#6 ~ Week Three After Second Checkup and Cast On

March 2017

Pain, swelling, and comfort

The minimal pain I had been experiencing did not change much. Since I could now move my toes, and the doctor had told me I should, I started toe exercises. I must have overdone it the first day, because in the late afternoon I had a lot of pain and tingling along the top of all of my toes, which also extended up the top of my foot from my big toe. The pain lasted for about an hour. I had thought about putting ice on my toes, but then the pain subsided before I did. I had a similar feeling the next day or so, although not as severe, since I cut back on the exercises a bit. After this, the only pain I felt when exercising my toes, was with my big toe. The entire end/tip of my big toe hurt when I bent it, along with the area where my big toe connects to my foot. It looked like a cut had been made almost all the way around my big toe in this area. This is visible in the last photo in this post, and in previous pictures of my foot with the bandage removed.

The cast was initially uncomfortable around the ankle area, and on the second evening with the cast I noticed a new problem. I loved that my toes were exposed so I could move them; however, I had not thought about the comfort of where my cast ended until I experienced the discomfort 24-hours later. The cast ended at the start of the ball of my foot, when it seems like it would have been more natural to extend to where my toes connect to my foot. The purple in the photo below is the cast. A full cast photo is visible in previous post #5. The cast was made by the doctor hand-rolling the cast wrapping around my foot, so it seems like it could have been made to fit my foot. You would not think having something rest on the edge of the ball of your foot would be bothersome; however, after a length of time it is! In fact, I considered going back to the doctor a couple of days later, as I was not sure I would be able to stand it for two weeks. Even though I was not standing on my foot, this end of the cast pressed against my foot at all times, even when my leg was elevated.

Underside of my cast

My ankle no longer felt swollen at the end of the third week, and this area was not bothersome. The top of my foot was uncomfortable instead. Even though there was soft gauze around my foot under the cast, the top of my foot was sore. It felt raw, as though the tender stitched area was rubbing against the rough cast. The ball of my foot where the cast hit underneath was also sore, as if this area around my foot was now swollen instead of my ankle. I did not understand why my podiatrist had chosen to fully cast my foot when I saw many more comfortable looking foot wrappings online. If you do an online search for "foot cast after bunion surgery," you will see many options. I thought the type of covering in the photo below looked the most comfortable. This would not be as protective as the cast; however, I would have preferred it. I was extremely diligent about the care I gave my foot, and about not putting any weight on it. I had not thought to research foot coverings, and I had not specifically asked my doctor about what kind of foot cast I would have before I had the surgery.

Photo from Margaret River Correspondent blog

Exercise

I continued the same yoga and leg raise routines, along with the added toe bends. I did the leg raises more frequently, and I added a few more leg exercises after my toes turned blueish gray in color (more about this under the next heading). I did about 10 minutes of leg exercises every hour or so. After my toe pain the first day, I initially cut back on the toe exercises, and then I gradually increased the amount I did. I did not stretch my big toe as much as the others; not only because it was painful, but I also wondered if the activity might increase scarring from the cut around this toe.

Blueish gray toe color

About 4 days after I had the cast put on, I noticed my toes were sometimes blueish gray in color. This mostly occurred after I had been on my crutches for 30 to 45 minutes. During my post-surgery telephone call immediately following surgery, we had talked about my toe color. The caller (nurse, I assume) did not specifically ask about this until after I mentioned that my toes felt odd, and that they tingled. At that time, she then asked if my toes were blue or gray, and if they felt cold. They were not discolored or cold, so she told me the tingling was normal. My doctor also said as much when I went for my checkup.

Faint blue/gray color of my toes after 30 to 45 minutes of activity

After my toes became discolored, I researched toe color online. The information I found attributed blue/gray toe color to poor blood circulation. Since my toes were not cold to the touch, and they felt okay when I wiggled them (and, it was the weekend), I did not call the doctor. I added some additional leg raises, and a few more toe exercises to my routine to help increase the blood flow. I had read that toe massages help increase the blood flow, so I started massaging my toes also - pulling up on each toe gently while bending it. I had to be very gentle when doing this on my big toe and first toe, because they tingled more and were much more sensitive than the other toes. The blue color in my toes always went away after I exercised my legs and toes.

Moving around at home

Not much changed in this regard with the cast on. I still needed to keep the cast dry, and it was non-weight bearing, so I had to continue with the walker and crutches. I went down and up the stairs more than I had in previous weeks, and I did more housework on my own. I slept the typical amount that I had before the surgery, although I still felt like it took a lot of energy to move around. I usually had to sit down and rest for a bit after I was up on the crutches for 45 minutes. I read posts from others who talked about losing weight while on crutches. I am an active person, so I was worried about gaining weight, since I was sitting more than usual. My weight has not changed any as near as I can tell. I weighed myself at home this week, and I weighed 4 pounds more than usual. I expect that is about how much the cast weighs.

Activity out of the house

I went to the grocery store for the first time since surgery, and I also went to Menard's (riding in the car with my husband). I used my knee walker at Menard's, and I used one of the electric store carts at Meijer. The knee walker was more efficient; however, it was uncomfortable after 20 minutes, or so. I will probably try this again with a shoe that has a bit higher heel. I knew the walker was too tall for me; however, I thought maybe just having a shoe on would make it fit better. It did fit better than using it at home on my tiptoes, although it was still too tall. The electric cart was easy enough to use, except there was no place for the crutches in the cart. I walked to a cart with my husband, and then he took my crutches back to the car and parked. I was glad to go to the grocery store, although my husband said he thought it was easier to just get groceries without me! 😣

Up next: Fourth week, and another checkup with second X-ray