Hi, this is my first post on this site but I have been following for some time. I am going to have foot surgery, possibly as early as this coming September, my right foot initially to sort out my toes that are now very damaged and crossed and unable to grip, wiggle and spread. Both feet are damaged, right foot the worst.
Is there anyone out there, uk based, who has had toe surgery and is willing to share their experience, particularly the post operation recovery, that I have been warned could be lengthy?
I am 70yrs old, retired and widowed just under two years ago. I was diagnosed with R.A. at the age of 29 years. My adult girl and boy twins and my sons girlfriend are currently living with me for economic reasons. They all work full time. We live in Greater London. My house is a modest three bedroom semi with two flights of stairs with awkward curved bends to the landing areas.
My surgeon was keen to impress upon me that I won’t be able to do anything practical for sometime and that I will need others to support me.
l also need a left knee replacement but events over the past three years put it on hold and that surgeon felt it was not urgent, my Rheumatologist disagreed! Other upper body joints are damaged and can flare. I have a replacement left shoulder joint.
Many thanks to anyone who can see from experience what I might need to consider before stepping forward for the experience!
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Stilllife
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This sounds very simple…but if you don’t have any steps on your ground floor…I bought a little vegetable trolley on wheels…I packed all the bits & bobs one needs during the day on to it…& pushed it around either with one crutch or the poorly foot in plaster.This also sounds mad….& with your upperbody problems you might not be able to manage this ….but I also had three crutches because my stairs were winding…& I couldn’t balance without hanging on to the banister…so there was always a crutch at top or bottom of the stairs.
I live alone & managed reasonably well ..I think I was about 70 when I had my surgery.
It sounds complicated but honestly you do get used to it.
Good luck… with all those young people in the household you should be able to get on fine!
If you need to be non-weight bearing (and your knee will allow) I definitely recommend a knee scooter rather than crutches. You can hire them or buy them.
I recently had a knee replacement and the biggest thing I'd recommend is to have a plan in place in case of a flair. I couldn't get through to a doctor at the hospital for 2 weeks. I also couldn't live without my tea flask. My lovely husband makes me a flask of tea before work so I can sip it through the day. I didn't dare handle a kettle on crutches, and I couldn't live without tea.
Thankyou, best wishes for the rest of your recovery. I have been told that the key to success with a knee replacement is disciplined excercise routines. I have yet to face the challenge. Good luck!
I had a similar op on my left foot about 5 years ago. All toes broken and then temporarily pinned and big toe with a permanent pin. I was told no weight bearing at all for 2 weeks and put in a cast that was designed to stop you standing. I felt so rough that I didn't want to do anything anyway. It was a slow and admittedly painful process. Well worth it even though I still have limited mobility and feeling in the toes. The more help you get the better. Good luck.
This information is very useful for planning how to organise support in the post op early days/weeks. Many thanks for giving me your knowledge and time.
I worked as an orthopaedic ward sister for many years. Foot surgery is always painful to recover from. You will probably be Jon weight bearing from anywhere from 2-6 weeks. So it may be useful looking at if you can sleep downstairs, and have access to a toilet downstairs. The trolley idea that AgedCrone mentioned is a good idea, and you can get zimmers with trays on top to help move around. Stairs are quite a challenge when your non weight bearing, and likely to aggravate your knee problem. With so many young adults living with you, they should be able to support you, providing flasks of drinks, preparing a lunch for you, whether that’s a flask of soup or sandwiches. Making sure all your meds are nearby. You do want to get up and take short walks frequently to reduce the chance of a DVT following surgery, this is better than 1 or 2 longer walks a day. Hope all goes well for you. I have similar issues with dislocated toes and being unable to move them, but have put off surgery for now. Good luck 🤗
I feel quite overwhelmed by the responses I have received from you all, just the kind of detail I had wished for. Thankyou all for your care and time. Hopefully I too can offer support in the future.
I have had three recent surgeries on my feet (big toes, one to straighten it then later to put a joint replacement in it, and another to take away a huge boney lump and straighten it) plus two when I was a teen which was 45 years ago.
