Day 1

Day 1

Yesterday evening, I had a bone graft done for a Jones fracture. This is not my first surgery on this foot. It all began when I fell over the dog while we were walking in the driving rain at 6 AM. That was my first broken bone and boy, did I do it right! It was a Jones fracture. My doc put in a screw and assured me it would never break again. After that, my foot just went downhill. I have pes cavus feet. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a mild version of club foot - high arch and instep, eventual hammer toes and a tendency for the foot to roll out. After the surgery, my foot began to roll out more and more until I was at the point where stepping on a pebble the size of a pea could send me sprawling. I felt that my original surgeon was not as experienced as I would like so the hunt for a new surgeon commenced. I found one, had a right foot reconstruction in 2011 and hoped for the best. Things improved a bit, but the original screw from the first Jones fracture was hurting a lot. Last summer, thinking it would be an easy surgery, I decided to get that screw removed. This is where my new story begins.

The "easy surgery" ended up having complications. The screw was bent and, as it was being taken out, it broke. To get the pieces out, the docs had to bore out the bone, which left me with a hollow 5th metatarsal. I was sent home in a boot and told to walk "as tolerated." Apparently I have a high pain tolerance because I tolerated a lot of walking. I went in for my 6 week check to find out the Jones fracture had refractured! Four weeks later, on Dec. 30th, I had a bone graft taken from my knee and a repair of the fracture. Because the bone is hollow, they could not put in a new screw. I ended up with a plate.

I have had a lot of surgeries and have always woken up well from the experience. This was so different! When I woke up, my husband asked me why I was shaking. It was from pain! My body, legs especially, was shivering uncontrollably. As I am lying there in pain, the nurse is saying, "Let's get you ready to go home." This made me mad and I asked her if she was really going to send me home in that much pain. She got a "bite your tongue" look on her face, but did deal with the shivering and the pain with some meds through the IV. Apparently the break was bigger than they thought so the bone graft was bigger so the pain is bigger........ By the time they sent me home, I was ready, although a night in the hospital would have been nice.

So now I am home, leg elevated and trying to adjust to being helpless. Just as waking up in pain was different, there are some other differences as well. Because of the knee graft, I can't crawl. That is a hassle. With past surgeries, I have relied on crawling quite a bit. Also, I can't rest my leg on a bench as I brush my teeth or use my knee scooter. I am 58 and crutches are not the ideal thing for a middle aged woman! I am hoping the knee will feel better soon so I can use it.

When the nurse called this morning, I told her the pain was a 6. She told to take another oxy, tylenol and ibuprofen. Those seem to have helped. It is off to sleep for me.

Pain is now a 4.