Day 157 Removing the Fixator (Mar 08)

After almost 4 months of waiting for the bone to fill in, today I got the fixator off. Since my husband switched jobs and we got new insurance I had the doctor remove the pins at his office. I took 2 Percocets about 45 minutes before he started the process of removing the fixator but I think it wasn't necessary. I was pretty nervous but the worst part was getting the local anesthesia shot. He gave me shots on the foot. Then my foot was numb almost immediately and the whole thing last about 5 minutes. I didn't feel any pain just a little pull when he took the K-wire out. I bled just a little bit. Here is a video of the doctor removing the pins. He gave me a surgical boot and told me to use it for 3 weeks.
I went home and I was sleepy because of the Percocet. At night I was feeling well and we went out to dinner with some friends.

Day 44 and 45 Last day of turning the fixator (Nov 15 and 16)

November 15-Today I turned for the last time and then I started using the bone stimulator. I just put around my foot for 3 hours. It doesn't hurt or anything, it just feels warm around my foot.

November 16- I saw the doctor today. The x-ray machine was broken so we couldn't see exactly how many millimeters I am at now. Just by looking at my toe he says that the length is good. He told me that the bone stimulator will also help with the swelling.

Day 42 and 43 (Nov 13-14)

My foot was hurting a lot today so I take Percocet in the morning and then I don't turn all 4 times that I usually do. I take a 4 hour nap and after I wake up I'm a little nauseated and throw up. Then I feel better and I was able to have den meeting with the cub scouts. I'm waiting to send the doctor a picture because it doesn't look like it has reached the line on the 3rd toe and I'm in too much pain to turn again. I will turn tomorrow morning.

I wait until night to send the picture and he says to turn two more times and start using the bone stimulator tomorrow. 

Day 40 Nov 11

I wait until 6 pm to send the picture to the doctor, because it will be 18 mm and he said that I shouldn't turn more than 18mm. The toe hasn't reached the little line that the doctor drew on my 3rd toe even though the little ruler on the fixator says 22mm, so I'm thinking that he will tell me to turn some more. He texts me back and says that I need to turn for 1 or 2 more days. He told me to pull down on my 3rd toe so both toes are on the same level and it  looks like it needs 2 more millimeters.

Day 37 and 38 (November 8th-9th)

I can see that the toe is growing. Hopefully I will be able to stop turning on Monday. 

I saw the doctor and he said that I'm at 14.5 mm. That is good news!! Before the second surgery the length was at 12.5 and it has been 2 days (with 1mm a day) since the second surgery so it grew 2mm. He said that hopefully I will be able to stop turning on Monday. He asked me to send pictures and that he will decide if I should stop turning or not depending on how the toe looks. The athlete's foot is mostly gone. 

Day 36 (Nov 7)

These are some pictures of my foot the day after the second surgery. The toe is sitting down, which I'm surprised since the surgery was supposed to fix the bone that shifted down but I guess the doctor knows what he did. 

Day 35 2nd Surgery (November 6th)

My surgery was scheduled for 8am so I had to get to the hospital at 6. I had a bad headache so they let me wait for the nurse on the bed. The nurse took my blood pressure, oxygen level and had me get a urine sample. The same thing as last time. Dr. Shabazz came to talk to me and I asked him if this adjustment of the fixator would prevent from the bone shifting down again and he didn't seem super confident but he said that it would. The nurses took me to the OR and then I was gone really quickly. I woke up after it was all done and the doctor said that everything went well. The nurses took me to the recovery room and my husband and kids came to pick me up. At home I was a little drowsy but I was able to home school my son, feed him and my husband went to work. I only took Percocet at night because I was feeling a little pain but it was mostly so I could sleep. I started turning again.