Foot Operation No.2

I was quite excited on the day of the operation. I was doing last minute cleaning, and it was all nearly done. The gardener came and unfortunately, he was getting a delivery of gravel, to take through to the back from the front. He also got the trellis fence panels and a set of massive fence posts. As I was still able, I decided to help get this stuff out the back, but I didn't have time to help with the gravel, and thus I didn't have time to do any hoovering before leaving for the hospital. The gardener did some while I was in hospital, but not as much as I'd have liked.

Anyway, before:

You can see that my big toe is angled towards the second toe, and there is bone jutting out to the side. The jutting out bone rubs and after a day of walking can look a bit pink. It is a curious pain, maddening, but almost pleasurable when massaged. But obviously you are not massaging your foot when wearing shoes, and I have never worn tight, pointed or high-heeled shoes. Apart from wearing out my shoes prematurely, it hurt a lot, not just when walking but for hours and hours after taking my shoes off and the next morning too! It says on my discharge form that I had elected for surgery. I sure did!

I walked to the hospital through Mountsfield Park. It is on a Lewisham Hill, and I could see the Hospital clearly in the distance, and all the way to Canary Wharf and beyond. On the other side of the park, I followed the cycle route to the hospital, and indeed it took me to just across the road. I reported to the reception and was sent down a corridor to a waiting room. Eventually I saw a nurse come out and call someone. So I waited to be called. I was called in the middle of helping a porter take some huge boxes out of the room. Oh well, I had to leave him at it.

I was taken to see a nurse who took my blood pressure (good) and pulse (47). Then I was taken to the Anesthetist, who asked me some questions. We had already met before in October, when I had a little heart test to check for irregularity, but she, like I, was a cyclist, so she wasn't worried my my heart rate. Back out to the waiting room, and soon I was called back and told to change. I was told not to bring valuables, but to bring a dressing gown and slippers. So I went with nothing but my house keys, my old gown and my older slippers. I changed into the operating gown and the gown/slippers and went to see the physiotherapist, to re-learn how to use crutches. My crutches are an improvement over the ones I had last year. The main change is the hand-grip which is triangular and much nicer to hold onto.

Back out to the waiting room again, in my gown and slippers (I wasn't the only one so attired), and a few minutes later I was called back again. This time it was it. Down the corridor to a bright room, when I deposited by slippers and gown into a green plastic bag. The anesthetist and nurse asked what I did, and I talked about my work and the NHS and the next thing I knew I was waking up looking at this:

My immediate thought was, ah, my bunion is hurting again, and I asked "Am I post-op?" I think those were my exact words. The nurse replied in the affirmative. So I had another look. and gosh, my toe was pointing straight and had hardly any bump. It kind of looked like a normal foot. It wasn't until an hour or so later, fully woken up, that I thought...where's the plastercast? I had got one last time, but this time all I had were some tight bandages. Eventually it was explained to me that I wasn't getting a plaster-cast, and I was booked in for a week on Thursday for an x-ray and cast. I wasn't happy about this, but google tells me that this is not at all unusual. So fine. I was fed with a egg mayonnaise sandwich, which was welcome, as I had not eaten since the night before.

My uncle came for me at 6pm on the dot as requested and I got taken home. I can't wail till next Thursday and a proper cast, I feel the bandage is peeling off and because I toss and turn in my sleep, I feel I need something stiffer to hold everything together. Ho hum, I'm keeping my feet up and hoping for the best.