Plantar Fasciotomy

Hey there!

First I want to thank you for your support, prayers and encouragement throughout this process. You are an amazing friend!

Today my mom took me to my post operative appointment and it went very well.

After the plantar fasciotomy surgery they wrapped my foot pretty good with gauze and something else that reminded me of an almost rubberlike material you can use to line your shelves with so that plates and glasses don’t move around on the shelf. When my foot would swell at all during the last week that wrapping got pretty snug on my foot. Today the doc said my foot was wrapped to help reduce swelling.

During the last few days I’ve had sharp shooting pains. I thought it was because I tweaked my foot and just wasn’t paying attention to it. Apparently the shooting pains are just part of surgery and recovery.

I was SO relieved at the appointment today when my doc removed the gauze. It was as if my foot was free and could breathe! We had to leave the foot wrapped and couldn’t take a peek at the surgical site. My mom is going to take a picture of my foot tomorrow so you can see where the incision is. The stitches are pretty big, but the actual incision is small, less than an inch. It’s on the inner of my foot below the ankle.

There’s pretty much no swelling and it looks pretty good. We thought my foot was swollen at least a little, but it was all the gauze they piled onto the surgery site to protect it.

My surgery was Tuesday before last so that puts me at 9 days post-op today.

I can’t yet put weight on my foot (I wouldn’t want to anyway). I go back to my doc next Thursday (one week) so he can remove the stitches. Did I mention previously that I’ve never had any kind of surgery before? It’s been quite an experience.

Now that my foot is free from gauze I can take showers without having to try and keep my foot dry. Yay!! I just change the gauze/bandage once a day and apply antibiotic ointment. My mom picked up some Neosporin from the store, but I’m going to order some antibiotic ointment from Melaleuca. I just feel better about putting their products on my body than stuff in the store. Much better.

Last night I did use the last of my pain medication so we got a refill today. I try not to take much of it and icing (putting ice on my foot) really helps with that. Now last night the ice wasn’t helping because I had a lot of sharp pains. It was awful, but thankfully it didn’t last longer than an hour.

Today my doc told me that the frequency of the sharp pains should begin to lessen at this point. Removing all of the gauze/wrapping from my foot today will help with that.

The purpose of this surgery was to “release” part of the plantar fascia – surgically cut it so that only half of it is still attached to the heel. Today when my doc was pressing on the area around the heel and surgical site it didn’t really hurt. I’d have to say that so far so good, very good.

I felt a lot better hobbling out of the office on my crutches than I did when I hobbled in. My foot was somewhat free, my foot looked pretty good and I’m free to take a normal shower. What more could I ask for?! LOL

New Note: Oops! I had to come back and add a note. I forgot to tell you that my second surgery is scheduled. It will be at the same place, same time on September 23, 2008. Plantar Fasciitis surgery round 2!

Bookmark To:

Yesterday Christina ventured out of her room (and bed) and was able to sit in our stuffed chair in the livingroom for a while, of course we had pillows piled high on the ottomon to keep her foot elevated.

We have hooked her laptop to the internet (with an extended ethernet cord) so and she can get some work done while sitting propped up in her bed.

This evening she (and I) faced the challenge of her bathing in the shower. She can’t get her foot wet so we had to be inventive. First we rolled and then wrapped a hand towel around her leg, then put a plastic garbage bag over her foot and lower leg. We then used a long kitchen towel and tied that around the plastic bag being sure we also tied it around the hand towel to keep it in place. Lastly we tied the plastic garbage bag to keep it tight against her leg. Then we placed a bathtub chair in the shower. She was able to sit on the chair, hang her foot out of the shower door while I keep the shower door shut as much as possible to prevent water splashing all over the floor. WahLah….it actually worked! When we removed the plastic bag and all the towels, her foot was dry and the hand towel had very little moisture on it. Good Job Christina!

Bookmark To:

Christina is doing everything the doctor ordered and is a wonderful patient! Today she is a little more nauseous and sore but is in good spirits (as always).

My husband (Daddy) and I (Mom) worked in shifts today making sure her foot was iced for 30 minutes on 15 minutes off throughout the day and seeing that all of her other needs were taken care of (water, food, medicine).

We applied ice to both sides of her foot as she is experiencing more pain and discomfort. The ice seems to really help the pain and after 15 minutes of not having ice, she is ready for it again.

Last night we had to learn how to strap her foot and leg into a brace to keep her foot at a 90 degree angle during the night. It was a bit of a challenge to get the actual brace situated as there were several straps that wrapped around her leg and foot which fastened with velcro. The straps kept getting stuck to each other. We finally figured it out! Tonight it didn’t take us quite as long to get the brace fastened.

Bookmark To: