Normal...ish!

Life is pretty much resumed as normal.  But a little different.  I've been 'speaking' to a few people on the forum in the Patient.com website and I think it would be helpful if I tried to explain how life is after having bunions on both feet treated.  I am exactly 3 weeks post op today.  In one respect it feels like a really quick 3 weeks but on the other hand it feels like forever since I had my operation.

Having both feet in plaster means that you have to think about how you do things you normally take for granted.  Like walking upstairs for instance. Wearing the fabulous Brooks shoes, these,

means that your foot is bigger than normal.  So not only do these shoes make you walk on your heels, which is necessary for the healing process, but your foot is wider and longer than you are used to.  So walking upstairs/downstairs needs to be done one step at a time with only one feet being able to fit on each step.  This means it takes a while to navigate stairs.  To begin with I tried using the crutches to help me on the stairs but quickly found that using the bannister was much easier, less fiddily.

I obviously haven't tried walking with only one shoe on but I have read others say it is difficult due to the difference in height.  These shoes do give you an extra inch/inch and a half (this is pretty much the tallest I've been!) so I can imagine that only wearing one would alter the way you walk and put extra pressure on your hips.  So I'd say wearing 2 is better, at least you are even.  I apparently waddle like a penguin in these shoes but hey, at least it's amusing the kids!!

I quickly gave up using the crutches I was given around the house after the first few days.  I spent the first 5 days after my op staying upstairs (we only have the one bathroom in our house) and I found it quicker to walk the short distance between my bedroom and bathroom holding onto doors, walls, etc.  That being said, I timed myself one day from getting out of bed, putting my shoes on, going to the loo and back again.  Now the distance between my bed and the bathroom is not far, maybe 15 steps, but it took 6 minutes.  6 minutes!!!  These shoes take so long to put on and take off, I am getting quicker (after 3 weeks I'd hope so) but even walking in them is slow.  Because you are walking on your heels, it means you have to think about how you place your feet, especially in the first few days.  When I initially put the shoes on in the hospital it was very, very strange.  The nurse suggested I try walking without crutches at first but I was very wobbly so crutches were decided as the best option to keep my from falling over!

But yeah, normally things take longer than you are used to.

Showering is something else that is a new experience.  Now one of the things you are warned when getting a cast on, as most people will know, is that you cannot get your cast wet.  It weakens the plaster, which then doesn't support your broken bone as well as it should.  So how exactly do you shower without getting both feet wet!  Or in fact, standing up, as you can't put any weight on your feet.  Now you could wear the lovely shoes in the shower but I accidentally got one shoe wet the first time I attempted a shower and it took most of the day to dry out.

As you only have the one pair of shoes, that idea was out.  Then I did some exploring online and came across these interesting things.

They are from a company called Limbo and essentially are large waterproof bags with a neoprene cuff that you put over your foot.  The cuff prevents any water getting near your foot.  So with the aid of these and a stool I have been able to have a reasonable shower and wash my own hair.  That was a big thing for me prior to having my feet done, I just could not figure out how to wash my hair myself.  A friend offered to come and help me do it but, as generous an offer as it was, I needed to figure out a way to do it myself.  My little way of keeping control over some part of this new way of life.  So these sock things are fantastic.  Not particularly cheap, at £12 per sock, but definitely a worthwhile buy.

Among the little things I've noticed about being slightly incapacited is that bending down is harder than you think it should be.  Although you bend from the knees, or you should if want to protect your back, when you stand back up you use your feet to push.  I can't do that at the moment, or more to the point when I try I can really feel it in my feet.  So bending down is sort of off the agenda at the moment.  Not easy when you have 2 kids who, no matter who many times they're told, still leave toys across the livingroom floor.

But so far the pros definitely outweigh the cons, in fact, dare I say it, it's been relatively easy these last 3 weeks.  Boredem has kicked in a couple of times but nothing that a spot of Netflix and a good book hasn't been able to fix.

So far I've watched nearly 3 series of The Good Wife, a couple of kids films, lots of Paw Patrol and I'm working my way through the second series of Once Upon a Time.  I'm also on my 4th book.  I've also done a little cross-stitch of Pluto and I'm back to working on my cat cross-stitch I started far too long ago.  Not bad for 3 weeks!