Hello - Long time, no post

May 16, 2000

(Every time I try to post, it says that I'm not registered, even

though I receive the newsletter on a regular basis & I can sign on,

so I'm trying again.)

Hello everyone! I haven't been here since before my initial surgery

last July. I thought I'd update you on how it went. Excruciating pain

is an understatement, but it was a short-term inconvenience.

In July, my DR completely moved my tendon from my big toe and stapled

it to the rest of my foot. They also stretched my achilles tendon,

and fused my ankle bone. (OK, say, " ouch " !) Actually, the tendon

portion of the surgery hurt FAR more than the bone cutting! So I took

the summer term off from teaching and sweltered in the Chicago heat,

with my kids & hammock.

In November, I had an AFO made. The most difficult part of having the

AFO has been finding a shoe that will fit over it!

In February, I had follow-up surgery. My DR removed the screws he'd

inserted to fuse my ankle & gave them to me as a souvenir. Hubby said

he's going to use them in our deck--ha ha. He removed 2 3 " screws and

one pin, and replaced them with 5 smaller screws. My big toe is now

straight--well, straighter than it's been in years, anyway. He also

shaved the bony callous from the side. He said that he removed far

more than he originally thought.

Up until Monday night, one week ago, I was doing fine! He even said

that I could start wearing regular shoes around to house, and that I

don't have to see him until July. Well, on Monday night, I must've

stepped wrong. I couldn't put any weight on my foot. I stayed off of

it and was able to get to bed. On Tuesday morning, I thought that I

was going to work. I dropped off at daycare--well, I took him

to daycare, but couldn't walk in! It took me ten minutes to walk 20

feet. When I finally got back to my van, I called work and told them

that I couldn't walk. So I've been gone for a week. I can walk for

about 3-5 minutes, only after having been off of it for awhile.

I saw my regular DR--don't you love HMO's? She had it x-rayed and

said that it wasn't broken BUT the bones have shifted (she had a

technical term for it, which I can't recall). So I'm going to see my

surgeon in a few hours. I'm REALLY hoping that he doesn't have to go

in again.

Wish me luck!

Betsy

P.S. How is everyone else doing??

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