from Larisa

Larisa Vann


Ok, it's easier to post here than to try to get back to the "regular"
newsgroup, so if one of you would repost it there for me, it would be
greatly appreciated.

This morning, I had pretty major surgery on my left big toe. Simplest
way to explain it was that my big toe was overlapping my second toe and
causing extreme pain, and the surgery today was to straighten the toe
out. I'm in a hard shoe until the 30th at which point we'll see what the
next step is. But that's not the main thing....after round 2 of the
percocet they gave me, I moved to the sofa and fell asleep....under the
wonderful HUG quilt that this wonderful group made for me. In fact, when
we first got home, it was in the first group of requests that I had: HUG
quilt, pillow for under my foot, and my water bottle.

So thank you all again. It's the perfect size and just the "right"
weight and within minutes of covering up while getting settle don the
couch, I was sound asleep....not something I really expected was
possible given the work that was done this morning...thank you thank you
thank you!!!

Larisa you are in my prayers for a speedy recovery. Gen, thanks for posting
this for her.
Barbara in SC


"Gen" wrote in message
...




Larisa Vann


Ok, it's easier to post here than to try to get back to the "regular"
newsgroup, so if one of you would repost it there for me, it would be
greatly appreciated.

This morning, I had pretty major surgery on my left big toe. Simplest way
to explain it was that my big toe was overlapping my second toe and
causing extreme pain, and the surgery today was to straighten the toe out.
I'm in a hard shoe until the 30th at which point we'll see what the next
step is. But that's not the main thing....after round 2 of the percocet
they gave me, I moved to the sofa and fell asleep....under the wonderful
HUG quilt that this wonderful group made for me. In fact, when we first
got home, it was in the first group of requests that I had: HUG quilt,
pillow for under my foot, and my water bottle.

So thank you all again. It's the perfect size and just the "right" weight
and within minutes of covering up while getting settle don the couch, I
was sound asleep....not something I really expected was possible given the
work that was done this morning...thank you thank you thank you!!!

Thanks for posting, Gen! Good thoughts sent to Larisa, who I'm sure
will be up and dancing pain free one day soon!
Roberta in D

On Wed, 22 Aug 2012 21:18:57 -0400, Gen
wrote:





Larisa Vann


Ok, it's easier to post here than to try to get back to the "regular"
newsgroup, so if one of you would repost it there for me, it would be
greatly appreciated.

This morning, I had pretty major surgery on my left big toe. Simplest
way to explain it was that my big toe was overlapping my second toe and
causing extreme pain, and the surgery today was to straighten the toe
out. I'm in a hard shoe until the 30th at which point we'll see what the
next step is. But that's not the main thing....after round 2 of the
percocet they gave me, I moved to the sofa and fell asleep....under the
wonderful HUG quilt that this wonderful group made for me. In fact, when
we first got home, it was in the first group of requests that I had: HUG
quilt, pillow for under my foot, and my water bottle.

So thank you all again. It's the perfect size and just the "right"
weight and within minutes of covering up while getting settle don the
couch, I was sound asleep....not something I really expected was
possible given the work that was done this morning...thank you thank you
thank you!!!

Gen, thank you for posting this for me.

I'm off the Percocet, so I can actually "remember" how to get to the newsgroup again. Things have been really strange....guess we found a medicine I can't take for pain (cold sweats, dizziness, shaking...NOT fun).

I'm doing ok mobility-wise - now that I'm wearing a shoe on the "good foot".. Provides more balance and I'm not so wobbly. Ken got me his walking stick and I've been using that for leverage when getting up off the sofa or out of the chair.

This was NOT a planned surgery. I went in for the doc to see what the issue was and walked out with an appointment for the surgery...hmmm....he really wanted to do a joint replacement,, but said he doesn't like doing them on people under 50 (so that means I have a few more years). Worst part for me is that I'm used to constantly doing stuff and now I'm restricted to what I can do from a sitting position with one foot elevated....turns out, it's not really that much. I *am* working on some knitting, so at least I'm being productive. Before the surgery, I drafted out the first potential quilt layout for my state and county fair ribbons...very simple design, but I think it will work....thought about doing them by color, and I may play with that layout as well, but right now I'm looking at having them arranged by year they were earned - 3 years of NY state fair and 3 years of Augusta County fair....for a total of 65 ribbons...lol...ah well. Might even aim for next year's VA state fair because it's coming up soon so I know I can't do this year's fair.

