Foot surgery

[laurajhawk]

I've had arthritis in both hands and both feet. Late last year - right after I retired and doubled my activity level - I began to have severe pain whenever I flexed my left big toe in particular. I had a cortisone injection as a temporary fix, but went in for surgery on May 3.

The surgery could've gone either of two ways depending what the surgeon found. I was hoping for a bilateral (both feet) cheilectomy, but that left toe joint was down to 20-30% cartilage remaining, so the joint was fused (and therefore the doc left my right foot alone - I'll probably have to have it done eventually). I realized that immediately upon waking, and wasn't devastated as I'd expected; I was crazy relieved and happy to have the surgery done, and it had all gone well, so I went home pretty happy.

I was told I'd be non-weight-bearing for 6-12 weeks, but it didn't really turn out that way. I was mostly in bed with my foot elevated for the first 3 days, could go to the bathroom/kitchen on crutches or knee scooter (rented one of those, it's fun). Luckily my DH is also retired and is taking care of me and our pets At my 10-day recheck I was given permission to put 50% weight on the left foot while walking on crutches; that means I can handle a couple stairs on my own, and makes things around the house a lot easier. In 2 more weeks I can try walking without crutches. I wear a walking boot/aircast 24/7 except to shower.
In 6 weeks I have my next recheck and may be able to ditch the boot.

I thought I'd be keen to do chair workouts, and the doc said it's OK - with the boot on - but it turns out that showering, letting the dogs out (2 stairs to the back door), and all the other daily stuff feels like a workout already! The crutches mean there's UB work. But yesterday I had DH put a straight chair in my workout room, and I did Rise & Spine from RaviAna's Beginners & Beyond. I plan to start adding in more yoga - I miss my studio yoga classes and may try a restorative class in a week or two, and my favorite teacher also teaches chair yoga at a senior center, though that's a ways away and I'm not driving yet. If you have chair workout suggestions, let me know! And for sure let me know if you've had a toe fusion. I think I'll be able to go back to most of my workouts, but maybe not barre. And I'm not sure how long the recovery will take, though I saw a guy in a facebook group who did a 10-mile hike at the Grand Canyon 12 weeks after his fusion.