Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Week 15

I'm back from my last appointment! Everything went well & the x-rays look great. I'm allowed to go bicycling and wear my heels again! HEEELS! I had secretly tried on some lower heeled sandals a couple of days ago and it felt fine. My foot doesn't go all the way in yet because of the slight swelling but I'm almost there. Also, I have to hold off on running for another month. My latest x-ray showed 24.7mm lengthened. Clearly I had forgotten to include the first 2 full turns at the office in addition to my 22 day distraction so that's the official length ;).

Anyway, I asked Dr.Nagler to send me the picture he took on my first appointment back at the end of March. I've mentioned previously that the only "before" pic I have is the blurry one posted in the first post. So here it is:

Before & After

It's kinda painful to look at and shocking to see it in detail. The curved middle toe, the corn and the tiny nail on the brachytoe. It sounds harsh but my internal reaction when he showed me the pic was something along the lines of "kill it with fire!!". Not very nice of me but it's the truth. I don't feel that way about all brachytoes, just the one that used to be mine. Most brachytoes look adorable as you can see on the facebook group I've posted on the right. In my opinion, mine was too severe. I had already forgotten.

I'm so grateful to Dr. Nagler and his staff, they're all amazing. This whole ordeal is a long process and God bless them for doing it. I can't think of a better way to express my gratitude than with food so I brought them my favorite cupcakes from Crave.

ScarAway Week 5
Scar update time! It looks the pretty much the same as last week's pic hehe. I still have several weeks of ScarAway to go so I'll keep posting pics. Also, I'm walking normally. I got another pair of sneakers in my regular size and am now using those. YAY for reduced swelling!

I've gotten several questions via email about my treatment. The main one is "who is your doctor?". With his permission I've posted his info on the right panel of this blog under "Who fixed my foot?".

The second most asked question is "would you do it again?". The answer is yes yes YES. If I had brachy on my other foot, I'd be in the middle of distraction right now LOL!

@ the beach

Squeezing into a 3 1/4 inch heel sandal

I went to the beach on Saturday and took a pic of my feet. No more burying in the sand. So that's it for now. If you have any questions, feel free to email me or just ask in the comments section :) Have a great rest of the week and weekend and as usual thanks for following!
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , ,

14 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 24, 2012 at 6:56 PM

    I love this post, the pics and your sentiments! I would definitely do it again too, as hard as it was at times, it was worth it. I don't think your foot was severe before, it just shows how much we all HATED our brachy feet. Hideous is the word I used for mine, but we don't have to worry about that anymore do we! Woo hoo! We did it! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. brachyfemmeJuly 24, 2012 at 9:05 PM

      Thanks ;) lol it's funny because I don't think yours was hideous! But you are 100% right, we don't have to worry about it anymore. I love it!

      Delete
  2. AnonymousJuly 25, 2012 at 1:02 AM

    Amazing! 15 weeks and bam! I was looking through your older posts and realized I'm going to be using the same fixator as yours :)
    Was your knee scooter useful? I was looking online and thinking of ordering one. Not only were the reviews all positive, but it seems that since you keep your knee bent and resting on the scooter it would help elevate your foot as compared to crutches. Any thoughts?

    Thank you for sharing your story and showing us that there is light at the end of the tunnel!

    ReplyDelete
  3. brachyfemmeJuly 25, 2012 at 9:09 AM

    Thanks for following! The scooter was very helpful. I was able to find it on Craigslist for less than $200. I figured I would pay the same to rent it for a month so I decided to buy one. With it, I was able to go the movies, shopping and to appointments without getting tired like with crutches. However
    loading and unloading it into the car is something to think about. I always had help :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJuly 26, 2012 at 8:09 PM

    Your foot looks so sweet in the sandals! Must be such a great feeling to be able to wear matching shoes! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. brachyfemmeJuly 26, 2012 at 9:46 PM

    Thank you! It does feel so good, I'll never take it for granted again!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownAugust 1, 2012 at 11:01 PM

    I came across your website when I was googling how much the surgery costs and had to make a fast account to write to you. For years I've been wanting to have surgery for my toe but I can't seem to find out how much it costs. Also, which insurance covered your surgery? I don't have insurance right now but I do want to apply. I feel completely lost on how to go about this whole thing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. brachyfemmeAugust 2, 2012 at 8:57 PM

      Hi and welcome! I understand exactly how you feel. Have you found a doctor yet? If it's an option you can ask if they take cash patients which usually results in a discounted rate. As for insurance, any medical health insurance should do since this surgery is considered a correction and is medically necessary. The amount insurance will pay depends entirely on how your plan will be set up. The cost will vary from person to person but the total bills combined can go anywhere from $19,0000 to $55,000 (this is before the insurance has paid AND it includes everything from anesthesia to crutches). My share after my insurance paid was less than $1,000 but this is how my specific plan is set up. I hope this helps :)

      Feel free to email me: brachysaurusrex@gmail.com

      Delete
  7. AnonymousAugust 19, 2012 at 12:05 PM

    how's your recovery? Have you been jogging and stuff? Hope you're doing well!

    ReplyDelete
  8. brachyfemmeAugust 21, 2012 at 9:07 PM

    Hey! It's going wonderfully! I'm about to write up an update ^__^

    ReplyDelete
  9. bracymetatarsia is ruining my lifeFebruary 13, 2014 at 10:44 AM

    Hi! So I have brachymetatarsia on my right foot and I am strongly thinking of getting the surgery. I am just so scared because I waited so long (I am now 31). My left foot is shows slightly, it not raised at all, its just the same length as my pinky toe. My question for you is, I scrolled to briskly read your journey and I noticed you had to be out of work, was this mandated by the surgeon for you to be on bedrest? How long were you out? I am a nurse and it is very hard to take such a long time off of work. My next question would be, where and who did the surgery? and what insurances do they possibly take? I have struggled for years of being embarrassed and not being able to wear sandals or a certain type of shoe. Thanks for sharing your journey, I am really inspired.

    ReplyDelete
  10. UnknownMarch 4, 2017 at 2:59 AM

    I have the same condition you had when you had it did it hurt when u walk or did some kind of physical fitness cause thats whqt happens to me i just really wanted to know if that happen to u cause i really want a surgery so i wont feel embarrassed to show my toe

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownMarch 4, 2017 at 2:59 AM

    I have the same condition you had when you had it did it hurt when u walk or did some kind of physical fitness cause thats whqt happens to me i just really wanted to know if that happen to u cause i really want a surgery so i wont feel embarrassed to show my toe

    ReplyDelete
  12. diverdivaMay 23, 2018 at 4:05 PM

    I am meeting Dr Nagler in 2 weeks and I am nervous and hoping he will do it. I'm 48 yrs old and up until 2 years ago I thought I was the only one! A local doc said I may be too old for healing but didn't routinely do them . Now I may have a chance to do it. I'm more concerned with time off of work as I am on my feet alot . Wish me luck. You're an inspiration

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)