Nobody warned me...

I am a week and a few days post-op on my old lady bunionectomy.  Recovery hasn't been too horrible.  The pain has been surprisingly very tolerable.  I haven't taken pain meds on a regular basis since Friday (2 days post-op).  I will take some here and there, but usually only after I have probably done a little more than I should have.  The boot has been my biggest enemy.  I hate it.  I hate that I move so slowly now.  I hate that I can't sleep on my side like I love to.  I hate that I have to take one stair at a time with both feet.  I REALLY hate that I can't drive.  That's been the hardest part for me!  I am going to force Austin this weekend to take me to a parking lot and let me see if I can manage driving with this monstrosity on!  I have been tortured by wearing this massive, heavy thing, that's nothing short of a ski boot, round the clock until my appointment yesterday.  They removed my boot, which just happened to be soaking wet.  Why?  Oh, because my two layers of press and seal saran wrap with a towel wrapped around the top of my boot, all covered by a kitchen-sized garbage bag, triple wrapped in masking tape failed me in the shower.  I was doing well until the very end of my shower when I realized that the bottom of my foot was wet.  That's not a good sign.  I called Austin in to help me unravel my foot out of the bag as soon as we possibly could, but it's never a good thing when there's a lake in the bottom of the bag.  Woops!  Soaked to the core.  I left little puddles of water everywhere I went for well over an hour!  We weren't overly concerned because I fortunately had my doctor's appointment later that day.

Once we got to the appointment, the medical assistant unveiled the ugliness that was my foot, we went in for x-rays and then the doctor removed my stitches.  It looks like it is healing well, no signs of infection and everything is as it should be.  My boot is still supposed to stay on unless I am showering (thank goodness!) or just sitting down with my feet up.  I was hoping that I would hear the words that I could sleep without my ski boot on, but no such luck.  But, the thought of being able to take it off a couple times a day was music to my ears.  My leg gets so itchy and I constantly have the desire to pop my ankle (just a bad habit I have)!  Now, I can scratch and pop to my heart's delight!

So, I showered today for the first time without my boot.  I was caught completely off guard that my foot was going to be completely clueless as to what its job was!!  I took one step out of my boot and nearly fell over!  I thought, "Oh, well this should have come with a warning!" My foot went all wacky on me!  I could even feel my brain kicking into high gear trying to tell it what to do.  It was one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had with my body.  The only other thing I could think that may be of equal weirdness is when I get my epidural before my C-section and my legs are in a certain position.  After I got my epidural and they wheeled me in the OR, they usually change the position of my legs.  I remember seeing a reflection them in the light above the operating table, not knowing that my legs had been moved.  I couldn't get my brain to catch up with reality.  Really bizzare.  Anyway, back to my psycho foot.  I'm sure that most people who have been through foot or leg surgeries are completely aware that your legs and feet will have some catching up to do, but it wasn't something that even crossed my mind as I took my first step out!  I had to hold on the the walls through my whole shower for fear of toppling over!  I can tell that my calf muscle is already lazy and my equilibrium was off because now my feet were on equal grounds, not one being several inches higher than the other like they have been for the past week.  The human body amazes me.  It adjusts to change without you even realizing it and then before long, the normal feels odd.  Am I even making sense?  I swear I'm not on pain meds anymore! :)

Hopefully as the days go on that I get to stand on my own two feet, it will feel less and less awkward.  I have three more long weeks ahead of me, but hopefully it will go by quickly.  I have to admit that it has been kind of nice to be forced to slow down, forced to spend more time inside of the house.  I have been getting quite a few projects done and I am proud to say that in October that I am all done with my Christmas neighbor gifts!   And there's the silver lining....