Foot Surgery #1

I knew I needed to have bunion surgery but how do you know when it's the right time to have an elective surgery? I was in pain but I could keep enduring the pain and put the surgery off longer. That is where prayer comes in. So I prayed and felt like I should do it. One of my friends had the surgery and she said I should just get it done because I'm too young to be in pain every day. Marshall's advice was to see if there were any research studies. I looked it up and found a bunion removal with pain medication study through Jean Brown Research.  It took a few weeks to get the ball rolling. Once I went in for my first appointment the ball began rolling very quickly. I met the requirements and got the surgery scheduled for two weeks after that. Everything felt good and right. Even though life is busy and there is no time for anything like this, it needed to happen so time was made for it. We did school shopping and everything else that needed done the week before surgery.
I got to Jean Brown early Tuesday morning. You aren't allowed to have anyone with you so that was a little strange. I guess that is where being a nurse is comforting because I wasn't afraid to get the IVs placed or the nerve block. I got an IV in each arm. One for blood draws and one for the IV medication. Then I got the pop block in to keep my foot numb. I was sedated for the surgery and woke up feeling great afterwards. No pain. I went back to my room and got to sleep off the sedation. Then I watched shows and read a book. It was a nice vacation that day. I just relaxed and watched shows, slept and read. The meals were ordered from the restaurants nearby so I ate well too.

Wednesday morning it all changed. They removed the pop block and a few hours later I had feeling in my foot. It started off with medium pain but soon increased very quickly. The pain is expected though. I mean I knew that but I thought I would get relief from the study drug. So they started the study drug. It was an IV drug so it should've worked quickly. After a half hour I had no pain relief and my pain was continuing to increase. I asked for the "rescue" medication but they couldn't give it to me for another hour. I had no idea that was one of the stipulations. When I read the study before nothing was mentioned about having to wait a certain amount of time for the rescue medication. I also know that when your pain gets out of control it is harder to control and get down. I knew I got the placebo because the study medicine "infused" over 9 hours and I never had relief.  It was an uncomfortable and tearful day. Yikes! I used a lot of breathing and relaxation techniques I learned from giving birth.
The rescue med was morphine which I thought would have brought relief but it didn't. After a few doses, and hours later I finally just felt too sleepy and relaxed to care. I prayed a lot that day and I felt like my prayers were answered and I was able to get through the day. Once the study drug finished I got Tylenol and I finally got some relief. I was able to have a few doses of Tylenol through the night and got some rest.

My mom picked me up Thursday morning and had water and ibuprofen for me. I appreciated it so much! I alternated ibuprofen and tylenol and finally had relief that afternoon. I took medicine for a few days and then the pain decreased and finally went away.

I have been amazed by this whole process. I only had to be non weight bearing the first two days. Thursday I could barely move/shuffle. By Friday I could hobble and bear some weight on my heel. A week later I was hobbling much better and two weeks later I can move to a gym shoe. I tried to put my shoe on after my check up today but it hurts too much. I still need to get range of motion back in my toe joint. The orthotic shoe feels fine but my gym shoe has too much of a bend for now. I bet by next week I will be able to get into my gym shoe. Goal this week is to work on my toe range of motion.

My stitches were trimmed today and then the rest will dissolve. I still have a lot of swelling but that is normal and will take awhile to get back to normal.

It was interesting talking to the foot doctor today. I had been thinking it was rough because I had one day of the worst pain. I actually don't realize how good I had it. If I had this surgery at a hospital or surgery center I wouldn't get a pop block. That first day can be so painful. Without the pop block the pain can be out of control and last for three to four days. Then it delays the recovery. So I am really grateful I went through Jean Brown Research! I don't tolerate pain very well and I don't think I could have tolerated the whole thing the regular way.

I know the Lord takes care of me and is in every detail of my life.