April 14, 2008

• Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh.....

  That's it....that's what I feel inside and the first thought that comes to mind when I think of MSP.

  So, I had one of my bunions removed late February.  Don't frown your face up.  I've had them all of my life.  I distinctly remember one day in the first grade when I had my favorite outfit on....this purple jumper and my favorite brown flip flops.  Cheryl, who sat right next to me, had 'funny' looking feet.  At least that's what I thought.  She didn't have that curvy bone on the side like I did.  I thought she was weird.  Then, I remember looking at the feet of the other kids around me, and I realized I was the one with 'different' feet.  I remember my grandmother asking me about my bunions when I was in high school. 
  "Why do you have bunions?!  You know that comes from sticking feet the size of Texas in shoes the size of Rhode Island."  Whatever.  I thought that I had done something wrong as a kid.  You know, you see the pretty shoes but they aren't in the size you need so you tell your mama that your toe really doesn't hurt so that she'll get the cute ones? 

  What? You didn't do that?  Okay, okay.  I did it only once.  I was NOT about to wear those plain patent leather black shoes when the other pair had this pretty lace bow on the top of them that matched my Easter dress.  Nope.  Not having it.  My mother knew the deal, anyway.  The week after Easter those pretty bow shoes disappeared for eternity, and my mother knew back then that my shoes were VERY important to me.

  Anyhoo, bunions are a genetic condition.  A medical deformity.  Not the first one I've encountered of myself.  Most people instantly recognize the deformed muscles in my cheeks.  I always thought of having them removed early in life to avoid the painful state that is inevitably caused by bunions.  I saw an ad seeking participants for a post bunionectomy pain reliever research study.  Hey! Why not?  Free surgery?  Free follow-up care?  Compensation for completing the study? YES!! 

  Hold on.....

  I'll be a guinea pig, but I want to make sure it's safe.  I consulted my side doctor, Dr. Mish.  She looked over everything with a fine tooth comb and gave me things to discuss with the research group.  The study required me to be under medical supervision while taking the study drug, which meant I would have to stay 3 nights in the research facility.  Great - I would have immediate medical attention if necessary.  I met the surgeon and he explained the procedure, took x-rays of my foot, and explained, in detail, the necessary follow-up and care.  He also told me that he does his incision on the side of the foot, whereas most make the incision on the top of the foot.

  Okay, so the morning of February 25th, MSP drove me to the facility and waited until time for the surgery.  The anesthesiologist asks me what's my favorite drink.  MOJITO!!!! 

  "Well, I'm about to give you 10 of them right now."  I smiled, said Hello to the surgeon, looked at the ceiling........

  ........and was being awakened.

  "Okay, time to get up....here let me help you."

  Now...the study drug: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  It was a combo of morphine and oxycodone, I think.  At any rate, my idea of painkillers is to GET RID OF THE PAIN!!!  Not so.  Whenever I took the study meds my pain level decreased one level...from like a 7 to a 6.  On top of that, my BP had to be a certain level in order for them to administer the meds.  No big deal, right?  Wrong!  My normal BP is low......around 86/61 or something like that.  Well, my BP needed to be at least 100/whatever.  BIG PROBLEM.  If I was in pain and wanted meds...my BP was never high enough.  The nurses began to feel bad for me and show me tricks to get it higher before the pain became excruciating.  More times than not, I had to take the back-up meds, Motrin, or wait until my pain became worse.  Ironically, pain makes your BP go up.......but I wanted meds BEFORE I felt the horrible pain.

  MSP took EXCELLENT care of me.  He's definitely a keeper.  For the first week and a half I basically set up shop on his couch.  He shopped, cooked, and cleaned with no complaints or problems, on top of working his normal thousand hours/week and doing the coursework for his PhD.   He gave me the extra special treatment and the icing on the cake was washing my hair for me. 

  Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

  So lucky am I.

  Anyhoo...I was in a bulky shoe boot for 8 weeks.  I took 2 weeks off from work, partly because I REALLY needed a break and partly because it was recommended to take the full 2 weeks off by my podiatrist.  I was not about to be caught looking un-fly because I had a boot on....no ma'am!  I bought some cute metallic flats to offset the un-fabulousness of that bulky shoe boot.

  

  By the time I went to Tallahassee for my chapter's 35th anniversary, I was a boot-walking pro!!!!  I even got a few shout-outs in the club from the DJ!

  

  At any rate, most people never noticed I had a boot on my foot because I was fly every where else.

  The boot officially came off Friday and I celebrated by buying new sneakers!!!!  I'm now confined to sneakers for 2-3 weeks...no running, jumping, etc.  At this rate I'll be in heels by June.  Sigh.  I would post before and after pics of my foot...but that would be ummm....TMI.  LOL!

  • 4:13 pm
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