Anyway, with all this chaos, I forgot to mention that Thomas is doing online school this year. He's taking 5 classes right now (one is an elective and will be over soon, then he'll switch to another elective) and has 3 As and 2Bs...teachers have been told about my surgery and that there will be a delay in him turning in work since I'm unable to help him right now (more help with research and prompting for more details than anything else). He also managed to skip a year of math and is taking 8th grade math in 7th grade!!

He says he's really enjoying it - more than going to public school and being bullied by students and belittled by teachers...guess we made the right choice....but he's also said that he doesn't want to go back to public school, so this will be going on for a few more years. Hope is that, once he gets to be old enough, he'll be able to have a part time job, but we are currently looking at volunteering at the local library. He is also in the adult karate class now and is really enjoying himself, even though most of the students are MUCH bigger than he is.

So that's where we are...now that I'm not in a percocet fog, I need to try and find things to stay busy for the next 6 days (follow up on the 30th)

Larisa

In my practiced Momma Voice (not yelling):

Know what? There is NOTHING WRONG with 'just sitting and doing NOTHING'.

Absolutely positively nothing.

Just let the body REST.

I challenge you to do it for a few minutes each hour. Look at it as complete
healing time. If you must, tell yourself that your BODY is working so let
your brain go idle.

After the few minutes, write out a 'list' of what needs to be done and then
itemize it for importance. You may surprise yourself that there are things
that CAN WAIT
and those that need doing today........
let the kidlets try their hand at it.....give them a bit more freedom to
'help out'. They may surprise you at how well they can do it. May not be
done the way you would but they do have to learn: don't 'boss' just let them
spread their wings. Praise their efforts, don't gush, just a simple "thank
you or I'm proud of you" is sufficent. (you know what they are/n't capable
of)

As for you, young lady do NOT rush the healing....you don't want a re-do
because you were in a hurry to start doing again. The 2nd time around takes
longer to heal.

Take care and most importantly:
BE GOOD TO YOURSELF

Butterfly

So glad you're feeling more normal! This is where knitting is really
useful. Or use it as a chance to cull your magazine stash, if somebody
can bring the stack of zines to a table next to your sofa.

Good for Thomas!
Roberta in D

On Fri, 24 Aug 2012 07:18:50 -0700 (PDT), "off kilter
" wrote:

Gen, thank you for posting this for me.

I'm off the Percocet, so I can actually "remember" how to get to the newsgroup again. Things have been really strange....guess we found a medicine I can't take for pain (cold sweats, dizziness, shaking...NOT fun).

I'm doing ok mobility-wise - now that I'm wearing a shoe on the "good foot". Provides more balance and I'm not so wobbly. Ken got me his walking stick and I've been using that for leverage when getting up off the sofa or out of the chair.

This was NOT a planned surgery. I went in for the doc to see what the issue was and walked out with an appointment for the surgery...hmmm....he really wanted to do a joint replacement,, but said he doesn't like doing them on people under 50 (so that means I have a few more years). Worst part for me is that I'm used to constantly doing stuff and now I'm restricted to what I can do from a sitting position with one foot elevated....turns out, it's not really that much. I *am* working on some knitting, so at least I'm being productive. Before the surgery, I drafted out the first potential quilt layout for my state and county fair ribbons...very simple design, but I think it will work....thought about doing them by color, and I may play with that layout as well, but right now I'm looking at having them arranged by year they were earned - 3 years of NY state fair and 3 years of Augusta County fair....for a total of 65 ribbons...lol...ah well. Might even aim for next year's VA state
fair because it's coming up soon so I know I can't do this year's fair.

Anyway, with all this chaos, I forgot to mention that Thomas is doing online school this year. He's taking 5 classes right now (one is an elective and will be over soon, then he'll switch to another elective) and has 3 As and 2Bs...teachers have been told about my surgery and that there will be a delay in him turning in work since I'm unable to help him right now (more help with research and prompting for more details than anything else). He also managed to skip a year of math and is taking 8th grade math in 7th grade!!

He says he's really enjoying it - more than going to public school and being bullied by students and belittled by teachers...guess we made the right choice....but he's also said that he doesn't want to go back to public school, so this will be going on for a few more years. Hope is that, once he gets to be old enough, he'll be able to have a part time job, but we are currently looking at volunteering at the local library. He is also in the adult karate class now and is really enjoying himself, even though most of the students are MUCH bigger than he is.

