Finally! Before and After X-Ray's - Hallux Valgus Surgery

Okay fellow weirdos! I've finally put together the films from the bilateral hallux valgus repair with proximal metatarsal osteotomy. Let's break that down:
Bilateral - two sides
Hallux - the big toe
Valgus - a genus of beetles. but also, a displacement of a limb AWAY from the midline of the body. The opposite of valgus is varus.
Proximal - close to the end, or close to an attachment in a structure (in this case, a bone)
Metatarsal - feet bones!
Osteotomy - cutting of a bone (osteo = relating to bones, -tomy = chopchopchop?)

So, when you put that together, bilateral means both feet, hallux valgus refers to a displacement of the first toe, proximal metarsal osteotomy refers to cutting the end of a foot bone.


BEFORE: April 15th 2009 - Ew, look at those joints! If you follow the bones up to the ankle they look all squashed up.


1 DAY POST SURGERY - November 24th 2009 - These incredibly painful to take. Now, the x-ray rooms at Scarborough Grace are AWESOME. The whole machine moves on tracks that go up, down, and across the ceiling so I really didn't have to do anything. However, just having my chopped up feet attached to my body was so painful that the little movement required to get the different angles was...less than pleasant. At the time I thought this was a normal amount of pain, but when I think back...OW


17 DAYS POST SURGERY - December 10th 2009 - I cried over these casts/dressings. There was this stupid hard part that kept rubbing against the incisions, and they were so itchy and it was terribly frustrating not to be able to use either of your feet. Plus, as the swelling came down they became looser which just exacerbated the influx of obsessions and compulsions that come with general discomfort, frustration, and pain.

5 WEEKS POST SURGERY - December 30th 2009 - Ah, the fateful day it was decided that my left foot needed a revision. This is also the same day that they discovered the pin had poked out through MY FLESH. (It didn't hurt at all though, isn't that nice?) I was in an exponentially better mood because the dreaded dressings were coming off, (oh, freedom to scratch carefully!) I could peel off that dead skin and rub in some good ol' fashioned vaseline along with the antibiotic for my poor, dried up feet, and I was still on a Boxing Day high.

Coming up next in the adventure:
The revision of my left foot repair on April 19th, 2010. Thankfully scheduled on the last week of first semester so that I could write my exams early, then just sleep through the pain for two weeks without missing out on class. (Of course, I then get to find my way through a percocet haze to pay attention in physics, chemistry II, math II, and anatomy & physiology. Fun.)

Kat's Crepe Batter Experiment - Recipe 1

^not my crepe! But it looks good, doesn't it.

Crêpes are so versatile. They can be savoury, you can fill them up with a salad (gross!) for a healthy snack, or you can go the complete opposite way and load them up with brown sugar like me, or nutella, bananas, caramel, and nuts (yuck!) like some other people I know.

I’ve been working with a basic crêpe recipe and so far have turned up this yummy, not-too-eggy, almost thin batter.

You need:
1 ½ cups of flour
2 tablespoons of sugar
½ teaspoon of salt
3 eggs
200ml of milk
2 tablespoons of butter

2 medium-large mixing bowls
1 small bowl
1 small cup
1 fork
1 sifter/strainer/thingy
1 non-stick frying pan
1 flipping thing
1 rice server

1. Sift the flour, sugar and salt together into a mixing bowl.

2. Cut the butter up, put it in the small cup and set it in the microwave on low power for about 1 ½ minutes.

3. Beat the eggs in the small bowl.

4. Dump the eggs, milk, and melted butter into flour, sugar, and salt and mix furiously with the fork.

5. Once the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together as well as you can with the fork, place the sifter over the second mixing bowl and push the batter through. This will ensure a well mixed, smooth consistency.

6. Wash the dishes you’ve used! I always wash the dishes I’ve used at this point, I hate having extra clutter around.

7. Set the stove at a medium heat- too high and the crepes will burn before you can turn them or add your fillings, too low and it’ll be slow.

8. A rice server is the perfect size for each crêpe. Ladle in one scoop of batter and tilt the pan until it’s evenly covered.

9. When the edges of the crêpe start to peel off, flip it. You can add your fillings immediately.

10. When the bottom looks done to you, you can set it on a plate to cool and continue cooking, OR you can CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP right away.

This batter keeps well, in fact I find it has a better consistency if you leave it in the fridge for a night. Just stir it well when you use it again. If it’s been more than a week, sniff it to make sure the dairy products haven’t gone bad. Happy crêpe-ing!

Post Surgery Foot Care

The day you get your dressings off is a great day- and also kind of weird. You're anxious to get the damn things off your feet but when you do, it's a whole new foot. And you've got a hard layer of excess skin just ready to peel off.

Under that tough, dried up skin is more dead skin, and under that dead skin is fresh new skin. Soft and not at all crunchy. So you think, "hey, I want to maintain this post-surgery awesome skin!"

Not to worry, I've got the answer.

Before you get started lay out your tools:

• 1 pair of socks you don't mind getting waxy
  
• 1 spacer for each foot
• 1 tub of Burt's Bees miracle or hand salve
• 1 tablespoon of baby powder

Clean off each foot and rub the Burt's Bees thoroughly into your skin. Coat the spacers with baby powder, insert them between your big toes, (you want to maintain the surgery, not just the skin) and put on a pair of socks. The socks will keep the salve from rubbing off and when you take 'em off you'll have soft, protected foot skin.

I especially like this because of the smells...beeswax is so homey and sweet, while baby powder is just one of those scents that makes you kind of happy. Unless you've ever had a baby with diarrhea, in which case I'm not sure baby powder would remind you of happy memories.

Next week, Big Bunny shows you how to keep your ears from getting sunburned.