WARNING: GRAPHIC SURGICAL PICTURES -- So, you wouldn't believe what the doctor found in my feet...

btw, I had another OP a week ago ... If I'd seen the video beforehand.... I would have gotten drunk first:

 
Speedy recovery TJ,

Strange, I didn't get queasy looking at the pictures. I guess looking at snowboarder wounds in the winter and dealing with farm animals in the summer has hardened me.

I am curious about your extra muscle. I have a lump below and forward of my ankle on the outside of my foot. I wonder if that is all that it is. Currently it doesn't give me any trouble. My girls poke it and say "Dad, you have a tumor". In my best Arnold voice I reply "It's not a tooo more".
 
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I am curious about your extra muscle. I have a lump below and forward of my ankle on the outside of my foot. I wonder if that is all that it is. Currently it doesn't give me any trouble.

Do you have one on only one foot? I had one only on the left foot, my most problematic foot. I don't recall it before he pointed it out, or at least I might have seen it and not thought anything about it until he pointed it out. It's weird how we could see it pressing through my skin! He said it was pressing up on a nerve, so that's why he removed it. He also used to be a plastic surgeon, so it probably would have bothered him a bit to leave it in there. You know how they are perfectionists and all. Which, BTW, you all should see my incisions, soon to be scars. They are so paper thin. He used very, very fine sutures and lots of them really close together. Hack Job, the podiatrist who did the first MN surgeries, cut four incisions any which way, one even beginning to loop into a "C", and he used this really large thread and made these nasty Frankenstein stitches. The things still look nasty almost 9 months later! I can't wait to see what these look like in 9 months, so I can compare them. Makes me want to take pictures and send them to Hack Job. I'm taking the stitches out this Thursday, and I can't wait!
 
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Do you have one on only one foot?

Yes, just on my right foot. It only bothered me a little at the start of my minimal running, it would get a little sore. No problems now. I'll post a picture one of these days.

So glad you had a good Doc this time. A plastic surgeon huh? He didn't try to sell you anything else did he? Kidding - I know that there are a lot of good plastic surgeons out their to repair scars, burns, and work on kids.
 
Awsome pics TJ! How are you holding on? You good?
I might need you to refer me to your Doc when the time comes for me to go under the knife.
 
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Yes, just on my right foot. It only bothered me a little at the start of my minimal running, it would get a little sore. No problems now. I'll post a picture one of these days.

So glad you had a good Doc this time. A plastic surgeon huh? He didn't try to sell you anything else did he? Kidding - I know that there are a lot of good plastic surgeons out their to repair scars, burns, and work on kids.

So, what are you trying to say? Hmmmm? Sell me something extra, huh? :p

I would like to see that picture. That's interesting that you can actually pick it up on camera.
 
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Awsome pics TJ! How are you holding on? You good?
I might need you to refer me to your Doc when the time comes for me to go under the knife.

I'll keep you all informed as I progress, so if I do really well, you all may want to consider Dr. Dellon as your surgeon. If you are really interested in knowing who he is, you should read this bio about him. http://www.dellon.com/ps/chapter.11.pdf He's kick ass and takes no names, seriously. He won an award for developing a mesh that channels a severed nerve to its target. Before, the severed nerve would develop neuromas at each broken end, but with the channel, it forces the nerve to grow along a path to reconnect to itself. He said he got to thinking about how sutures used inside the body dissolve, so why not make a tube made of the same material and place the broken ends through the tube? Works like a charm, and now it is common practice to use this device when repairing severed nerves. He has won awards that line the walls of all of the offices in his practice. He even has them in the break room because he can't fit them all in the other parts of the practice. That's where we stood while he pointed to this very large display of his surgery on one such nerve using this device. He asked me if I wanted a pastry from the box on the break room table. I was like, uh do you realize you have that giant poster hanging in the room where people eat? He's like, Ha, I never even thought of it before, oh well.
 
I couldn't wait. I took the stitches out tonight. My skin had gotten so dry around them, they were starting to itch. What's three more days anyway? I don't think I am going to fall open. Hee.

When the last doctor took the stitches out, he took a dull scalpel and lifted each one up, plucking it and giving it a yanking until it finally broke, then moved onto the next one. I was begging him to stop with each stitch on each incision until the last one when I screamed at the top of my lungs, "STOP! You're freakin' hurting me!" I almost screamed the F-word, I was in so much pain. My hubby's jaw just dropped.

Tonight, it was really tender. I can't imagine ever letting someone else do it again. It would have hurt like hell, since no one could do it as well as I can do it for myself. No one can tell how painful it could be for someone else when they do it (except a doctor should have a clue when his patient is begging him to quit...Hello! Clue there!) I worked each one very gingerly and took my time doing it carefully. It was "nearly" pain-free.
 
Hey! Shut up!
 
OH TJ!!! I'm so glad the surgery went well and you are recovering. Sounds like you may finally get a break from the pain and have some hope of running again! So, SO, SO HAPPY FOR YOU! Keep us posted on how things go and what your progress is post surgery!
 
Thanks Zap. And thanks, Dama, for your support in sticking up for me. And, Willie, you can kiss my ass! but love you anyway.

My feets are starting to hurt more, especially around the outside and the heels. Dr. D says I am walking too much, which is very little and has been from the start. Makes sense. I am compensating. But we will see how I do. I want to stay positive but there's this one area that concerns me. It still feels like a neuroma is there, whereas the other three seem to be completely gone, except for the phantom pains which are extreme at times. I have years of experience and intimacy with these things, so I know what their presence feels like. Dr. D says the pathology shows 4 nerves with scar consistent with neuromas were removed, that it will take time for my brain to remap my nerves, and the water therapy will help with that. Still, three out of four, after what I have been through is good, but then I think I've already been through so damn much, I'm done and just won't be happy with another freakin surgery. We'll see.
 
TJ, do you have any updates? How are you doing?