Just an update! Good morning y’all. I had r-foot traditional bunion surgery, including a bone graft, on June…

, they suck, lol.

, I’m sorry to hear that. What’s happening with your incision site?

same! Had surgery on same date. Ankles and big toes swollen all because I’m back to work and on my feet a lot. Incision sites are sensitive and I get weird tingling sensations throughout the day.

, thank you! You, myself and a few others had surgery within days of one another that wk (June 22-26). I have found it to be quite comforting to have others who are experiencing some or all of the things that I am, around the exact same time. You are so right! The swelling comes after hours and hours of walking and standing. I was banking on this recovery being different, a bit easier and quicker, being that it’s my dominant foot. Wishful hoping and thinking, right? 🤦🏾‍♀️ My toe is also swelling up now. So is the area just below the base of my toe. The area where I have hardware. Wearing a compression stocking, massages, being able to sit for a bit, rest and ice my foot and ankle are all helping. Patience is definitely key to successful and thorough healing. We’ll all get there, fully, in due time. I hope you had a beautiful, enjoyable and memorable holiday wknd!

I share your feeling of comfort sharing our stages of recovery and war stories with our cohort. On your other foot, how many months did it take before the foot fatigue and swelling stopped? I feel like we recover at similar rates, so it will give me a good sense of what to expect.

, last year, I had surgery April 9th. At 3 months post-op I was still dealing with minimal swelling. At nearly 6 months post-op, the swelling stopped completely. Even after having been on my feet for very long periods, my foot no longer swelled. Last year, I didn’t have any foot fatigue. I did, however, experience lower leg fatigue once I had returned to work. My therapist told me to increase the calf raises, ankle alphabets, ankle pumps, towel scrunches, and massages all to 3x a day every day. After about 2wks, the fatigue was gone.

thank you for letting me know your last surgery timeline. Given that we are both at around 10.5 weeks post-op, I feel like we are on a similar track/timeline to your last surgery. In my head, I was thinking that I would be back to mostly normal at 6 months. Interesting that last time, you had no foot fatigue but did have the calf fatigue. I am still in PT since I am working towards lunges and planks (I can hold 3 consecutive planks barefoot now for 20 seconds each). We definitely work on calf strength in addition to foot strength. I do all the exercises you listed twice a day. My PT has me do barefoot single leg standing on toe raises to put more weight on the bent toe and increase my calf strength. At PT, I do a variety of barefoot single leg balancing exercises since there is a lot of balance involved in yoga. I think that is why I do not have calf fatigue. But I definitely get foot fatigue. For now, I will hold onto the slow and steady progress. Each week is slightly better than the last. It must help for you to know the general recovery timeline from your last surgery (even though you were hoping this foot would be faster 😀).

, you’re so welcome! I believe we’re on a similar timeline with last year’s recovery as well. Last year, aside from what my surgeon had told me prior to surgery, I didn’t really know what to expect during recovery. I was so happy to be done with everything that comes with recovery at 6 months post-op. I don’t get why I didn’t feel like I had a fatigued foot last year. My foot actually felt strong while my leg muscles felt exhausted. It was a really weird feeling. I can’t even explain it properly, it was that weird. Your pt has you doing all the right things. Strengthening your foot, ankle and leg are all super important for recovery. I think I just expected this recovery to go like last year’s. But I guess it’s true: no 2 surgeries are identical, especially during the recovery process. I am, too, being slow and steady…now, lol.

, thank you! You are so correct about the hyperpigmentation. Darker skin tones heal differently than lighter skin tones when it comes to surgical incisions. My PCP, who is from India, explained PIH (post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation) to me last year prior to having my l-foot done. My incision became hypertrophic (raised) and dark brown in color. My l-foot is 17 months post-op. The incision isn’t as dark as it was before but still has a ways to go before it lightens. I’m sure the incision on my r-foot will form the exact same way (raised and dark). I’m gonna continue to massage both incision’s and apply Vaseline twice daily.

, there’s nothing like clocking out, coming home, taking off those socks and shoes and propping up those feet. The sigh of relief be LOUD 😂.

Hi and thank you! You’re so kind. Full transparency here: it has been quite a journey returning to work. I was able to work my original/usual shift (PM) for exactly one week 🤦🏾‍♀️. Due to the stiffness and residual swelling in the base of my toe, I’ve since switched to part-time NOC shift and part-time PM and will be fully going to NOC next month. This way, I’ll be able to apply cold therapy, rest and elevate, which I can’t do while working daily afternoons/evenings due to the hustle and bustle and constant standing/walking.

, thank you!

, thank you! I can’t to get rid of this minimal stiffness.