Christ Centered Gamer

It's been about a month. Here's another update:

I began weight bearing at about 25% weight on my left foot about a week ago. It's been painful. No pain meds work or I'm allergic to them: oxycodone, dilaudid, vicodine, morphine, tramadol, & percocet. Docs are referring me out to see a pain management specialist. This has definitely been surprising compared to last year's right foot surgery. But holding steadfast on God's grace. I've had tears not due to feeling sorry for myself but due to intense pain. Only relief I get is sleep. Then the cycle begins again in the morning when I place weight on the foot. But overall, I'm standing/walking using a walker & crutches for only 15-20 minutes per day. As for the continued problems for my right foot, my doctor is considering removing some screws. I'm uneasy about that, I'd rather he add a few more than remove them. Currently waiting for PT to begin on September 15. Staying positive. No regrets

Edit: waiting on official x-rays. I'll post them when it arrives. Unsure about posting an actual pic of my foot since it's still swollen.

praying for pain management and recovery

I will be praying for you and will add your name to the praylist at my church. God Bless!

Thanks for all the prayers. Here's another update.

About 2 weeks ago, I returned to my plastic surgeon. The remaining open wounds were not improving and were getting larger. He removed several internal stitches that had made it's way up to the surface of the wounds preventing the healing. Currently, 2 of the wounds have completely healed and the other 2 are much smaller now. So yay for that

I began PT yesterday. I've been approved for 18 sessions which will occur twice a week for the next 9 weeks. Yesterday was more of a discussion with my physical therapist. He asked lot of questions and I provided a history of my feet. He was certainly surprised at how they look and the amount of operations I've had over the years. He requested operative reports and xrays. I have all my medical records so I'm spending time this morning printing those out for him.

I'm taking the local disability bus to and from PT. The reason is since I'm still having problems with my right foot, I have difficulty driving using the gas and brake pedals. So I don't want to risk a car accident

PT will continue for my right foot as well. Foot massages are included. My doctor hopes that these will alleviate the pain there as well as reduce the risk of another operation.

As for my left foot, even though I've dealt with intense pain due to no pain meds, I've continued to stand and walk in the walking boot with the use of crutches and a walker. Now, I can tolerate the pain better and it has diminished. At this point, I welcome the challenge and will not take anymore prescription pain meds. If my right foot was any indication, I'll be in this walking boot for the next 8 months and I'll need the use of crutches for 2 more months.

Here are links to xrays which compare how the bones looked prior to surgery and afterwards:

Xray 1
Xray 2
Xray 3

Here's a before and after of the left foot. Warning though, some may be taken aback by the way it looks.

Left

Again, thank you for the continued prayers,
Ed

thanks for the update, praying for continued healing

Today is the day! Finally after 3 1/2 months, the final 2 wounds have finally closed, lol. About 2 weeks ago I asked my podiatrist to examine the foot since the wounds were not getting smaller. She's local saving a trip to Seattle. She debrided 3 areas. One wound closed up quickly while the other two were slow but began to heal again.

This week I also began carefully walking around the house without crutches. It's very awkward since the foot remains swollen and there's heavy scar tissue on the bottom of the foot forward of the heel. I keep it tightly wrapped.

Pain management is better. I'm able to tolerate more plus it is reducing on its own. As I stand and walk more, I'm sure the pain will increase but I'm sure I can tolerate it now.

Right foot has no improvement. Still pain and swelling. Sometimes it's more swollen than the left, lol.

I'd like to thank everyone for the prayers and support.

God Bless,
Ed

Will continue praying, thanks for the update

EchoDelta wrote:Today is the day! Finally after 3 1/2 months, the final 2 wounds have finally closed, lol. About 2 weeks ago I asked my podiatrist to examine the foot since the wounds were not getting smaller. She's local saving a trip to Seattle. She debrided 3 areas. One wound closed up quickly while the other two were slow but began to heal again.

This week I also began carefully walking around the house without crutches. It's very awkward since the foot remains swollen and there's heavy scar tissue on the bottom of the foot forward of the heel. I keep it tightly wrapped.

Pain management is better. I'm able to tolerate more plus it is reducing on its own. As I stand and walk more, I'm sure the pain will increase but I'm sure I can tolerate it now.

Right foot has no improvement. Still pain and swelling. Sometimes it's more swollen than the left, lol.

I'd like to thank everyone for the prayers and support.

God Bless,
Ed

That's great, man. Still praying for you, buddy. Reading your recovery story has been really close to my heart.

ChickenSoup wrote:That's great, man. Still praying for you, buddy. Reading your recovery story has been really close to my heart.

Thank you. It is very appreciated. I have a foot checkup tomorrow and will provide another update next week.

Hello,

Time for an update. I apologize for the lengthy ready.

I've had 4 medical appointments in relation to my feet over the past week. Last Friday I met with my orthopedic doctor. New xrays were taken for both feet. Left foot looks good. Wounds remain closed. Swelling is about the same but I usually keep it compressed. Pain continues to reduce on its own but it's still difficult to stand or walk for very long. In the evening and on through the night the pain becomes more apparent.

For the right foot, I continued to repeat that I still have pain at midfoot. The problem seems to be in the navicular bone. This wasn't fused. I've been saying this since October of last year when I began placing weight on the foot: each time I take a step, I get a sharp pain. It feels like there's flexing occurring in the bone. It has stopped healing and it's becoming more painful each time I place weight on the foot. My doctor thinks it's navicular arthritis. He suggested a test: a cortisone shot in the foot. So I was like, cool. I've had a cortisone shot before in my hand so it's no big thing. Boy was I wrong lol.

