Chris & Jim's Place - A visit to the Hospital

The beginning of this story starts before the actual beginning. In keeping to the wisdom of Alice in Wonderland I shall quote a line, totally out of context, to justify my actions. "Begin at the beginning," the King said gravely, "And go on until you come to the end; then stop."		The pain in my foot started in November, so by mid-February I decided to attend to it. A pain is a chronic pain if it persists for longer than two months. Yes, I know better, but I was testing the theory "If I ignore it, it will go away."
		I went through the proper steps and made an appointment with Dr. Seel. He poked and prodded, then took some x-rays. The joint and bone were pretty messed up. (Rolling a piano over my toe 20 years ago probably did not help.) We discussed my options and surgery promised the best resolution. I did not want to have the operation done right at the end of spring because I would be off-work and screw-up everybody's vacations. He was O.K. with that and said

I could have the surgery done anytime, but I would be off-work for 12 weeks afterwards. My suggestion to have it done "last year" would have worked fine if we had time-travel technology. We agreed to fix this foot in October, which seemed to be a good omen.		Chelsea Community Hospital has a very competent and caring staff. From pre-op, OR, to post-op they are excellent. They explain what they are doing in appropriate detail and a reassuring manner. If it were not for the commute I think I would like to work there.

		I did not move much during the days post-op. Dr. Seel recommended ice, elevation, meds, and videos is about all I should do. When the post-op pain stopped I had a "flight into health" which proved both temporary and painful. I resolved to follow my doctor's instructions to the letter. We were a pleased to see that the incision was healing nicely without any signs of infection or other badness. When the dressing came off I could move my toe, no great shakes, but it was immobile since the surgery.

Dr. Seel had cut through the tarsal bone near the base of my great right toe on a "V" shaped angle. That is to say, he chopped off my big toe. He cleaned up the joint, removed the overgrowth on the tarsal and lowered it to correct the cause of the malformation. He repaired the severed bone with a screw-like device.		It will take a long time for this surgery to heal in the manner that it is intended. Cleaning up the pathology and aligning the bones is only the first step. The bone needs time to firmly knit together so the problem has the least likelihood of recurring. Dr. Seel took his time to answer questions and lay out the do's and don'ts.

In the short run, I'm looking forward to taking a shower.		In the long run, I'm looking forward to walking to work and carrying my lunch.
		On the mend...