Surgery now is so much better as are the anaesthetics! The last three were done by podiatric surgeons as day cases, and for the last two I didn't even have sedation, I was conscious throughout and chatting to the nurses and the surgeon. We had great fun!
Post surgery (I am a single parent caring for my disabled son who is now an adult) I was very organised. I would only go up or down stairs once a day. So in the morning, having done some prep the night before with my son, I would get up, washed and dressed and down stairs using the crutches. I had a route around the kitchen to the sofa where I spent the days. I got my son to grind the coffee the night before, and set out all the dishes and pans I needed including a large flask and a wicker shopping basket. I boiled the water, fried the eggs, toasted the bagel, made the coffee, poured it into the flask, put the mug, flask and fried egg bagel into the basket, all while siting on a stool. Then I walked with the crutches (we don't have even floors so a trolley does't work for us) and basket to the fridge freezer where I picked up the milk for the coffee, a yogurt for the mid morning snack, and the ice sheets for the bi-hourly icing (have they told you about that yet? We don't use frozen peas as my son loves eating frozen peas, but I have those ice sheets that you put in picnic baskets and they were brilliant, lasted most of the day) and hobbled over to my sofa where my day station was.
So, my day station: pillows to raise my foot above my heart, blanket in case I got cold. Portable radio, telephone, laptop and charger, books, paper, pencils/pens, medication, 2 liners of water in bottles, glass, roll of kitchen paper and a waste paper bin. All either on a side table, a small low table on the floor or directly on the floor, but all within reach of reclining on the sofa with my foot elevated.
This allowed me to pretty much carry on with my work which was writing my PhD progression dissertation. And yep, I passed! in fact I found it easier to write like this because I couldn't get up and do other distracting things.
I had the community nurses come in to check and redress as we are rural and I had no way of getting back to the hospital, which is why a waste basket is essential!
I know this won't be right for everyone. Some may want to be by the TV to catch up on box sets, others might want to have lots of magazines and music. So close your eyes and go though an imaginary day; take it step by step, and then make all those arrangements and little adjustments and have everything ready and planned for that first week. Have food prepped the evening before while your twins and girlfriend are there. Get them to do anything necessary at the beginning of the day before they go out so that you have everything you need. Have lunch already made and either with you at your station or at least easy enough to get out of the fridge. Have them organise evening meals so that you don't have to get up, and maybe have a lap table so you can dine like a Roman!
Two things that really help though to get through this is to make that transition from bedroom to living area every day, even if you feel crap. It will help your body and mind to know that life goes on and it won't be forever.
The second thing is watch out for what I call the one week post surgery blues. There will be a lot of inflammation in the body, and inflammation gets into the brain and causes what we call 'depression'. It will happen, don't worry, it won't last. And know that when it does you are on the way to healing. And let your family know that you will be grumpy about a week in and to not worry, it will pass.
And most of all, have fun. It really was a blast for us. The best way to counter pain is to laugh, that relieves natural endorphins. And laugh with loved ones releases even more. The first of the recent three went wrong when they cut into a nerve in my ankle and I found out I can't take anything stronger than paracetamol. But my son and I spent the long dark evenings watching Green Wing box set and the laughter made all the pain bearable!
Thankyou so much for such an exstensively detailed and encouraging picture of your own experience. The young ones in the house don’t have regular work routines, two work in hospitality so can work late and sleep late! My daughter works partly from home. Somehow we can work it out. I have the Pre Op in a couple of weeks and hopefully be given more detail. I am wondering if my knee replacement should have happened before feet! Humour is always present in our house, Julie Walters ‘more soup’ sketch often referred to when I carry food to the table, hah!
Oh, we love that soup sketch! I only recently showed it to my son. I am sure you will be fine. And if it was me I would have the feet done first before the knee. It might even be that once the feet are done the knee won't be so bad. I know people often say 'good luck' when people are about to have surgery, but I don't. You don't want luck, you want precision from the surgeon! So I always say, have fun!
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