These Are Not My X -Rays

Some people think that a bunion is a growth on your foot. A few years ago, I thought this too. But I learned that it is not. I would like to educate you all. I don't know much either- so you might not want to quote me.

This is an x-ray that I stole from the internet. I typed in "normal foot" and I got this:
Notice that all the bones in the foot are all lined up nicely. You can kind of see the skin in the x-ray. The big toe and the foot are very straight and all lined up.

That is not what my feet look like.

I typed in x-ray of a bunion, and I got this:
If you notice, the big toe is leaning way into the other toes, that is because the bone that is inside the foot is bending way out, causing a large bump thing to be on the "knuckle" of the big toe. There is not anything growing in that bump- just a malformation of the bones. By the way, this x-ray is not as bad as my foot.

I must admit, I have bunions.

I have known this for about 10 years. Back then I was having a lot of feet problems and was dealing with Plantar Fasciitis. (Some of you might have heard of it- it hurts.) That got better a long time ago. While I was dealing with that, the podiatrist, AKA "foot doctor", (the same one that I have been going to since I was like 9) told me that I had bunions and that I would eventually need surgery to fix them.

Well, I figured that I would deal with that when the time came- AKA "when I got old". I have not been to the foot doctor for like 8 years because my feet have not hurt. I have my orthotics and I wear them in my shoes all the time. (Don't ask me about the times that I am barefoot, or when I am wearing sandals- because I don't want to talk about it right now.)

Well, that was the back story.

The front story is... Jaxon has been going to said "foot doctor" (yes the same one, but now we mostly see his son who is in the same office) for a couple of years now. I have been noticing that my big toe is really starting to "lean" more into my other toes. It is especially noticeable when I wear tight shoes. I am also getting blisters when I walk a lot AKA "at Disneyland". So while making Jaxon an appointment, I said, "hey, make me an appointment as well, I should probably have a check-up.

Well, the doctor took one look at my foot, felt the bunion and said, "Uh oh". I don't ever want to hear that at a doctors office. He said, "Do you feel and hear that popping? That is not good". Well, after x-rays were taken it turns out that my right bunion is really bad and the joint that is in the middle of my foot is compromised. I will have to have surgery to fuse that joint and get the regular bunion fixing stuff.

Hey, I thought this was going to happen when I was older! I really don't have time to take off 6 to 8 weeks of my life. We are going to get more x-rays in 4-5 months to see if they are getting worse. Then we can decide when this is going to happen. I hope I can wait for a few more years. BUT I don't want to wait too long and make other issues pop up.

Why did I write a blog about this? I am a whiner of course. Isn't that what blogs are for?
Whine list:
I knew I would have to deal with this when I was old. Am I old?
I have a new reality: No more walking around barefoot- ever. Like really I am supposed to get out of bed and put my shoes on. Then take them off when I get into bed.
AND, with all the "free bunion surgery" commercials around, why is it that my feet are too bad to get it. If I have to have the surgery, why can't it be free.

Ok, I just needed to get that out of my system. Done. And yes I know that using AKA like I did above is kind of silly.