Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Surgeon #2

Today has been a really crazy day and I'm glad it's coming to an end. I'm even happier because now I have some more conclusive answers about my surgery situation. Quick update - callus on right foot is worse and bigger than callus on left foot and bothering me a lot more. I have been really tired and exhausted, which is the reason why my entries keep dwindling. I still don't think the supplements are helping me and I'm doing blood work to get some more results.

So last night I slept at my parents' house and my mom and I went into the city this morning to meet the doctor referred by Dr. Feldman for a second opinion. I had a great first impression, liked him right away, which is always a great sign. He reviewed all the information I brought, examined me, then stepped out of the room. When he came back, he told me he called Dr. Feldman on his cell phone and they discussed my case already. More brownie points!

So he said we had two options. The simplest and the one he recommends is to just shave off some of the fifth metatarsal's bone, which should relieve some of the pressure on the callus of my right foot. Should be a fairly simple surgery, local anesthesia and possibly not even one night in the hospital. Would probably go right into a walking boot and return to work fairly quickly. Option #2 would be to break the fifth metatarsal bone and raise it to relieve pressure. But then he said he wasn't sure if it wouldn't create a problem for the fourth metatarsal (Oy vey!). This would also be a much more invasive procedure with longer recovery. And he doesn't think pinning all my toes would help at all, so as of now they stay "hammered."

So obviously I chose option 1, and we agreed that if it didn't get much better, we can always consider option 2 in the future. After this I will also try wearing orthotics at least while I'm at work so my feet won't feel so much pressure while I'm running around. For now I think we'll just ignore my left foot...it's hurting a bit but I think I can live with it. I was also surprised to know that Surgeon #2 will perform this surgery, instead of Dr. Feldman. Not that it's a problem, I just wasn't expecting it. Oh that reminds me - I should figure out how this works for my insurance since he's out of network.

Once I got to work I had a chat with the powers that be and it looks like I'll be able to schedule something for the beginning of July and possibly take off two weeks. And this would mean that I may still be able to take my family trip in November!!!!!!!!!!!! Which is really what I'm most excited about! This last part hasn't been approved yet but one can dream...

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Option #1 definately sounds like the better plan. I have been thinking about having my hammertoes broken and reset. Your doctor's opinion on it will be mentally noted when I speak to my specialist.

And yay time for recovery AND trip! :)

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