One year + update

Well, I did what I was bound and determined NOT to do and haven't updated this blog in a seriously long time. I do  have some good excuses, though. I've gotten engaged, married and am due to have a baby any day now! So, while I await baby to make  his arrival, it seems like a good time to bring everyone up to date on where things stand with my foot.

To recap - a little over a year ago, I had one of my sesamoid bones removed from my right foot. I worked from home for the immediate recovery and returned to commuting at about week 8/9 post-op. Commuting for me involves taking the subway in NYC, so it's a big deal.

I'm sure most of you want to know if I'm glad that I had the surgery and the short answer is, YES. I will say that I continued in Physical Therapy 1-2 times a week throughout the summer and into the fall. Luckily my insurance covered most of it leaving me with a small co-pay so it was easy decision. The therapist would give me exercises to build foot strength and work to increase toe flexion and balance. For my day to day living, I feel like my toe/foot is back where I need it to be. I'm a fairly active person- gym rat, moderate to heavy walker (live in an urban area) and I've been able to resume all activities. A lot of you sound like runners and unfortunately I don't run, and can't comment on how surgery impacts that mode of exercise.

Anyhow, I still feel some pain and aggravation, but it's intermittent. One of the reasons I had the surgery done in the first place was because I wanted to get pregnant and had heard that pregnancy changes feet so I wanted to take care of this before-hand. Happily, my feet, particularly that foot, has been pretty good throughout the pregnancy. I have normal swelling, but that area of the foot has not been causing me any particular pain.

For those of you considering this surgery, look into acupuncture. Acupuncture can help with healing the incision and swelling, as well as breaking up scar tissue and circulation in general.

As you all know, it's not a decision to be taken lightly and you need to feel confident in your surgeon, find quality physical therapy post-op (if in NYC area check out Westside Dance Physical Therapy) and consider other healing modalities such as acupuncture.

Week 9 Status Update

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!