Has anyone had surgery to their foot?

[FrayedKnot]

I apparently have a condition called Mortons neuroma which I think is quite common and it looks like I'm going to ahve to have surgery to correct it.

I'm quite worried about how I will manage the post op period.

The leaflet I was given said I would need to take 6 weeks off work (I can't really believe that) and wouldn;t be able to weight bear for a week or two (and presumably drive?).

I'm not sure how I will combine that with keeping DS fed / clothed / entertained etc. he goes to nursery in the mornings but I would have to pick him up at lunch time - by car. OTOH if he doesn;t go, two plus weeks in the house without being able to take him out & do stuff would be awful.

Has anyone else had an op on their foot and how long were you out of action for?

Anyone?

A friend of my mums has had surgery recently on both feet. One was done about 6 weeks before the other. Not sure what the problems was - something about very flat feet I think ?
She's had quite a bit of pain I think (sorry) - although again I have to stress I'm not sure exactly what she's had done - I could get further info if you like.

problems was !!?? 'what the problem was'

Just interested to know how long people were unable to weight bear / drive, really. Of course it will be dependent on what teh surgery was, I suppose, this will be a fairly small op (day procedure).

I think mums pals surgery was a bit more major - she was in hospital for quite a few days. i think leaflets like that usually give you a worst case scenario. Maybe try & get a better idea of the real limitations from your doc.

Yup - this happened to me .... I had my ankle operatd on ..

My kids were about 8 and 10 so needed to go to school.
I was out of action for 6 weeks.

I asked our babysitter - who drove - to take the kids to and from school.
I accepted offers of help ( through gritted teeth - as I am a control freak )

The worst thing was being unable to do the small things .... nearly wrecked myself when I was trying to bring the coal bucket in - whilst on crutches ....

Oh Yes ! and the fact that I was a sitting duck for all the visitors - who wanted to keep me company - I ended up putting a sign on the door ... telling them to go away when I wasn't in the mood !!

Thanks both of you, I think I will be able to put a bit of weight on my heel quite quickly (surgery at front of foot), so assuming I won't need crutches or anything. I'm envisaging more of a hobble, but as DS is only 2 when I go out with him I need to be slightly more fleet of foot!

I'm sure they do give worst case on those things, and will be discussing with doc when I go back.

I had surgery on my big toe (torn ligament that distorted the bone so they fused the joint) about 2 years ago. The post op period was the most painful thing I have ever had (more than the 40 hours of labor with my ds). Having said that, it was absolutely worthwhile and I would do it again. I was just really angry that they had not adequately prepared me for what was involved.

I was NOT able to drive for almost 4 weeks afterwards. The op was on my left foot and I had not even thought about (or been told about) the possibility of not being able to drive. The op shoe that i had to wear was a stiff board that made me unable to operate any sort of pedal (clutch or otherwise).

The foot throbbed with lots of pain, so although I was able to go back to work relatively quickly (after a few days), I was only able to do so because I had a job where I could work with my foot up (literally) on a desk.
The pain for the first week was so terrible that I was counting down the hours until I could take another painkiller. I have a very high threshhold for pain and have had all my dental work including crowns and fillings done without any anaesthetic at all.
I had crutches for a month or so. However, once the stitches came out and the special shoe came off, my big toe was still so swollen and sensitive that I had to go out and buy new shoes. In the end I got men's shoes because they had more toe space so didn't rub on the scar and toe. I still can't wear quite a few of my shoes from before the op. Though in fairness, there are some shoes that I couldn't wear before the op because they hurt, and now I can wear them.
I found that for the first 6 months after the op, my toe hurt more than it did before the operation, but after that the pain really did subside. And after a year, my toe definitely felt better than before the operation.
I would definitely make provisions for getting your ds to and from nursery (anybody else who can take him for you). You will be fairly immobile for the first few weeks and in enough pain that you won't want to deal with the needs of a child alone. And certainly not able to drive as long as you are wearing the special post op shoe.

Good Luck. Hope I have helped and not scared you.
PS. Don't wear trousers to hospital as you won't be able to take them off after the op.

Sofia that is really useful, thank you.

I'm sorry it was so painful. The Dr i am seeing isn;t the type to beat around the bush, as when he did my steriod injection the other day (which hasn;t solved the problem, hence going on to surgery), he told me it would hurt quite a lot - it wasn't too bad, but it did hurt.

So I hope he will give me a fair estimation of what is involved. We have no local support so it sounds as though I am going to have to call on relatives to stay when the time comes.

The surgery I am having is to one of my nerves in the ball of my foot..I wince at teh thought...!