8 Months After Cheilectomy

Wow! Eight months! I'd love to report that I am completely recovered and good as new, but not yet. However, the news is mostly good. I have resumed my ballroom dance practices: 1.5 hours Tuesday, 2 hours Friday, 2 hours Sunday, and assorted minutes gliding about my own living room. I experience no significant discomfort, perhaps .5 on a 10 point scale. Strength and control are still coming back, and I am not fully in control of spins with right foot bearing weight. Fortunately, in our new routine I am not required to any fancy ballet-style pirouette turns!

I am actually very pleased with my endurance for dancing. About a month ago I attended four 50 minute dance workshops in an afternoon and then danced vigorously for about two hours the same evening. My dogs were tired as I hobbled to the car. For some reason, my dear foot that performed so marvelously all afternoon and evening throbbed and ached all the way home, and by the time I got out of my car an hour later, rigor mortis threatened. I took Ibuprofen and went to bed hoping rest would bring a full recovery. By the next morning I was back to normal!

So, what is abnormal? The ball of my recovering foot experiences a tightness, a tension, and sometimes a low grade ache. Of course, I'm hoping all of that will go away in time. There's no more stabbing pain in the ball of my foot as I sometimes experienced prior to surgery. Significantly, I've relinquished my expectation for range of motion to match my abnormally-flexible left foot. My recovering foot is able to bend and flex within the normal range, and as I work it, strength should continue to improve.

That's it folks. My next post will be at the one year mark. Perhaps I'll have exceptionally good news to report.

Best wishes to you in your recovery process!