At the 5 &1/2 week mark, I went back to working in the office. Living in New York, I ride the subway to work and I was very nervous about commuting. It's hard enough when you're able bodied, much less when your balance is somewhat comprised. My boss, who has been extremely flexible throughout was fine if I came in later and worked late in order to avoid the rush hour commuter traffic. Equipped with my cane, I found the commute to be better than I expected. I earned a few sympathy seats from my fellow passengers and noticed how people really get out of your way when they see you have a cane. On the other hand, plenty of people do NOT look where they walk which can be problematic for everyone. Reading while you walk is an accident waiting to happen!
So, from week 6 to week 9 (where I am currently) I've started walking more and more. The longest I've walked is a mile and a half. I have to say, the walking has been going pretty well and pain-free. My feet will feel fatigued, my legs hurt and afterwards my foot feels more swollen, but overall, it hasn't been problematic. I started PT at week 7 and we focus on bending and stretching the big toe. I do seated and standing relevees, seated toe flexes, dooming of the toes, among other exercises. Because that foot had been dormant for so many weeks, I have to stretch other parts to get my total foot mobility back. The therapist measures the toe flexion each visit and it started at 30 degrees and as of the last visit it measured around 75! I still have a ways to go and other milestones to meet. For example, out of curiosity I attempted to do a plank position and soon realized that wasn't in the cards for a while. I'm not sure when I'll be able to wear footwear other than sneakers, again. I kept my gym membership on freeze so I can focus on PT and doing the exercises at home. There are days when the foot will bother more than others. It tends to be the day after I've done a lot of walking. My PT tells me to keep icing it, which I admit I haven't been diligent about.
By the way, make sure your PT knows feet! I'm lucky enough to have found a place where 50% of the clientele are dancers, whose feet are their livelihood. The physical therapists are very attentive and in tune with the intricacies of the feet and their impact on the rest of the body. Shout out to Westside Dance Physical Therapy!
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ReplyDeleteThanks for the update!! I responded to your reply in the Day 14 update post :)
ReplyDeleteSurprised to find a sesmoidectomy blog and from a librarian as well !! I am a high school librarian going in for the proceedure next week. I was planning on taking 2 weeks off and going back with a boot. My proceedure is a result of a bunionectomy last year and considered a revision. I am not ready to hang up my walking shoes or dancing shoes for that matter ! Common bout of nervousness. Thanks for sharing. Deborah
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this blog! I would love to know how your foot has healed. I am an endurance athlete and have had pain off and on over the last 3 years and then was diagnosed with a sesamoidectomy fracture, tendinitis and bursitis in my foot. I have not run for 6 months and have been in a boot for 7 weeks and still have pain when I walk. I am very nervous about the surgery and if it will effect my running
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what I was looking for. I too live and work in NYC. My main mode of transport is my feet!
ReplyDeleteI have been suffering with pain for up to 5 years. I have been diagnosed with Avascular Necrosis of the Fibular Sesamoid.
I am under the care of Dr. Mark Drakos (colleague to Dr Deland) at The Hospital of Special Surgery. I have been told that removal of the diseased bone is my only option, but am terrified of the recovery and rehabilitation. Drakos told me that I would be in a non-weight-bearing plaster cast for a minimum of 8 weeks!!! Is this what you had or did you go straight into a boot?
It seems that you found the care at HSS to be exemplary, are you completely happy that you settled with them to carry out your surgery? Did you ever interact with Dr. Drakos or was your treatment solely under the care of Dr. Deland?
The risks seem great and the thought of being inactive in this city is terrifying. No weight bearing for two months....in NYC?! Are crutches and the subway really a feasible plan of action? How about the horror stories that follow the op, soft tissue damage, big toe damage etc?
For some reason the logistics of recovery is more terrifying than the surgery itself. Navigation of this city on foot is tough enough :( I asked whether the Dr had found that patients prefer to have the surgery in the summer or winter as he said it's my choice as to when I elect to finally have it done, but he said, it's a bad surgery and any day of the year would be a bad day to have it done. :(
My silver lining is that I didn't contract AVN in my hips, as that results in hip replacement and at 34 I'm not even close to being ready for that.
Sorry for the rambling stream of consciousness, it's just comforting to find someone who has been treated by the same hospital and who lives and navigates themselves around the same crazy city as me.
Any reassurance you can offer would be SO appreciated. I'd also love to know how you're doing now, fully recovered? I do hope so.
Thanks for listening and best wishes to all the other sufferers out there.
Emma
Hi Emma,
DeleteSorry for the late reply. I'm currently updating the blog with a new post, so look for that. In the meantime, to answer some of your specific questions...I never saw Dr. Drakos. I'm not sure if you've had surgery yet or not, but I would look into a second opinion, just as a sanity check. You might want to make an appointment with William Hamilton. He's older, but has a lot of expereince with AVN and trained Deland and a lot of other orthopedic surgeons in the area.
Personally, I think winter time would complicate not being able to get around in the city. You don't want to have to worry about snow and ice if you are walking around on crutches. I had my surgery in May and it was perfect weather-wise. Early Fall would probably be a good time, too or early spring.
I'm not sure what kind of work you do, but if you can work from home, obviously that would make your life a lot easier. If not, see how much time you can take off from work and make as many preparations in advance for the recovery, i.e. have friends come over to help out, save $$ in advance for more taxi rides, etc.
I was only on crutches for a week or so and never had to use them on the subway luckily. I think that would be very challenging. I had no complications following the op- but I was very diligent about going to Physical Therapy and committed to healing in general.
Definitely get a second opinion, but then you need to go with you gut instinct. Good Luck!
I am curious as to how you are doing now?
ReplyDeleteHi Britt - i am currently updating my blog...stay tuned!
DeleteHi Maryanne,
DeleteThank you SO much for getting back to me. I only just saw this!
I haven't had my surgery yet, I've been putting it off and would continue to do so if I wasn't running out of options/time.
Did you see William Hamilton? Or just Deland? Would you personally recommend Deland?d
I'm terrified of the recovery period and the potential after effects of the surgery. Hence my hesitation in committing to the surgery :(
Thank you for all your advice and I'm so happy to hear how well you're doing.
Best,
Emma
Emma - I did see Hamilton. I would recommend either doctor. I believe that Deland trained with Hamilton so you're in good hands with either. I would meet with both and see who you feel more comfortable with.
DeleteI totally understand your hesitation and think that with the right doctor - someone you feel comfortable with - that some of that hesitation will go away.
Thank you! I can't tell you what a comfort it is to get that reassurance.
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