Let's get practical

I know that at the moment, most of my readers are friends and family, or people who 'know' me off various internet forums (hi everyone! *waves* and apologies to those who are disturbed that I have a real name! lol).

But I started this blog mainly with the intention of it being helpful to people planning to have bunion surgery, because a lot of what I knew in advance about the recovery period was gleaned from blogs.

So this post is probably only really of interest if you are going to have bunion surgery, or a friend or relative is. But of course, everyone is welcome to read!

I found that my surgeon and hospital did not give me any information on how the recovery process would go, or what I might need to make it easier. If you go private, or live in a country where you have to go private, you might get a better level of information, but if you are NHS, you may well find this really useful.

So here are the things I think you need to know, or need to get.


THINGS YOU NEED TO GET

* A beany lap tray (or two). These are so useful, for using a laptop in bed, eating meals in bed, writing things in bed, you get the picture. Or even as a kind of table to have next to you on the bed. You definitely need one. I borrowed two.

* A pouffe or high footstool. For elevating your foot when you're able to get out of bed. Get one as high as you can, or add pillows/folded blankets to make it high enough. Your feet should be higher than your hips ideally. This also has the advantage of marking you out as needing special care, and even small children seem to honour that (well, a bit, anyway).

* A wheelchair. Not absolutely vital, but if you'd like to be able to leave the house before you can walk on crutches, or if you'd like to go further than you can walk on crutches, then a wheelchair means you can be pushed places. I used mine to go to the Little Lady's nativity play, which I would otherwise have had to miss. I got mine from the Red Cross.

* A decent pair of ergonomially designed crutches. Another thing that's not absolutely necessary, but they are much more comfortable than the NHS ones. I imagine you can get them from the Red Cross, although I borrowed mine.

* A toilet frame. Another Red Cross item. I've already said in another post how much I have valued this piece of equipment. It has enabled me to go to the toilet by myself, which is vital for dignity. Without it I would have had to have someone lift me on and off the toilet.

* A large pair of soft socks. For keeping your toes warm when/if you go outside. You can buy fleece things on the LimbO website but they are a tenner (!) and of no use afterwards. You could always make a fleece toe cover, but socks are easier. I bought a supersoft thermal pair in a size larger than my usual one (6-11 when I am a 6).

* Lots of pillows. For elevating your feet and propping yourself up. I use three behind me and about four for my feet, plus a rolled-up duvet tied to keep it rolled. Yes, it is a lot!

* Lactulose. We covered this before but both anaesthetics and codeine cause constipation. Lactulose is a gentle way to resolve it. Nuff said.

* Help at home. There is no way you will manage on your own, even if you have batch-cooked and/or live on ready meals or takeaways. You will get tired easily, you have very limited mobility, it is not going to work. Try and organise someone to be with you 24/7 for at least four weeks (ideally more), or for someone to come in to do mealtimes and cleaning if that isn't possible. If all else fails, employ a cleaner and cook. Seriously. Do not try to do it yourself.

* A TV in your bedroom (if you don't have one already). I hooked up an old computer in our bedroom so I can watch catch-up TV. I haven't used it all that much, but I prefer it to watching TV on the laptop, and it's nice to have it available.

* Waterproof cast covers if you want to be able to shower (or you can strip wash at the sink instead). If you do want to shower, I suggest you might also want a waterproof chair to sit on while you do it. Personally, I haven't bothered with showering but am just washing at the sink. My surgeon recommended LimbO covers, but at £15 each, I decided to live without. YMMV.

* Mobility scooter I think I'm going to hire one of these when the hubby goes back to work. I can walk with crutches a little now but as I have the Little Lady, I'm concerned I won't be able to keep up with her or keep her safe. With a mobility scooter, she can sit on my lap while we ride into town or to preschool. I definitely think it will give me more freedom than I would otherwise have, and would enable me to go shopping.


WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

* You will need help washing your hair. If you don't want to be a greaseball for nearly two months, then you will need to get help to wash your hair. The way I have found works best for me is to sit on a chair next to the bath. I sit on the chair sideways with my back facing the bath and then lean back on the edge of the bath, which I pad with a folded-up towel. You will get wet! Get a friend or loved one to wash your hair for you. If you prefer (and I do) they can just wet and rinse it while you do the actual shampooing and conditioning. This does make the back of your neck hurt so sitting up at points throughout is helpful.

