Day 3: cheilectomy recovery, finally feeling better

On day 3 I woke up feeling better about life. My pain had moderated, and night 2 into day 3 I had slept fairly well. I did set alarms twice during the night to take pain medication, which probably helped me sleep. Right off the bat I did not feel like eating normal food for breakfast - still a bit of nausea - but as the day went on parts of my normal diet started to sound appealing again… Namely coffee and iced tea, and even pizza.

Pain was much better managed today with pain medication. I still took it at regular intervals, but reduced the dosage. I can imagine being off of pain medication within three days or so at this rate.

Today I put the boot back on my foot, and walked in the boot independently as well as in the boot with crutches support. The hybrid boot/crutches movement is very doable. Clearly I am going to have to adapt to moving much more slowly throughout life this way in the month to come, but it is not too bad. Before today, the pain in my foot was too much to imagine putting the boot back on. Throughout today I took the boot off and put it on depending on whether I needed to be up on my feet. When walking, I’m supposed to wear the boot. When resting, I find it more comfortable to have the boot off.

Today for the first time, I also felt like reading, and watching TV. Mainly, I had the focus and clarity of mind to do so… And was not falling asleep at every turn.

I also took a shower today. I purchased a waterproof sleeve for my foot in order to keep the bandages dry… completely dry bandages being very important, according to the doctor. Because I did not follow instructions and test out the waterproof qualities before today, I was of course worried throughout the shower that water was leaking in (it didn’t at all). This made the shower slightly less than relaxing. I also had to work kind of hard to keep my foot elevated throughout the shower… keeping my foot elevated whenever possible (ie. at all times) is still a key measure of success in managing pain and feeling comfortable. Nonetheless, I got to clean up and wash my hair, which was very welcomed. Also critical to the shower was a plastic seat that had been purchased. I imagine any plastic stool could probably do the same job.

Today’s foot inspiration: my 3 year old daughter’s attempt at tying her shoes

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All about my feet... and, why I started this blog

This week I turned 39. I will have a cheilectomy on my right foot (the foot I use to drive) in one month. In the years during college, and more than a decade afterward, I lived in Chicago. I love fashion and wore a lot of high heeled footwear. Given that I lived in a large city, I walked almost everywhere I went - a block to the grocery, several blocks to the train station, a couple miles during a day of shopping and fun with friends. I loved city life and I loved walking. I realized quickly, upon moving to a big city where my walking would total miles each day, that high quality footwear was important, so I did not skimp on inexpensive, poorly made shoes. I invested in well-made shoes. I say this for no other reason than to dispute one idea put forth as a cause of foot problems - that poorly made or ill-fitting shoes are to blame. That was not the cause in my case. Following the birth of my first child at age 31, I started to notice that I was not able to walk comfortably in high...

Day 18: cheilectomy recovery

I’m really starting to round the bend in terms of feeling normal again. Don’t get me wrong, I am a long way off from walking normally in shoes, but with the boot I can move through life and do almost anything I need to do… Well, anything one can do in a giant ski boot type thing. This weekend I spent a lot of time on my feet - playing with my children, potty training one of said children (oy), doing laundry, in the kitchen. I drove on the interstate, and in some busy traffic, and felt fairly confident. It’s not normal driving conditions for me but I know how to work within my parameters and it’s going ok. I noticed this evening that I was walking more comfortably around my house in flip-flops. Whereas the last few days I’ve tried flip-flops, but have had to walk by kind of rolling each step on the right side of my foot (to protect the left side of my foot where the surgery occurred), today I find that I can kind of bear weight evenly on my foot and even push off on it a little bit. T...

Day 27: cheilectomy recovery

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Notes on a Cheilectomy

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