Franken Feet--The Never Ending Saga

After Grandma Camp ended, I returned to the Mojave Desert (!!) and went in for a small surgery the next morning. Yes, yes....yet another attempt to make walking a pain-free event. This time, we were after the sural nerve. Each and every step I have taken with my right foot, for over a year, has resulted in the feeling of an ice-pick jabbing into my foot. As first, I thought it just needed more healing from the initial tendon repair surgery. However, as time passed, I knew it had to be more than that. The doctor tried to kill certain nerve ends in that area by injecting alcohol there to sclerose the nerve. But, those ultimately didn't work. He sent me to a neurologist and who experimented with a couple of different options....none of which were the solution. But, when I commented to this doctor that I thought the trouble was with my Achilles tendon and told him my symptoms, his eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "Oh, that's not your Achilles tendon. That's the sural nerve!." He injected it with Lidocain, and for eight hours, no pain! So, we scheduled this surgery on June 19th.

It's a little crazy when the nurses at the hospital surgical suite recognize you! Oh, she's back! But, we did the procedure, I laid around on the couch for several days resting and clearing my head from the drugs. It involved a deep incision at the top of my calf muscle, so it was important to just rest and heal for a while. Then, after  week I took off the bandage and it looks like it's healing very nicely. The outer incision is closed with skin glue, so it takes a great deal of concentration to avoid picking at it. But, I learned from the first nerve surgery to just leave it alone and as my leg heals, the glue will dry up and peel off on its own. I can shower, but not soak. So, I'm out of the swimming pool for a few more days, but I'll be ready by Sunday afternoon. (It's supposed to reach 117 degrees by then...and yes, even I agree that it's hot. It's simply ridiculously hot.)

So, the result?  NO ICE PICK!! I can walk without winching every step. Right now, I still have the tingling/burning effect in my leg and foot from the nerve being cut, but I know that will go away soon. The ability to use both of my feet equally when I walk is simply awesome! I have been limping and trying to avoid using my right foot for sooooo long, that I actually have to think about my gait as I walk. I need to use a proper stride instead of my gimpy-don't-use-the-whole-foot thing I've done for months and months. I walked down a flight of stairs on Tuesday, and realized that my foot only felt sore because I was using muscles and tendons that had been under-utilized this past year. It is an exciting time. I've been exer-cycling and doing sit-ups and (before the surgery) working out in the pool for about three weeks, and I already feel the difference in my core strength and my cardio/breathing. It's very exciting...I'll go see the nerve doctor in another couple of weeks and he's going to be excited too, I know.

I realize that this may not be the end of my stupid feet troubles, but to have it been the end of the Ice-Pick-in-the-Foot is a delightful phase. I missed walking correctly....so did my hips. They already feel better, too. Actually, I don't know how much to attribute to not standing up all day and how much to the renewed gait. But, I'll take it, no matter why!

 

This makes five surgical scars on the right leg and foot, and five on the left foot. Some of the surgeries resulted in multiple sites, so that doesn't reflect the number of surgeries. Let's see...for the left leg/foot: there have been three operations. For the right foot/leg: there have been three as well. So, there you go! Franken Feet---hopefully there will be NO MORE sequels.