On Tuesday of this week, I met with a pain specialist. He prescribed a sleeping pill that has a pain reducing effect. I haven't started using it yet. Tonight will be the first. I really don't like side effects when it comes to medicine. He suggested other pain meds to take but it's up to my doctor to approve.

Yesterday, I met with my plastic surgeon. Since all the wounds closed, he discharged me from his care. Before I left, I did ask one question, "If the bones need to be accessed again, how would that occur with the muscle and skin graft in place?" His answer was surprising, "We'd cut right through it to access the bones underneath. Then sew it back up. The muscle and graft look great and has it's own blood supply so it should close and heal back up quickly." Hmm, just like cutting through a steak. Well that's what I thought of.

Also yesterday, I had the cortisone shot with Radiology. They were able to squeeze me in on the same day as the plastic surgery appointment. Again, I thought this was going to be a routine cortisone shot. But because the foot contains the most bones in the body and that the structure of my foot is different due to the original crush injury and numerous foot reconstructions, they needed the use of a CT scanner to pinpoint the exact location for the shot. Plus, my orthopedic doctor changed his mind on the location. Instead of injecting in the navicular joint, he wanted the shot in the subtalar joint. The xrays display a problem, a narrowing of this joint. It also communicates with the navicular joint. The subtalar joint connects the heel bone (calcaneus) with the ankle bone (talus). Further, it's easier to access. I'll keep it simple, the entire procedure took 45 minutes and was PAINFUL.

The cortisone shot is only a test. If it alleviates pain when I place weight on the foot, then the problem is in this joint. If not, then the problem may still be in the navicular joint, damage to numerous tendons or ligaments, or a possible fracture upon which further testing will be performed such as an MRI, CT scan, or bone scan. The cortisone shot should take effect in 3 to 5 days. Then I'll know one way or another.

With the medical appointments, it's been a stressful week. The right foot is on my mind lately even though the left continues to heal. I've come to the conclusion that something is wrong with it. I've been contemplating this since October of last year but now it's no question. Either something didn't heal right or the surgery exposed another problem. Note that prior to the surgery, I did not have this pain. It's something new and isn't going away.

Still dependent on the Lord to guide me through this. But this week alone has drawn me even more closer. This whole experience has certainly changed me. I'm more patient and calm in my relationship with others as well as everything I do. I've had a lot of setbacks and nothing phases me. I try not to rush anything. Much thought goes into every move. I pray for others all the time. I've discovered I'm keen on others who need healing due to health reasons. So I can't complain. I truly believe God is holding my hand through this entire ordeal.

Again, much thanks for the prayers,
Ed

Praying your right foots gets figured out and treated properly

I really hate to say this but after I posted this update I received a call from Radiology. In speaking with the doctor, she admitted that she injected the cortisone in the wrong location. So I've been walking around this past weekend with a lot of heel pain as well as a bruised heel. It feels like my left foot did about a month ago lol. I need to return to the hospital on Thursday so she can insert the cortisone in the correct location. Please pray that the doctor gets it right this time. The pain itself was almost unbearable. I'll likely write a statement to the hospital of the doctor's error. It'll be the second letter after my left foot's surgery was abruptly canceled on the day of the operation. I don't know if this is grounds for a lawsuit, lol.

yikes, praying they get it right this time

Well it's been a week and here's what happened last Thursday:

I went in for the 2nd cortisone shot since my doctor got the wrong location the first time. Right before I went in, Xinori, bless his heart, texted, saying he was praying for me. Man I needed that. I had a different doctor this time. He was younger. With the use of a CT scanner, he tried for 1 hour to move the tube, which would transfer the cortisone to the bone joint, in the correct location. He went in from the side of the foot. Each time the tube was moved, I felt that pain. In order to test it, he injected a contrast dye. When he removed the syringe, the dye squirted out of the foot and he got sprayed in the face with the dye as well as my body fluids. I'll get to that later.

After cleaning himself off, he gave up on the CT scanner. He said the bone joint was too narrow from the side. Next up was the use of a fluoroscopy xray machine. This takes low-radiation xrays in real time in order to pinpoint the exact location of the bone joint. This time he went in from the top, right through the skin graft. With the use of this fluoroscopy machine, I was able to watch him attempt to get the tube in the right location for 45 more minutes. He called in a second doctor. He tried for 15 minutes more. They both asked me if to continue. No matter how much numbing medicine was injected in my foot, man, I still felt most of the pain. I said to continue. I did not want to go through this again. The 2nd doctor got it on the next try. It definitely made for a long day and I got home later that night. The original appointment was in the morning.

My doctor said the cortisone would take effect in 5 days. That was on Tuesday. It's now Thursday and unfortunately my foot still has a lot of pain. What this means is that the pain isn't coming from the bone joint; that likely is not arthritic (note: it doesn't feel like arthritis anyways). It means that the pain is coming from a bone itself. I've suspected for a long time it's the navicular bone.

Now I can honestly state that my left foot feels much better than the right. It continues to heal well. Even the swelling is down. But my right foot feels like crap (sorry for the language) when I compare it to the left.

On Tuesday, I received a call from the Seattle Public Health department. Seems the doctor who was exposed to my body fluids was concerned he contracted a bloodborne pathogen from me. I had to take a blood test for HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C to prove I was clean. I received the results yesterday so this doctor can rest easy now.

Admittedly, after another rough week, I'm frustrated with my foot. I was hoping the cortisone shot would provide the answer but has only led to more questions. I'm calling my doctor on Monday. The foot needs more tests and I do hate to say it, but at this point, it needs another operation. It hasn't improved in a long time.

Thanks for the update, glad you're clean. If surgery is inevitable, i pray it helps in the long run.