u/Physical_Ad_7111

I had my 6 week follow up a few weeks ago with ortho for cast removal, thinking I would be cleared for weightbearing. The surgeon had me gently place my foot on the floor to get and idea of positioning after Xrays. We were both pleased with everything, but he decided to have me continue NWB for two more weeks in the boot.

I WAS SO BUMMED.

Truth is, the incisions needed a little more time and I am a big guy who has to play the safe game when it comes to the bone fusion. Better safe than sorry, right? At least I could start ankle pumps and circles. I was also able to finally wash away the dead skin. I shed skin so much skin those first few days after getting the cast off. It was insane!

8 weeks came and I started to do some shadow walking with crutches but with essentially no weight yet, attempting to do very light shifts in weight to the surgical foot.

My eval with PT was exactly 9 weeks post op, on 8/12. It was a little painful during the manual stretching but nothing compared to the attempt to walk with one crutch. It was extremely painful and I was not expecting that in the slightest. Its been 2 days since and I had my second appointment today with the PTA and told him Ive have pain since the evaluation and cannot use 1 crutch for more than 5 steps.

I knew and told myself this would be an incredibly long and difficult journey but it's hitting me hard at the moment. I'm still grateful for modern medicine and know I have picked the best people to help me. I'll post here when something "exciting" happens again.

Oh AND: Shout out to the pups. The dog really has an underbite that makes him look like he's smiling. Doesnt help that he's terrible. He is the wild, loud, and rebellious one of my two boys and less than a quarter of the size as my big 60 pound booger who loves full body contact and sleeping in. They've made this entire experience so much more positive and helped with the depressing moments. It amazes me how in tune dogs can be with humans!

I had my first post operative appointment this past week. The PA didn't say much, just told me to keep up the vitamin D and aspirin. Elevating as much as possible and weaning NSAIDs but I haven't taken half of the pain meds prescribed and no Tylenol or Ibuprofen in over week.

The stitches were removed and short leg cast was applied. I almost passed out when they took those stitches out! Which is funny to me considering how big and generally tough I am when it comes to a lot of things. I have multiple piercings and tats. Lol

All was well first day getting the cast just to find out I have a bit of claustrophobia the few days after application. Anvtime my foot swelled, I got a numb feeling combined with these intense zaps- more instense than signals from normal nerve healing in my opinion. I had more general foot pain in the cast than the splint, too. I didn't know if I was being dramatic or if something was wrong, so I contacted the doctor and had a check up. First thing the doctor said when he came in was thar the cast was not placed in neutral position and was likely applying pressure to the incision on the top of my foot. It was reapplied with my foot at 90° and it made a world of difference. I was initially put in a position with my foot flexed for an achilles rupture repair but I had the Hoke tendo-achilles lengthening procedure. There was a significant difference in comfort with the m newer cast.

Not going to lie though, after the 1st post-op appointment I was a little defeated and scared. It was the fact my foot did not feel like it belonged to me when the splint got taken off. Also, my surgeon's PA seems so cold and distant in comparison to him. Between FMLA/short term disability paperwork issues with HR and issues with the casts/splint- I'm sure the PA has been annoyed with me. I understand patients can be annoying but after years working in healthcare/health insurance, I've learned that no one is going to care about you as much as YOU. I always tell people to advocate hard for themselves and their loved ones. Luckily my doc is gonna have me on his schedule from now on and I didnt even have to ask!

I knew what I was in for but there's no preparing you for the mind and body response to these things if you've never experienced major surgery or a lengthy non-weight bearing status.

All that said, I am definitely going to be okay and I'm taking it easy for the most part. I'm doing theraband exercises for upper bodv and lots of leg raises, quad and glute sets, bicvcle kicks. and whatever I can think of to not become de-conditioned. I'm mobilizing much better with one leg and have driven a couple times to get coffee or food and that has been a huge mental boost.

I'm just happy to be here and am amazed by modern medicine and technology. The knee scooter and crutches have both served me well, but the all terrain knee rover wins! I can go anywhere!

Again, ask all the questions you want! I have time lol

Hey everyone,

Just had reconstructive surgery a little over 2 weeks ago for flexible flat foot with arthritis in the subtalar joint.

Im a 34 year old male that has had flat feet my entire life. A few strains and fractured foot later; I found myself with pain in my left foot that would never quit! Everyone knows how the story goes if you been at this long enough... I've been lurking in this thread for years.

I've had 10 different off the shelf orthotics, many rounds of therapy, steroids, 1 podiatrist and 2 foot and ankle surgeons- all to come to the point of surgical intervention.

I had the following procedures:

-Subtalar fusion with hindfoot medializing

-Spring ligament repair

-Posterior tibial tendon repair

-Cotton osteotomy

-two tendon transfers

-Hoke Achilles lengthening

Day 0 was rough as hell. I had aearing pain on the inside of my foot where the post tib tendon is. The PACU nurse gave me some strong pain meds and told me to stay on schedule. The nerve block last almost 4 days for me but I still took the prescription pain meds every 4 hours for the first 3 days for fear of pain returning in the one hot spot. It was crazy waking up to that right after anesthesia.

Once I made it home reality started to set in a bit.

I was super clumsy with the crutches and super nauseated from the anesthesia. I thought I was gonna kill myself taking a deuce day 1 post op! I'm 6'4 and 325lbs so I purchased an all terrain knee rover on ebay for like $200.I highly recommend it for anyone non weight bearing for up to 8 weeks. It has been a life saver even though we take up too much space everywhere we go. 🤣

Had to get a splint change day 2 post op as it was too short (slide #2) and I could see the cuts on my achilles but I could not see my toes. The recovery nurse told me to check my toes for temp and blood but HOW?! The PA who put the splint on had no idea what they were doing apparently. I worked in a trauma center for a while with physical therapy as a tech and was really close with the ortho tech. I knew the splint wasn't right so I send pictures to the surgeon who had me come into the office immediately for a splint change (new splint-slide #1). I had no appetite and pain meds/anesthesia were kicking my ass so going to that appt was taxing but worth it. I was much more supported after the change.

The next 12 days or so have been me getting used to the new temporary normal and resting as much as I could. I couldn't sleep for more than 3-4 hrs but it's gradually gotten better along with the strength in my non operative leg and mobility in general.

I posted some random images with the thread. Overall, the recovery is brutal and I knew this, so I've been good about getting over all the crazy feelings that come with things like this. The pain after day 0-1 has been minimal compared to the pain I was in leading up to the surgery. I just had my 2 week follow up and will make another post with an update sometime this weekend.

If you have questions I'll try to answer ASAP.