Mom's Bunion Surgery

I never knew how awful a bunion was until I started developing one about 4 years ago. It worsened pretty quick over the years to the point I knew it needed to be fixed. I traveled an hour north to Dr. Jason Bruse who is the best at this type of procedure. He was my second opinion and I felt confident in him as my surgeon. Back in the fall we had scheduled it for January. I wanted to get it over with in the winter so I could have plenty of time to heal in time for summer. The surgery was simple, but also a big deal and a long recovery. I am no stranger to surgery and had no desire to go through this again, but I knew it had to be done. My bunion was already moderate and would keep growing worse, then in turn the surgery would be harder to recover from later. 

The doctor removed the joint in my first metatarsal where it was completely unstable and causing my bone to move in the wrong directions. He then fused it with some metal and I would have a long  6 week recovery. Chase drove me up to the hospital in Layton and was with me during my outpatient surgery. The kids were so sweet and caring about it all. I was sent home with a pain pump in my foot that would numb it all weekend. It was the craziest feeling to basically have an epidural in my foot that would sometimes travel all the way up my leg to my knee! My surgeon texted us Sat to check in on me and promised me I needed that numbing ( I was not liking it very much). The first week was the hardest and my stepmom actually flew out to help take care of us while I recovered that week. I think it was nice for Chase to be able to go back to work and not worry about me at home. 

As I sit here typing I am now on week 5 of recovery and it has been a LONG 5 weeks. I have been home a lot and can only walk so far or so much until my foot hurts. The worst part was when I threw my back out on week 2 post op and couldn't even stand up straight. I prayed and prayed my back would get better so I could again focus on my foot. It was a long week with foot pain AND a back in constant pain. But I got through it! Ive had such great support from Chase, my awesome kids and friends. Friends have come over to bring me flowers, bring me food, visit with me and Julie Larson even came to massage me one day (Bless her heart). Chase has done all of the grocery shopping and brought anything I've needed, the kids have been so patient and helpful with anything I have needed as well. I love this family of mine! 

I am grateful for modern medicine to help the human body be better and also grateful for my body's resilience and ability to heal. I have focused hard on drinking lots of water and eating well and taking good supplements. I do believe putting nutritious fuel into my body has helped in my physical recovery and emotional state of mind. I have one more week to wear my surgical shoe (my doctor put me in a shoe around weeks 3 because my foot was healing so well and the boot was killing my back. I go in on Mon for my last post op appt and final X-ray and then I get to start physical therapy. I continue to pray I made the right choice and saved my foot from further damage and pain from my old bunion. I am very grateful for my feet and that they carry me every step of my day! 

Don't let my pre-surgery smile fool you. Im a nervous wreck inside.

You can see how my bunion has pushed my bone out of alignment with my foot in this X-ray.

I am always so cold in hospitals (Is there anyone who isn't?) and they kept wrapping me in warm blankets after my surgery.

Post op X-ray with my new hardware. Bones are nice and straight! 

My three day post op, I was quite miserable and ready to get that stupid pain pump out of my foot. The little black bag held the ball of medicine that was pumped into my foot through a small catheter. 

On day 5 I had to get out of the house and my stepmom drove us to the movies. It was a very long walk down the hall to the theater! But worth it! 

I think this was taken around 5 days after my surgery. My foot looks TONS better now. It took a long time for the swelling to go away in my ankle, so it also felt like I had a sprained ankle for about 10 days post op. 

You can notice the swelling in my ankle here and my good ol' Reynauds showing up in my right foot! Darn circulation problems.