OKAY! I DID IT! I had cryosurgery for Morton's Neuroma! Finally...

Barefoot TJ

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Mar 5, 2010
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Here's an email I sent to some friends a few moments ago, but I wanted to share with all of my friends here too:




[size=2 face=Arial>Okay, finally, it is done, and boy did it hurt like a beeatch! Not so much the 4 little itsy bitsy, teensy weensy incisions (through the toe webbing) that allowed the probe in to freeze the nerves, you know, the whole cryosurgery procedure itself; mostly, I didn't feel all that, well except that one nerve where I actually could feel the freezing when he turned up the dial (I guess that nerve wasn't quite numb enough), then had to back it off and up it again, on and on, but the actual numbing shots, 12 in all, hurt worse than any others I have experienced thus far. It's not like I haven't already experienced exactly 25 needles in my feet prior to these through all the cortisone, alcohol sclerosing, and shockwave therapy numbing injections, but 8 of these shots were placed long ways through the fine webbing between the toes. He froze one nerve on each foot on one day, then I went back two days later, so he could freeze the other two nerves, one in each foot. Yea, I went back. I seriously thought about not going back, maybe getting an anesthesiologist to put me out on another day, so he could finish the job. I thought, I'll gladly fly back down to Tampa and do this all over again if I could just be put under for it all. It was that painful. My ex-marine hubby told me to gut it out, rub some mud in it, get back in there. And the good doc gave me a prescription for some Xanax, so when I did return for the second round, I wouldn't be so freaked. It worked! Only 2 of the 6 shots were bad, and I tolerated the rest very well.

[size=2 face=Arial>After the procedure was over, I could walk. I can walk now. It hurts a bit when I do, and it feels like I am walking on two large, hard, sharp stones under the balls of my feet. But I'm really just sore. I am supposed to stay off my feet for 3 - 5 days and no running for 2 weeks. NO RUNNING FOR TWO WEEKS! I plan to run a simple 5K barefoot at the end of this month. This is an event I started and have been planning to run for the past four months, the All American 5K, a benefit run for Lt. Daniel Berschinski who lost both of his legs when he stepped on an IED in Afghanistan back in August. He is coming home from Walter Reed that day. He was a high school track and cross country runner here locally, and his parents are in my shod running club. He lost both his legs for me, for all of us, and here I am complaining about my feet. Perspective, TJ, perspective.

[size=2 face=Arial>It's over for now, hopefully forever. We will only know how well it worked for me as the weeks pass. The reason...[size=2 face=Arial>the nerves will die a little tiny bit each day, so in a few weeks, up to six weeks, we will know better if this procedure was a success. If not, or even if it's just partially a success, I can always repeat it again in a few months, right?! After the procedure was over, I could walk. I can walk now. It hurts a bit when I do, and it feels like I am walking on two large, hard, sharp stones under the balls of my feet. But I'm really just sore. I am supposed to stay off my feet for 3 - 5 days and no running for 2 weeks. NO RUNNING FOR TWO WEEKS! I plan to run a simple 5K barefoot at the end of this month. This is an event I started and have been planning to run for the past four months, the All American 5K, a benefit run for Lt. Daniel Berschinski who lost both of his legs when he stepped on an IED in Afghanistan back in August. He is coming home from Walter Reed that day. He was a high school track and cross country runner here locally, and his parents are in my shod running club. He lost both his legs for me, for all of us, and here I am complaining about my feet. Perspective, TJ, perspective. [/size=2 face=Arial>It's over for now, hopefully forever. We will only know how well it worked for me as the weeks pass. The reason...[/size=2 face=Arial>the nerves will die a little tiny bit each day, so in a few weeks, up to six weeks, we will know better if this procedure was a success. If not, or even if it's just partially a success, I can always repeat it again in a few months, right?!
 
Hoping for a quick relatively

Hoping for a quick relatively painless recovery for you! Hang in there, glad you are on your way to happier feet :)
 
Thank you all so very much

Thank you all so very much for the nice thoughts and well wishes. I can't wait to try out my new feet once I've healed. I can't expect too much at first though. Since the cryosurgery (four probes/four nerves), the nerves die just a little bit each day, so it can take weeks before I know if the procedures were a success. I'll keep everyone informed just as soon as I know.
 
