After dealing with foot pain for several years, I finally bit the bullet and had foot surgery today. Two years ago, I saw a podiatrist who told me he would need to pin three of my toes, so I never went back to him. Last year the pain in the top of my foot became almost unbearable at times, as though someone was jabbing a hot poker into the top of my foot, so I decided to go back to my first podiatrist, Dr. Maria McFarland. That was back in the end of February and I had to wait a month to get in to see her. That day she gave me cortisone shots in both my feet, my left foot for the burning nerve pain and my right foot for the tendon pain behind and below my ankle. That pretty well took care of the pain but it didn’t do anything to solve the underlying problem of my toes curling under, a hammer toe and a torn plantar plate that was causing my toes to split apart. She also advocated pinning my three toes, using the “my toe” implants, repairing my plantar plate tear and removing the bone cyst which showed on the MRI. I’ve been really nervous about the surgery. All I could think of is if one toe hurts when you break it, what the hell is it going to feel like when I have three toes pinned and other problems.

I was surprised that I was able to sleep last night. I thought I wouldn’t; that I would be too nervous. I slept well and luckily, my blood pressure was normal this morning. It tends to jump around at times, but my daughter, the RN, told me that the excurciating pain I had been feeling in my foot could cause spiking of my blood pressure. When the nurses prepped me this morning, I told them I just didn’t want to feel anything or know anything. They gave me the intravenous meds for anesthesia and wheeled me into the OR. I remember feeling sorta drunk, then I didn’t know anything else until I woke in the recovery room. All done. All bandaged up and so far no pain.

So now I’m at home in my recliner. Already took some pain meds although I really haven’t had any pain yet. The doctor said they were also giving me a local which would block the pain for a couple hours. I do feel a little burning in my little toe. That was the only surprise in the whole thing. I didn’t know she was planning on doing anything to my baby toe. She said she told me about it, but I don’t think she did. She had actually had intended to do a “bunionectomy” on my little toe, but I nixed that. She did do something though and she told Earl she thought I would regret it later that we didn’t do it.

I did get her to put me in a walking cast right away because that was all she had to protect the top of my foot from my not so graceful dogs who tend to walk on my feet almost as much as I do. I asked her for a steel toed boot but this was the best she could do. She said I needed to be “judicious” in keeping my dogs from walking on my foot. LOL, like I’m not going to protect it with everything I have in me.

My “caregiver” (Earl) is asleep in the chair next to me. Wonder how that works.