I shouldn't a done that... re my foot problems,

[ShiroKuro]

@CHAS said:

Hope surgery is not needed. Also hope you recover soon.

thank you!

I have a follow up with the foot surgeon at the beginning of May, so we'll see...

[Mik]

Yeah, surgeons especially tend to downplay the tough and often painful recovery, but that's what they do for a living and some are not above selling it. "You may experience some discomfort" is a euphemism for "It will be a sneak preview of the fires of Hell.". They are also reluctant to tell you about the percentages of patients that are truly helped. I hope this resolves successfully for you.

[Mik]

Shiro, did the surgeon say whether or not he'd have to detach the achilles tendon? Apparently, that will determine whether you will have the very long recovery or a much shorter one.

[ShiroKuro]

@Mik said:

some are not above selling it.

Well that, and also, the further out a patient gets post-op, the less the doc sees them, and I suspect that influences even the most conscientious of surgeons (i.e., those who don't push surgery when not necessary just because they'll make a buck). Also the definition of a "successful surgery" is not necessarily the same for doctors and patients, and maybe to some extent that's inevitable.... but it's still frustrating on the patient side.

"You may experience some discomfort" is a euphemism for "It will be a sneak preview of the fires of Hell.".

Ugh! That reminds me of when covid first started and the reporting about "mild" cases would mention that a doc might describe it as mild (e.g., because the patient isn't in ICU), but the patient would not (e.g., because they are so sick they can't function)

[ShiroKuro]

@Mik said:

did the surgeon say whether or not he'd have to detach the achilles tendon? Apparently, that will determine whether you will have the very long recovery or a much shorter one.

Yes, the surgery that has been proposed (same by two different doctors) is to detach the achilles, remove the haglund's deformity that's at the top (ish) of the heel and also remove the enthesophyte (bone spur) that has formed right where the achilles attaches to the heel.

Which is why I'm suspicious of their recovery estimates and directives about length of time totally NWB -- IOW, I think they're underestimating it. And I'm worried about the cascading health ramifications of prolonged NWB, and I think they are underestimating that as well, and it's super frustrating.

[ShiroKuro]

But I should add that I feel like I'm getting a lot better and I'm wondering if I can stick with my "wait and see" approach. The problem with that is, I can't really do the surgery any time except in the summer, so not doing it this summer means I won't do it until next summer....

[Mik]

Foot surgery can be odd. Last May I had a large benign myopericytoma (say that three times fast) taken off the top of my right foot. It had been there for several years so was very tangled in nerves and blood vessels. It healed OK although I still have a little nerve pain at the incision site from time to time. the odd thing is ever since then I've had a slight limp on my right side that comes and goes. No one can figure out quite how that happened.

[CHAS]

@wtg I must have clicked the Quote button.
Thank you

[ShiroKuro]

@Mik said:

I still have a little nerve pain at the incision site from time to time.... the odd thing is ever since then I've had a slight limp

I'm sorry you're still dealing with it, although thankfully it was benign and sounds like the removal went well.

Here's another thing I wanted to vent about..... sorry!

So, I asked both foot surgeons if there was anything I should be doing in preparation for the surgery. Both said no.

Well, reading that FB support group, a lot of people talk about how hard it is to be non-weight-bearing on one leg and having to rely completely on the other leg. One lady was talking about how she has a very hard time getting up and down to go to the toilet.

And another person pointed out that this should have been mentioned as part of "prehab" -- that anything you can do in advance to strengthen the non-surgical leg will be incredibly helpful.

In most cases, this surgery is elective -- which is not to say that it's not medically necessary, but just that there's some flexibility in the timing and most people have the surgery after months (or years) of trying other treatments which didn't work.

Given that, having patients do prehab exercises as part of their pre-op preparation seems like a no brainer. But no one has mentioned it to me.

As it happens, I can't do a single leg sit-stand without using one of my arms. But I'm trying to build up my muscles to get there.

I would be a lot less cranky if an actual doctor discussed this with me, rather than me having to hear about it on Facebook!

/vent

[Mik]

Janet had been doing Pilates for a couple years before her hip replacement. It helped a LOT in her recovery. I think prehabbing is very smart.

[ShiroKuro]

@Mik And I bet any surgeon, if asked about prehabbing, would say "oh absolutely, do that."

So, it should be something they tell you about....

I understand hip replacements are quite difficult, was she working at the time?

[Mik]

No, she had retired a few years earlier. But she made it upstairs the first night and was the poster girl for active rehab. She exceeded their milestones at every turn. hopefully all the weightlifting and cardio I've been doing for a few years will help me if it comes to that. So far I have one bone on bone knee, but it doesn't bother me so there must be some cartilage left. Hips and shoulders are fine.

[ShiroKuro]

@Mik said:

But she made it upstairs the first night and was the poster girl for active rehab. She exceeded their milestones at every turn.

That's great!

hopefully all the weightlifting and cardio I've been doing for a few years will help me if it comes to that

I am sure it will! I have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in both knees, and I did get a shot in one knee last June. But the big thing that has helped me is all the PT and strength building I've been doing. It's been quite slow, but I've noticed a real change, esp. recently.

That's why I'm holding out hope that I can avoid this foot surgery!