* You will have to strip wash. Before I had my casts changed, I sat on a chair at the sink, then washed with a flannel. I am lucky enough to have a tilting wall mirror so I could see my face to wash it, but you could use a standalone mirror, like a shaving mirror. Now I have the smaller casts, I am able to stand at the sink instead of sitting.

* You will have almost no concentration. Before I had the operation I thought I could spend my recovery time knitting, writing and generally catching up on things. But I have found that I can't concentrate on things for too long, so have spent most of my time surfing the net, reading magazines (even books are beyond me!) and doing only things that I can spend small amounts of time on. This is not the time to decide to write that novel, IMO.

There are probably more, and I'll edit and add to this post as they occur to me or as I encounter them. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

Two steps forward, one stumble back - day 13

Sub-titled Progress and A Cautionary Tale

Because I've read in so many other people's blogs that doing too much too soon causes pain and can even affect your overall recovery, I've been really erring on the side of caution, and doing everything I can to maximise my recovery.

So I've been elevating all the time, even overnight, and only walking around to go to the bathroom.

But pride comes before a fall. In my case, literally.

To get around, I'm using the hospital-issue crutches. I do have some lovely ergonomic-handled ones my friend George has lent me, but I'm saving those for downstairs. It's like an incentive to graduate!

Anyway, when I first came hom from hospital I was properly crippled. I could hardly bear to put weight on my feet, and really bore my weight through the crutches. It took me ages to shuffle slowly and painstakingly to the bathroom.

In fact, I borrowed a toilet frame from the Red Cross so that I have help to get onto the toilet by myself. Here it is:

It just sits around the toilet and has handles at just below hip height, which means I can hobble in on crutches, lean the crutches against the wall while leaning my weight on the frame, and then use both frame handles to lower myself. They're also extremely useful to get back up again.

I honestly think that without this frame I'd have needed physical help to sit down on the loo and get back off it again, so it's really saved my dignity (which presumably I've just lost through telling you all this).

I have borrowed a few things from the Red Cross: the toilet frame, a wheelchair for when I go outside further than I can hobble (pretty much everywhere for a while) and I did also borrow a commode chair, as I'd read from another blogger that their pain was so bad they couldn't do anything more than slide from bed to commode.

Thankfully, I haven't needed it so it will be returned unused.

The Red Cross is amazing. They are a charity, so they lend you the equipment for just a small £5 deposit. And then you just pay what you can afford for the hire. Obviously, we will be giving a reasonable donation because we're not poor, but how fabulous for those people who don't have much money, because the hospital won't help at all - they refused to lend me a wheelchair.

I found out about it accidentally while Googling, but if you want to know more then have a look at their website here, and if you are able, please consider giving them a donation in recognition of their incredible work.

Back to my progress report.

So at first I could hardly move, it hurt and was difficult and I really NEEDED those crutches.

About three or four days ago, so on day nine or ten after surgery, I realised that I wasn't leaning on the crutches so much, In fact, I was able to walk a few steps just holding the crutches.

I experimented a bit, and discovered that I could stand without the crutches or any other support, so suddenly I was able to turn the light on for myself, or open my curtains, instead of having to call for help.

And that was my problem. I got a bit cocky on the crutches. And yesterday, I was speeding back to the bedroom when I lost my balance. I stumbled, which is fine if your feet haven't been sliced and diced, but was not great for me.

I banged my left foot on the floor trying to catch my balance. I didn't get shooting agonising pain or anything like that; in fact at first I thought I'd got away with it.

But since then, my left foot has been unhappy with me. It aches and twinges at the place where I knocked it, which just happened to be the exact spot where it's been cut open.

It's obviously not very happy. And I feel so stupid for rushing around and not taking it easy. After all, I'm not in any kind of hurry at the moment.

So this is my cautionary tale. If you're having this surgery, make sure you take all parts of your recovery slowly. Don't rush, don't push yourself too far too fast.

From now on, I'm staying like a little old lady and leaving the speeding to Lewis Hamilton.