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.

Day 33 November 4th

Brenda calls me to say that they scheduled my surgery for Wednesday, the 6th. I had to get another doctor's note saying that I was ok for surgery so I went to a family practitioner tonight and the doctor said that I was healthy to have surgery on Wednesday.

Day 31 November 2nd

Brenda took x-rays and the doctor said that because of skin and tendon resistance the bone shifted down and stopped lengthening and that is why even though the little ruler on the fixator said that I was at almost 20 mm, the x- ray only showed that I had 12.5 mm, the same as 6 days ago. He told me that he needed to adjust the frame and lift the pins of the bone that shifted down. He said that he could do it in the office and he could just give me a local anesthesia but he would feel more comfortable doing it at a Operation Room setting. He turned the fixator back a couple of times and he told me to stop turning.

Day 29 (October 31)

I had a pain free day until night. It started hurting a lot and I had to take Percocet. I didn’t want to turn last night at midnight because I’m afraid it is not doing anything. The toe hasn’t changed length since October 19. I’m getting worried that it is not going to grow more.

Day 27 (October 29th)

I sent the doctor a picture of my foot and again I haven’t seen any difference since October 19th. The doctor told me to keep turning and that he wanted to see me on Saturday.

Day 23 (Oct-25- 13th of turning)

I had my third visit with the doctor. Brenda took another x ray and the doctor said that I am at 12.5 mm. Even though the little ruler on the fixator and the x ray show 12.5 mm, I haven’t seen any difference from my last appointment. It looks like it stopped lengthening.

The doctor says that the x ray shows that everything is where it is supposed to be. He said that I might be able to stop turning on Tuesday, but I needed to send him a picture of my foot on Tuesday (Oct 29) and then he would decide if I needed to keep turning or not.

Day 20 (October 22)

I lost balance tonight and my first reaction to keep me from falling was put my foot down. The bottom of my foot hurt and then I was really scared that I had broken the bone that has the pins. It stopped hurting after a little so I don’t think I broke anything and it was mostly the bottom of my foot that hurt.

Day 18 (October 20)

At church it started cramping again and I take percocet. I get really sleepy and the pain is gone. I get home and slept the whole afternoon.

Day 17 (Oct-19)

My second visit with the doctor. He says that everything looks good. I need 7.5 mm to go. I can see that the toe is longer than it used to be.

Day 14-16 (October 16-18)

I'm starting to have cramps. I don't know for sure if it is cramps but my foot gets super tight. I started taking Percocet again. At night, especially I can't fall asleep if I'm feeling pain or cramps. Percocet helps me with the pain and falling sleep.

Day 13 (Oct 15)

I noticed that I have these weird red blisters on my foot. I took the gauze around my foot and I put do terra Clear skin and Lotrimin. I think it is some kind of fungus. It looks like ringworm.

Day 10 Started turning the fixator (Oct-12)

Doctor Shabazz came to my house and fixed the problem. It was just really tight. I turned and it didn't hurt. I'm so glad the doctor was able to fix the problem. I was worried there was a problem with the fixator and that he would have to remove it and put another one.

Day 9 (October 11)

My first doctor visit after surgery. He said everything looked fine. It was the first time I saw my foot. It made me light headed and I thought I was going to pass out when Brenda (the doctor's assistant) was taking the dressing off. He cleaned around the incision with alcohol but told me to clean around the pin sites by using Q-tips with hydrogen peroxide twice a day. The doctor gave me the key to turn the fixator. I need to turn 4 times a day (every 6 hours). Each turn is a quarter mm. He said that I need 16 mm so if it is 1 mm a day, I will need to turn for 16 days.

I didn't turn it at the doctor's office and when I tried to turn at home the fixator wouldn't turn. I called Brenda and then Doctor Shabazz called me saying that he was going to stop by to see what the problem was. He is such nice doctor. I've never heard of a doctor that comes to your house.

Day 2-8 (October 3-10)

I home schooled my son and my husband did everything else. I started taking the antibiotics, twice a day for 10 days. I took Percocet every 4 hours and I wasn't in pain. Percocet made me feel nauseated so I threw up twice. It also makes me sleepy. If I don't keep my foot elevated I start feeling pain. I've noticed that a lot of people that had this surgery walk or put some weight on their foot but my doctor said absolutely no weight at all so on Friday, my husband got me a knee scooter. It is a lot better than crutches. I can do the dishes, clean the kitchen and cook on it. I started out renting it and I did it for 4 weeks. It is $40 a week, so $160 a month and since I'm going to need the knee scooter for around 3 months I saw that it would be cheaper to buy one. You can buy it at Amazon for about $200 but I found mine on Craigslist for $150. It is almost new and then I can sell it after I'm done for about the same price. Mine is really nice, the handle turns so I don't need to lift it to turn it like some scooters that I saw on Amazon. After day 3, I got used to Percocet because it doesn't make me nauseated anymore. I took a bath and I kept my foot up outside the tub so I wouldn't get it wet. It felt so good to wash my hair.

This week people from my church brought dinner. By day 6th I stopped taking Percocet and I haven't felt as much pain but I still need to keep my foot elevated.

Day 1 Surgery Day (Oct-2nd-2013)

I got to the hospital. I waited for about one hour or so till the nurse called me. This time I hadn't had anything to eat or drink so I was safe. She asked me for a urine sample. They need to make sure I wasn't pregnant. Another nurse put the IV plastic needle in my vein. I hate those things.

They took me to the operation room. They hooked me to the IV and I was out.

I woke up after the surgery and they said everything had gone well. Bryce and Sam came to pick me up. The nurse gave me crutches because I won't be able to put any weight on my foot for 2-3 months. I was still really groggy from the anesthesia. I didn't feel any pain on my foot.

At home I slept for a long time. I ate a little. Right before bed time I took Percocet because I could tell the anesthesia was wearing off. I still didn't feel pain but the nurse told me to not wait until it was too painful.