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.