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Back on my feet (well, one foot at least!)...

jgohlke

jgohlke

My other hobby
Joined
Sep 15, 2004
Messages
991
Location
near Orlando, FL
I thought I'd let everybody know I survived my foot surgery. I also have survived several of the cigars I got from Bill in my newbie trade. So far, I've been smoking the small ones, the big ones scare me a little! :) I've pawed through the package over and over. Looked at the cigars and the spreadsheet. It's been big fun. Bill did a great job...I appreciate the cigars and the info. Newbie trade highly recommended to all!

I was out of commission for a while......

The short version is:
bad feet
right foot injured
surgery
better now
back to normal by spring '05
picture link at bottom


Long version.......

I've included a link to some pictures (with captions) that show some of the fun I've been having lately. No blood and guts, but a few close-ups of the stitches (don't look if you are squeamish!).

I had surgery on my right foot on Sept 21 of this year. I previously had surgery on both feet in 1973 (when I was 14). The right one has always been the "difficult" one generally. I've sprained my right ankle twice, the last time in 1993, playing racketball.

I dropped a log on my right foot this spring and it got all black and blue. The ankle felt sprained and was swollen. I couldn't get the swelling to stay down and I couldn't get my foot in my work boots. Wearing boots almost all the time (except at work) has allowed me to walk and stand 3 to 4 times longer than any other shoes. Without my boots, my mobility greatly decreased. During a routine physical this summer, my doctor prescribed oxycodone for the chronic pain (I complained about having trouble sleeping). So there I was, barely able to walk and taking oxycodone. Yikes! Time to go to the foot doctor.

I found a local doctor that I really liked and was on my insurance. I had some x-rays and an MRI (my first one!). It turns out I had two torn tendons (peroneal), a bone chip in my ankle joint and the doctor also wanted to "adjust" the plane of my foot by repositioning one of the bones in my foot. He did this by cutting the bone in half, moving it and then screwing it back together.

Initially, the surgery was supposed to last 2 hours, I would spend a short time in the recovery room and be home that night. Because the scar tissue was so extensive and the doc had a hard time getting at the bone chip, the surgery took 5 hours and I spent 3 days in the hospital. The first day after surgery was really a wild ride. My pain level was off the chart and it took a combination of 3 different pain killers (in my IV, pain shots you-know-where and pills) to get me back to earth. That was 6 hours I don't want to relive!

So here I am 2+ weeks post-op. Out of work on disability, spending 6 hours a day doing rehab (between the machine and the ice)...it will be at least another 3 until I can put weight on my right foot...the good news is the doctor is very convinced that I'll be much better when it's all said and done! I'm jazzed!

Here are the pictures: http://www.fototime.com/inv/51533A29770FDF8

Best part of the whole deal is that it's finally cooling down a bit here in Central Florida and I can do my rehab outside now...the same place where I smoke my ceegars!

Good health and cheers to all,

Joe
 
I feel your pain. April '03 I broke my fibula @ 3:00 am one morning, after a night of drinking. My old roommate fights UFC and I thought I'd go a round w/ him. Well, I felt a pop and thought I had just seriously sprained my ankle. I was able to walk on it and didn't go to the doctor until the next Tuesday, had surgery on Friday. I have almost the same scar as you, but it doesn't extend to my foot. It starts just above the top of my boot and down to my ankle. A plate and 8 screws later, I'm fixed now. All I can say is crutches blow :angry:

Good luck to you, it can only get better :thumbs:
 
I feel ya, man and good luck with the recovery.

I almost wish I'd had surgery..... I blew out my ankle on Easter of '88 when an idiot who couldn't hang decided the only way to stop me was to step on my foot. being a holiday the best and brightest were *not* at the hospital that day and the tech who checked my x-ray called it a sprain and treated it as such. 5 days later I was in the podiatrist's office getting a re-eval when, low and behold, it was twin incomplete fracutes on the inside joint that, because the weren't set and cast, ended up meeting and bone slivers fell out. Then in '90, after alot of treatment, because the ankle is (and was then) deformed slightly, the outside ankle broke (from partially stepping in a hole). Again on the crutches and casts.... but that's not all. I started swimming as Rehab, since it was the only exercise I could do that didn't strain the joint. Some idiot, thingink they were funny, pulled me in the pool when I was standing on the edge and *bang* - another break, down the center, on the pivotal shaft.

Long and short was 4 casts[1] and over 820 days on crutches between Easter 88 and Jul 91. Rehab continued until 1995 and I entered the service in 1996. Swimming was the key, and I continue to swim now (I'm on the Okinawa All service team). The only reason I didn't have the surgery was by the time they offered it to me, they said I could have my ankle fixed but there was an 80% chance that I would not be able to run or exercise well again.

-K-


[1] - Extra cast is another story about when my house burned down.
 
What the?????

I coulda sworn I had posted but I dunno what happened here ??? (Probably keyboard operator error :D )

Anyway, glad to hear you're on the road to recovery Joe and you're enjoying the sampler pack ;) I'm LOVING my end of the deal. THANK YOU for the very nice trade ;) :thumbs:

Sounds like the initial pain was a horrible experience :0 but it's one of those things you had to do as it sounds like you'll be a lot better off in the long run.
 
Thanks everybody! Appreciate the sentiment and the stories. Yikes. I've been on crutches for 3 weeks and I'm already WAY over it...I can't imagine 800+ days of crutching around....

Cheers,
Joe
 
jgohlke said:
Thanks everybody! Appreciate the sentiment and the stories. Yikes. I've been on crutches for 3 weeks and I'm already WAY over it...I can't imagine 800+ days of crutching around....

Cheers,
Joe
Click to expand...
You grow numb to it eventually - and get very very good at inclines, declines and stairs! At one point I had gotten so good that I would race friends because I could crutch faster than they could run (on straight aways at least - you don't want to imagine what happens when you try to turn at that speed)

Oh - best tip I can think of - Make sure the crutches are well calibrated - that Arm Pit rash is a B....!
 
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