Thanks guys.  I'm starting to

Thanks guys. I'm starting to wonder though. I seem to be healing up fine from the actual procedure (rocks under the balls of my feet flattening, bruises going away, tinsy weensy cuts almost gone), but my nerves are firing non-stop. I mean the whole reason I had this done after trying everything else out there was to get rid of the nerve sensitivity and pain. Now it seems the nerve sensitivity and pain is present 24/7. This bites! I can only hope that it dies down (literally) soon...and remain positive...remain positive...remain positive. :-(
 
I suck.  Seriously.  I suck. 

I suck. Seriously. I suck. I think I am worse off than before I had the cryosurgery. What should have taken just a couple of weeks to "get back out there" has taken months. I didn't start really running again until 3-1/2 months after the cryo. That whole time and then some, I was walking on my heels to avoid putting any pressure on the balls of my feet, since the damage done by the cryo was so painful; now I have a bad case of plantar fasciitis in both feet because of it. I can't get my mileage over 7.5, and I used to run 10 miles at a time, and it seems I can't run back to back days like I used to. It sucks! Sorry to rant. Thanks for asking about me though.
 
I'm sorry to hear things are

I'm sorry to hear things are still so bad for you TJ, I'm still holding out for you. Hoping that things come around for you very soon :(
 
Thanks, Zum.  I could learn

Thanks, Zum. I could learn to live with the pain from the neuromas (MN) and never acheiving my goal of running a barefoot 100-miler through Death Valley (hee), but that @$%& heel pain is about to @#%& me off!
 
TJ, I'm really sorry about

TJ, I'm really sorry about your new pain! Seems like you traded one pain for another. Neither are very easy to deal with.

My wife has pretty bad plantar fasciitis; she's had it for years. She can't run, and some days can just tolerate our 1 mile walk with the dog. Some days are better; others worse.

We have two friends who had "blading" done for it, and it completely went away for one and got much better for the other. So my wife had that done this summer. It seemed to help for a few weeks, but now after about six weeks, she has it just as bad as ever.

Anyway, if pf doesn't improve, ask your doc for a referral to a physical therapist who does blading (or just go to a pt, if your insurance allows it) and talk to them. It helps some; maybe not everyone, but it might be worth a try.
 
What is blading, Mark?  I did

What is blading, Mark? I did have PT for the MN and the PF, but it didn't help. Very expensive at this point, since my insurance is exhausted for this year from the cryo.
 
The surgery is just to kill

The surgery is just to kill the nerves? That doesn't sound like really fixing the problem to me, but I guess it works if over-active nerves is the problem. That really sucks that your worse off than you were before, I always hate it when things turn out that way. Hopefully it improves eventually, or maybe you figure out how to run without bugging it? Not sure if thats possible with this kind of thing, but it doesn't hurt to try. I actually want to try Bad Water barefoot someday, I mean if I'm gonna do it at all I have to do it bare, and it is one of the major Ultra's. I figure I'll just have to go live in Death Valley for the whole year before it, so my feet are used to the 200 degree pavement. At least that way I'll know if I'm gonna burn my feet off or not before the race.
 
TJ,Blading is repeated

TJ,

Blading is repeated scraping with a smooth (usually metal) edge the length of the affected muscles/tendons. For pf they usually blade - or scrape - from the top of the calf all the way to the toes, because the achilles tendon is involved in the pf. It's done a few times a week for up to a couple months, depending on how the muscles/tendons respond. It's suppose to realign 'tangled' muscle fibers. The tangles supposedly cause the tightness, lack of flexibility and pain. If the fibers stay aligned, then the pain should subside. I think that's how the theory goes, anyway.

I can't seem to find anything on the www about it, right now. I know our PT didn't make it up. He explained how it was discovered and researched, and isn't an uncommon treatment for pro athletes. I'll see if I can find more info for you.
 
Thank you guys.Mark, that

Thank you guys.

Mark, that sounds painful! Yikes! Whatareya trying to do to me? Teasing. Any info would be very appreciated.
 
  T.J.  I really, really,

T.J.

I really, really, hope things get better for you. Having foot pain and difficulty is no fun at all! Maybe you can put one of those wonder woman ankle bracelets on and it will all go away. That was a joke btw lol. I am sorry to hear you are having such problems with this. Maybe soak your feet in epsom salt everyday to see if that does anything? Hope you get better bfr buddy! ;)
 

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