Here's another update on my recovery following surgery to remove a Morton's Neuroma. If you would like to see all the posts on this topic, click here.

Day 16 (Tuesday)

So today was the day I had my stitches out, and I couldn’t wait because they had been really aggravating me – pulling and making my foot quite sore, both at rest and when I move around. However, I was also a little apprehensive about having them out – would it hurt? Well yes it did a little, but it was completely bearable and the difference is amazing. The nurse said the stitches were pretty tight and she had to tug each one (there were four) quite hard to get enough room to put a curved scalpel underneath to snip the stitch. It stung a bit, both during and after, but it didn’t last long. The wound has been dressed with a simple dressing – no more bandage! – and it feels quite weird walking around actually on my foot now. I’m still putting my weight on the side of my foot rather than squarely on it, so that’s the challenge for the next few days. I had a few questions about where I go from here:

• The special shoe – the nurse said there’s no real need to wear it if I can walk comfortably in “normal” soft shoes e.g. trainers or Crocs.
• Driving – by law I can’t drive until I can perform an emergency stop i.e. putting equal pressure on both pedals at the same time. Don’t feel nearly ready for that yet, so it will be a week or two at least, I think.
• Sport – I asked about swimming and she advised I wait several weeks as apparently the wound can take up to a year to heal properly internally. I can understand that for more physical exercise but might call the hospital in a couple of weeks and ask them about gentle swimming
• Showering – it’s fine to get the wound wet now. There is some slight scabbing from the stitches, which is why I’ve got a dressing on it, and a spare, but once that goes I no longer need to keep it covered, and yes, I can have a proper shower at last. Hurray!

Day 17 (Wednesday)

Today is the first day when I can really see things are getting better. I started the day by having a PROPER shower – not a carrier bag or Limbo in sight – bliss! I changed the dressing and had a good look at the wound; there are still some small scabs but it looks fine, and the ridge where the skin had been pulled together has flattened out nicely. And I put on socks – my own socks – rather than the sock I borrowed from my partner because it was big enough to fit over the bandage! Then I did pretty much a full day”s work at my desk, the first since the operation, working from 9-12 and 1-5 without having my foot up. Took an hour off for lunch and to walk my daughter to the bus stop and back – no distance at all really, but the furthest I've walked so far, and in Crocs rather than the orthopaedic shoe. By 5pm my foot was feeling a little tender so I called it a day and put it up for a while. But overall everything is feeling like it's getting better now.

Days 18-21 (Wednesday to Sunday)

My foot has been feeling much better and I can even put it flat on the ground now when I walk, which obviously makes walking a lot easier. Stairs are still quite awkward though. It's funny how you don't realise which bits of your body you use to do certain things till you can't use them properly. Going upstairs is fine and I can take them normally now, rather than one step at a time. But coming down, if I lead with my bad leg then all my weight lands on the ball of my foot, which hurts, and if I lead with my good leg then I leave all my weight on the ball of the bad one, which hurts! So I'm still coming down one at a time and sideways.

On day 20 we went to an auction – we go quite regularly, but this was the first time since the surgery. I tried on an old pair of trainers and yay, I could get them on because the swelling has gone right down, but after wearing them for a few minutes I decided that it felt too tight acros my foot and might be uncomfortable so I stuck with the Crocs. The auction involved quite a lot of walking round the room looking at lots, and after half a hour of that my foot was quite sore and achey. Luckily I managed to find a seat for most of the day, but my foot did hurt and look a bit swollen by the end of the day. Spent Sunday resting it as much as I could and it feels much better now! I've kept a dressing over the scar this week as when I walk I can feel the top of my shoe rubbing on it, and it's quite tender still. Interestingly I still have some bruising coming out, nearly three weeks after surgery, round the ankle rather than near the incision site.