Feet

Jaxon was going to have foot surgery this fall.

He has really really flat feet. He has had orthotics for years and years. My podiatrist really wanted to do a surgery that would solve that problem. It was a moderately invasive surgery and he would be able to walk in a boot after a few days and hopefully it would solve the problem. It would implant a cork shaped thing in his foot that would move all the bones to where they should be. I was all for it but wanted to do it at a time that was good for him. Um... there isn't a good time for that. We decided on this year- before high school.

So we went in for his evaluation for the surgery. The doctor reminded us that his Achilles tendon is really tight. Like really really tight. If he did that surgery, the tendon would just pull his foot out of place again. So the doctor would want to lengthen his achilles at the same time. THAT surgery would mean he would not be able to walk for 10 weeks and then have to wear the boot for even longer. And then he would have to do it all over again on the other foot.

Whoa. Whoa!  Should I do this to my son who has NO pain in his feet? Is this something that would benefit him in the future? Then the doctor said that the first surgery he wanted to do with the implant (can't remember the name of it) was sometimes rejected by insurance because they thought it was experimental.

So. I went home from that appointment full of doubt and worry. I just felt like it was the wrong  thing to do. So we went for a 2nd opinion and another 2nd opinion.  Both of those doctors felt  the same as me. If he was having pain and we needed to help him with that pain- we should do it. But since he is fine as of now, lets treat what we can. He has really good shoes for his pronating feet. But his orthotics were really old. (I did not want to replace them because we were going to do surgery and they cost almost 400 dollars!)

So...after lots of prayer and thought and Jaxon's input. we are not going to do surgery on his feet. We took him in to get casted for his new orthotics. He currently wears a size 11 1/2 shoe and his orthotics were made when he was wearing about 6 or 7. Long over due.   He has promised to not blame his parents if it turns out that he should have had surgery earlier. He may have to later on in life and at that time he can't blame us either!

This was a great picture opportunity. I could not pass it up. He hates it when I take pictures of him!

So I had to have my other surgery this fall and now I was going to be the only one. Yea!

Background information: My last surgery was almost 2 years ago. My foot has healed great- except- my big toe has been starting to hammertoe. Lame.

This new surgery is not such a big deal. It is a regular bunion surgery. I would have to keep off of it for a week or so and wear a boot for a while afterward. But. I brought up the issue of my big toe hammertoe-ing. Would that happen on this new foot? Was it because of the surgery or would it have happened anyway? 

He could see the beginnings of hammer toe in this new big toe. I don't want to go in for foot surgery every year. We decided that we would fix that hammer toe while we were in there.  That makes this surgery a lot more of a problem. I now can't walk for 4 weeks. So- that is a bigger deal.

You should have seen me. Every day for a month I was a crazy person. On top of the regular things that I do, I was cleaning and shopping. Getting my house ready for me to not do anything. I was planning ahead- Christmas shopping- done. Christmas projects- planned for and purchased and ready. Christmas pictures taken, cards made and ready to address. Projects that I can do while I can't go anywhere- purchased, set up in my bedroom, and ready to go. All the fall stuff, clothes purchased, rotated, kids rooms clean... done. I was exhausted and ready for my surgery. I really don't want to look at our credit card bill. But- the good news is that I wont be using the credit cards at all for the rest of the year!

 So this surgery, I remembered to take "before" pictures!

 You can see how my big toe is starting to go under the second toe. And you can see how ugly my feet are. Remind me to always wear shoes.

So I had my surgery last wednesday the 12th. Everything went fine. I have just been laying around a lot reading and stuff. I have not had a lot of pain. I have my knee scooter again and that is a life saver. I just scoot all over my house. But getting out of my house is a problem since I have stairs. Thats ok, I don't want to leave anyway. It is WAY too cold out there. My family and friends have taken great care of me and everything is great- except that I can't walk.

Yesterday I went to the doctor and he took the wrapping off and I got to see my poor little piggies.

Kind of gross pictures below....

Sorry for the grossness. There is a lot of ink as the dr wrote all over my foot. So try to ignore the black ink. And... as gross as it is, it is not even as close to as gross as my other foot surgery. This one is awesome compared to that. See the stitches on the top of my toe? That is where an inch and a half long screw went down my poor toe so it will fuse together and not hammertoe. I don't want to think about it.

So that is the update. I have to figure out how to not freeze in my house and how to get things done when I am supposed to keep my foot up. I might be able to walk in 3 more weeks. Hopefully sooner!