Countdown to Change

Life as I know it is due to change in 9 days time. Sounds very melodramatic doesn't it! It's not meant to. But things which I deal with on a daily basis - pain, calluses, blisters, etc - are soon to be coming to an end (fingers crossed).

On 24 February I'm heading off to place my feet into the hands of a lovely NHS consultant to deal with my hideous bunions. A double bunionectomy if you will! This is as best a photo as I'm willing to show at present (with a little hand just for scale!)

Nobody really wants to see how awful my hideous trotters are, suffice to say they remind me of old granny feet. Even after they've been slathered in moisturising cream!

I've not thought too much about what will actually be done them, I'm not the surgeon, as long as he knows what to do I'm happy. However it has stuck me today just how potentially immobile I will be in the early days. I've been told I've to be non weight bearing for the first two weeks. Then I'll have lovely shoes which enable me to 'heel' walk for the next 4 weeks. Now this is for both feet. So that's non weight bearing on both feet for 2 weeks.

So I've happily been thinking to myself, non weight bearing for 2 weeks - no problem I'll just stay upstairs (we only have the one bathroom) for 2 weeks and it'll all be good. Had a couple of offers of help with the children which are going to be taken with much gratitude. However today I had the thought, how do I actually GET UPSTAIRS! Today I tried shuffling upstairs, backwards, on my bum and it was difficult not to use my feet. Much harder than I expected. So that's made me nervous. It was a joint effort with me and Pedro in the end, I did make it to the top of the staircase but to be honest getting from there to actually getting into bed isn't going to be as straightforward as I'm hoping I don't think.

I'm also going to have crutches. Which will be great for getting about but I've got rubbish upper body strength. And I discovered today, while trying to lift myself up one stair at a time, that my fall last summer (when i thought I'd fractured my elbow but hadn't) has weakened my elbow and I need to be careful as it was threatening to pop out. Got to love my rubbish joints!

I'm still positive about the whole thing. There are a few hurdles which I'll need to deal with, I just need not to worry about these hurdles until, or even if, I face them.

I'm going to blog the process as there really isn't a great deal of first-hand experience/knowledge out there, especially about having both feet done at the same time. Most people just have one done at a time. What I have found is limited to 'this is what my feet look like now, not had much pain,' and that's pretty much it. Also, of the few blogs I have found, the ladies bunions have been what I would call minor, particularly compared to mine. One American woman, I could barely tell the difference between her before and after photos. No wonder she was back to work (& the gym!) barely 2 weeks after her op. Maybe I will post an unsocked foot photo, not sure though. I really do hate my feet.