Pins Are Out!

I'm back! I'm excited to say that my pins were removed today. I went in to my appointment and they immediately took xrays. The doc came in, took a look at the xray and said "you're good to go!". 

He put on gloves, went to get pliers and screwdriver and got to work. He unscrewed and removed the fixator (the black bar) first. Then he took the pliers and started back to front unscrewing each pin. I bled a tiny bit (less than the girl in the youtube video I posted a few posts back) and I felt nothing! Just a slight pulling at the most but no pain whatsoever. I kept bracing for pain but it never came. Keep in mind that this was with no painkillers or numbing shots. I was very nervous and I'm so happy that the whole ordeal was over so quickly, it took maybe 5 minutes MAX. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.


So here are the new pics!

4th toe is relaxing even more probably due to fixator removal 

The doc says to keep wearing the darco shoe for a couple of days to adjust without the pins and then transition to athletic lace up sneakers. I may have to go up a size to accommodate the swelling. He says to keep using the bone stimulator and stay away from high impact exercise for the next 6 weeks. So that's it! My next follow up appointment is in 4 weeks and they said I'll be doing so good I'll probably cancel it haha! I'll start using those over the counter silicone sheets on my scar as soon as the pin sites are closed.

I want to give special thanks to Brachynomore for creating and keeping up with her blog and for her support.    Her foot looks absolutely fantastic and I wish her all the best in her healing :) I'll be checking her blog as usual for new posts ;). 

And to Byebyebrachy and Brachychik who are going through this process at the moment, I want to say thanks for your support and stay strong! It will be all over before you know it :). 

Brachygoneforever is having her surgery soon & I want to wish her good luck! 

To all the lurkers: you are not alone and feel free to ask questions! We Brachybloggers don't bite.

Have a nice rest of the week & weekend everyone and thanks for following!

Week 9

My bone stimulator finally arrived yesterday. It's light, portable and I have to wear it for 3 hours a day but I can do it in 60 minute increments. I can walk while wearing it too. I'm wearing it over the fixator right now. 

I had my appointment today. I was scheduled to have the ex-fix removed, however because it took so long for the bone stim. to arrive my doc said he would feel more comfortable removing it two weeks from now. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement...on a positive note the new x-ray shows even more growth so I do find comfort in knowing that I did pretty good on my own. He just wants me to wear the bone stim. for at least 2 weeks before removal so that my metatarsal will be that much stronger. It makes sense. And at this point even though I'm barely winding down from the feeling of betrayal (LOL), I feel like what's another 2 weeks? I was supposed to be staying at the beach this weekend to celebrate but like they say: life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. Maybe I can still go and just use my cast cover ;)

Here's my x-ray:

My scab came completely off. It was really thick and deep where the 2 pins closest to my toes are. Also my toe is very straight (it almost looks jarring looking at it from the right side as the rest are my toes curve down while at rest) so I asked about it. The doc says I can start pushing it downward at the base of the toe to help  with that and I'll also have therapy once the fixator is off. So anyway here we go again with the waiting! At least this time around I already know my bone is doing great :D

Week 8

This past week has flown by. I've been walking around as normally as possible while wearing the draco shoe and yesterday I did a little walking at home without it. It's getting easier with practice but of course my foot gets a little swollen afterward. This weekend I went out without crutches! I had a nice lunch out on Saturday & Sunday and did a little bit of shopping! It was tiring but so worth it. I also spent a lot of time with friends; they're all so curious about the fixator but I don't show it to them because my scab makes it look worse than it feels (it's starting to come off on it's own finally!). 


My toe is still really straight even after having the brachytoe pin removed. It feels really stiff so I need to ask if therapy will help with that at my next appointment. Speaking of my next appointment, it is fast approaching. I'm set to have the fixator removed next week. I was a little nervous about it because it will be done in the office but now I'm ready to just get it out. Doing a little research on the removal process allowed me to get some peace of mind.


Per Wikipedia on external fixation: "Installation of the external fixator is performed in an operating room, normally under general anesthesia. Removal of the external frame and bolts usually requires special wrenches and can be done with no anesthesia in an office visit." 


This medical journal article shows that 95 out of 106 patients that had an ex-fix removed would do it again without anesthesia. Also, this youtube video shows an ex-fix being removed from the first metatarsal (it's not that graphic but be warned lol). In the video the patient says all she feels is pulling as her doctor turns the pins. This sounds promising, hopefully it won't be too bad  when I have it done ^__^.