So that's where we are...now that I'm not in a percocet fog, I need to try and find things to stay busy for the next 6 days (follow up on the 30th)

Larisa

On Saturday, August 25, 2012 12:51:23 AM UTC-4, Butterfly-Wings wrote:
In my practiced Momma Voice (not yelling):



Know what? There is NOTHING WRONG with 'just sitting and doing NOTHING'.



Absolutely positively nothing.



Just let the body REST.

I'm working on this....just spent over 30 minutes chilling out, enjoying the 60s music that the public television channel had on...doing nothing else but listening and singing along...lol. But is *so* hard! However, learned my lesson today as I went to the store with DD (used the scooter because I couldn't see me getting to the back of the store gathering groceries, and making it back to the cashier using crutches)...toes are a bit swollen now and I'm so done....not going to try to do that again.

As for you, young lady do NOT rush the healing....you don't want a re-do

because you were in a hurry to start doing again. The 2nd time around takes

longer to heal.

Try THIRD time around!! We've come to the conclusion that: 1-I *never* should have been forced into wearing narrow shoes my entire life (that was what Mother insisted I wore and that's what she only bought for me....in my 20s I discovered just how comfortable medium width shoes were...I'm now a 9 1/2M, and sometimes W depending on the style of shoe), and 2-the Army surgeons that attempted the first surgery seriously messed it up when the "broke a little bit off and wired it back together"

Hoping this will be the final corrective surgery I need for a long time.



Take care and most importantly:

BE GOOD TO YOURSELF



Butterfly

For some reason, the post you sent won't show up with my answer AND I did
try emailing privately but compie won't send emails this AM

Soooooooooo, this is for Larisa, and the rest of you may go back to your
quilting, please

I do have a coupla questions:

1: Didn't the Dr tell you to keep the foot elevated for the first week and
make like a REAL couch potato with ice above the cast (assume you are
wearing one) every other hour for 15 min--no longer-- for the first week to
help keep the swelling down......

2: didn't he tell you -not- to run any errands or even think of shopping
until he saw you again after that week.....

3: didn't he tell you to only have your foot down (using the scooter...not
on the floor) only when you went from the bed to couch to the neccesary and
no where else? (I even got a sheet of instructions with the above after
every foot surgery here at Mayo)

I may be way off base, but those were the instructions for when I had the
first surgery 30+ yrs ago(MI, 2nd in CA and now in AZ) and every one since
including the 'removal of the pins/minor surgery/no cast jsut soft top
shoes' and again with the major ones. Normal 'rules' to try to keep from
having complications.

4: Finally, with your 'history' hasn't the Dr sent you for 'orthodics' in
''leather tops tennis shoes" (New Balance brand until this last pair that
were specially made with steel inserts)....to try to avoid another surgery.
And only _allowed to wear regular shoes with NO heels_ for Special Occasins
and no longer than 4 hours maximum. (Your Ins may/not cover the shoes--had
one that did and now this one won't cause I don't have diabetes!)

Sure hope this is the last surgery you have to have on your feetz. Keep me
posted, please.

Butterfly

Ok, no cast. I had what is called a "McBride's Bunionectomy" to try and straighten my big toe from where it overlapping my 2nd toe. I had previously had 2 "traditional" bunionectomies on that toe/foot (and fortunately only 1 bilateral on the right foot).

I was told to have an ice pack one for an hour and off for an hour - or until it was no longer cold and elevate.

Was told that for first few days, to only get up for the bathroom, wear the stupid shoe, and sit being bored out of my mind. However, the doc also said to start increasing my walking time to build tolerance.

No scooter except for the ones that are available for customer use at the front of some stores - he didn't even want me to use crutches, but wanted me to walk as tolerable on the angled shoe (throws my balance off because weight is on my heel).

I have custom insoles for my shoes, but they don't help with bone/joint misalignment, which is what they are dealing with. We have come to the conclusion that it is the result of a combination of being forced into the narrow shoes, running barefoot, Army breaking a bone then wiring it back together, and so on...basically it's been progressively getting worse every year, and the reason it got attention this year is because of all the walking I've been doing as part of my exercise routine.....better now than later, I suppose.

I bought a book while scootering around Food Lion so that will keep me distracted for a while