out of my chest. How on earth am I going to go through with this major surgery when I freak just by getting blood drawn. Ugh! I almost made my mind up to call the doctor the next day and cancel my appointment. BUT, I realized that this will last a short time, while doing nothing would ensure I feel pain for the rest of my life. 

 

So, here I am..dreading the day where I turn over all control and let them cut me open and break my bones. Oh, I did ask about having the incision done on the side of my foot rather than on top (cosmetic purposes of course). He let me know that there is a nerve that runs along the side of the foot (hello that's why my feet feel pain all the time) that after surgery patients come back complaining of pain. Messing with this nerve is what causes all of that, so, it is frankenfeet after all. Oh well. Ten days people, TEN FREAKIN DAYS! AHHHH    

Less than two weeks before I take the plunge. I just got off work and I am planning on living this three day weekend up to it's fullest. These next two weekends are my last chance to enjoy no restrictions for a while. Monday I go to have my pre-op appointment. I'm working on a list of questions to ask my doctor that day. I'll keep you posted on what all he tells me. 

Today our school had a dance for the students. It was so much fun! I got out there and shook my tail feather with the best of them. After a while my feet began to throb. Then it hit me, maybe one day after all of this work is complete, I will be able to dance the night away and not feel like my feet are broken the next day. I LOVE to dance, and I will push myself to dance for a long time. When I get home I usually limp around because my feet just are done. In previous pictures I posted a picture of me at my wedding, (no shoes). I had to take those puppies off so I could really let loose. That's right people, I'm the one that dances barefooted out there. Judge not! I never want to let some genetics keep me from having my fun! 

I keep looking up videos of bunionectomies. I do not really suggest this, but I just can't stop myself. I cringe every single time I watch them. It has never made me change my mind about the surgery but it definitely reminds me again and again that this is a serious intense surgery and that I should not take this decision lightly. Oh my goodness I'm going to have a completely different foot in less than two weeks!!!

(My feet at 15)

 

Today is an exciting day! I will be traveling to a meeting about Young Living Essential Oils. These oils are all natural and help to keep the human body in balance. Looking forward to getting some more information about them tonight.

I have heard about a mixture of oils that when put together are called a morphine bomb. If anyone has ever tried this mixture please leave me a comment or email me to let me know how it worked for you!

 

email: mcook12aug@gmail.com 

I was looking back at my previous posts and I realised that I did not really explain what my surgery will entail. Here are a few pictures to help explain the procedure. 

 The first part of the procedure will be the work done on my great toe's bunion.

The incision will be on top of my foot. I was really hoping for it to be on the side so that the scar would not be as visible. The doctor will then expose the bone and use a bone saw to cut the bone "knot" off. They will then cut through the bone like this. 

The bone will be realigned and then a screw will go though to bone to keep it stable. (ouch).

The next incision will be to fix my tailor's bunion. The same procedure will be done on this bunion and the "knot" will be cut off. No further action is taken for this part. 

The final part of the procedure will be to fix ALL FOUR of my hammer toes, (could I be related to Thor???). Small incisions will be made over each knuckle. Parts of the bone will be removed to make sure the toes are aligned correctly. Each toe will then have a metal pin inserted to keep it stabilized until the bone heals. I have been told to expect the pins to be removed six weeks after the surgery. Dear heavens I hope they give me something to help with the pain that day. 

Well this is everything that I am having done on my foot. The doctor said that the surgery will last close to two hours. They will use an ankle tourniquet to keep the blood loss at a minimum. 

 

Tick Tock...

November is here. Wow. I feel like I wait and wait and wait and then BAM, the month that I have surgery is here. There is a lot going on this month and that just makes time fly by. I keep distracting myself with things that have nothing to do with my feet. I think I am going to try to change my hair before the big day.