It’s been 18 months since my last major surgery & 8 months since the minor toe fix. I thought it would be a good time to update with some new pictures so you can see how the scars have healed and faded.
I’m very pleased with the outcome overall. My feet feel a lot better than they ever have and shoes actually fit correctly now. I seem to have no issues with walking for extended periods of time now…I even completed “Race for the Cure” yesterday (walking, not running of course) with no problems. I don’t have any issues with pain in my heels anymore. That was the part that took the longest to heal. The only issue I’ve found is with walking down multiple flights of stairs. I occasionally walk the concrete fire stairs at work for exercise and I can only go down 6 flights at a time before beginning to experience some pain in my arches. If that’s the only downside, I can handle it. The positives far outweigh the negatives.
The scars have faded considerably and I can easily wear sandals which I could never do prior to my surgeries due to the deformities in my feet. It’s so nice to be able to wear sandals in the summertime again!
Thank you so much for sharing this! It is so helpful to see your progress through this process. It has given me quite a bit to process before going to talk to a surgeon. My son's feet at age twelve look similar to your adult feet. Do you, as a mother, feel that you would pursue this surgery for an adolescent? Do you feel that the long term benefits would outweigh the short term costs to a child (extreme pain, missing school, missing play, etc.)?
ReplyDeleteThere certainly are a lot of things to consider before having this surgery, it's definitely not for the faint at heart. But, having said that, I feel that it was worth every bit of pain, inconvenience & heartache it caused and if I had it to do over, I absolutely would do it again. My only regret through this entire process, was that I didn't know about it sooner. I'd have loved to have been able to go through this 10-15 years ago, when I was younger & my feet first started getting bad. I didn't realize this surgery was available until my feet were so bad that they would bleed after just a few hours with shoes on & I nearly couldn't find any shoes that would fit on my feet due to the deformities.
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming that if your son has feet like mine, he must have CMT or something similar, so this may not be an issue but, just so you know, he wouldn't be able to run or jog after the surgery because it's too hard on the hardware (plates/screws). Not to say that I couldn't run if someone was chasing me, LOL, but I certainly couldn't run/jog on a regular basis for recreation, although I couldn't do that before either so no loss for me.
My kids do show some signs of CMT, but thankfully, they do not have any issues with their feet yet so I've never had to face any of these issues with them. But if one of them did have feet like mine, I would definitely recommend to them that they have the surgery. The ability to wear normal shoes without having your toes rubbed raw, to have improved balance & reduced foot pain while engaged in normal activities...these are all valuable things that lead to an improved quality of life. Of course, one consideration you would have that I didn't have is...how long will the hardware last? Your son is so young that I would definitely question whether or not the hardware would have to be replaced after a few decades or whether it would be expected to last his whole lifetime.
Just keep in mind that a successful outcome depends on two things...an excellent surgeon and perseverance. It takes a lot of physical therapy and approximately a year of healing after surgery before your feet stop swelling and the last of the post-surgery pain goes away. I referred to it as "breaking in" my new feet.
If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me. I'm happy to help anyway I can.
Thank you so much for this blog. My dd is 5, she has Spina Bifida and was born with this deformity due to neurogenic weakness. I was looking on line like you said, and there isn't much to find. Your blog is so thorough and your response here just answered my questions. My dd foot is not as bad as yours was, her balance is affected, her ankles are weak and requires bracing to prevent rolling over. But as your statement above about no running, and wear and tear over many years, makes me think this is not the time for her, since she can find a limited number of shoes, and she can definitely run, I think you answered my questions. Thank you so much for this blog.
DeleteHe does have CMT. He got my smile, my sense of humor and my floppy feet! The running is indeed an issue, as is the year of recovery. We will meet with a surgeon in the next few weeks armed with some great questions. The childrens' hospital in our area is among the best in the country, so I'm confident that we'll find the best solution possible. Thanks for your time and your story!
ReplyDeleteNo problem...I hope everything works out well for your son. :)
ReplyDeleteHi ShadyLady,
ReplyDeleteI have feet that are eerily similar to yours all my life without knowing why. After finding your blog by random luck I decided to get myself tested and I too suffer from CMT.
Fast forward to today I'm 2 weeks away to get my cast and pins removed after my 1st surgery.
funny that I'm reading how you are getting comments "wow you had alot of procedure done today" since I almost had exact same surgeries done. I requested the post op report and was shocked at how many procedures were done.
Thanks for the blog as you said there are not enough awareness about this condition
So glad that you found my blog helpful. I wish you luck & a speedy recovery from your surgeries!
ReplyDeleteGod Bless
Hello I've been reading your blog even I don't have an appointment yet this gives me hope.
ReplyDelete