Rest, Ice, & Cool Tools: Day 1 after Cheilectomy

I am pleased to report that it was an uneventful first night.  I kept my leg elevated, and awoke to my alarm clock at 2:00 AM to take one hydrocodone.  I have not yet needed to take more than one at a time, although two is permissible.  Also, the sensations in my leg returned to normal.  Whewww! And, still no pain.  Perhaps the block is still wearing off.  Who knows?  I have lounged with my leg elevated at least 95% of this first day and have applied ice packs on a regular schedule. 

As you know, if you're planning on this surgery, there are some items you will want to acquire prior to surgery.  The Therapearl ice pack that you see here is the handiest ice pack I've every used, perfect for this application.  Regularly $9.00 a piece for the smaller sized model at Fred Meyer, I stumbled upon these marked down to $3.00 each and bought three. The velcro straps allow me to apply cold to the back of my leg, just below the knee, and strap another one on the top of my foot. Extremely useful!  One stop at our local Goodwill on the day before surgery, and I had my choice of crutches and walking boots. The boot and crutches together cost just over $7.00.  Amazing! The surgery itself is certainly costing a pile of cash; I didn't want to waste any money on orthopedic aids that I'll only use for a short period of time. Good luck with your essential acquisitions!

Cheilectomy Surgery

I arrived at the hospital at 7:15 to begin the usual preparations: financial matters, monitoring of blood pressure, heart rate, blood oxygen, and placement of ports for IV--- all of the usual, I suppose. Of course, for the patient (me), surgery is the easy part.  I floated away on a soft cloud of anesthesia just before 8:45 and gradually floated back to consciousness about 1 1/2 hours later with a truly giant cocoon of bandages from the tip of my toes to just below by knee.  No pain. My surgeon, Dr. Stacee Kessinger of WestSound Orthopaedics, administered an additional local pain block after surgery to help me through what could have been a difficult first day. I kept my foot elevated for the rest of the day and strictly followed icing instructions.

I did have a tense hour or so in the early evening as I attempted without success to bend and flex my calf muscles inside that gargantuan bandage. I had been able to do it in the first few hours post-surgery, but after several hours of phone call distractions, I became unable to contract my lower leg muscles voluntarily. It was as if my brain was sending movement signals, but none of the muscles in my lower leg were following orders. I had read in my post-op instructions that "contracting the calf muscles frequently while awake, will help prevent deep vein leg clots," so I was concerned. After a phone chat with a doctor friend, I realized that I might need to take that bandage off and manually flex the foot. As it turned out, I was able to massage the calf muscles by stuffing my hands in at the back of the bandage, and also to manually flex the entire splint to create movement. It was very odd. I went to bed later and hoped for the best.

3-27-2016 My Big Toe, A Cheilectomy Journey

I'm a dancer, a walker, a cyclist, a hiker... and the surgery on my right big toe is coming up this Friday. Five more days. My heart is in my throat, in my toe... actually throbbing in my toe. I want my range of motion back, full mobility, balance, control. I want to launch into movement with power and without pain. I want to land a 360 degree spin with precision and grace.  But I am nervous about my upcoming cheilectomy. There's so much that I love to do that depends on functional feet.

Read on to follow my journey.

American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society:

"A first MTP cheilectomy removes bone spurs on the top surface of the big toe joint bones. Bones spurs develop with arthritis (hallux rigidus) of the big toe, and spurs act as a mechanical block to motion, which causes pain."