Going Under The Knife, Again!
Yesterday saw me spend 2 hours at the hospital, waiting to see the consultant about my ongoing foot problems, which I'd already self-diagnosed anyway! My appointment was for 11:30am, so to be courteous we arrived at 11:15am, then didn't actually get called until 1:15pm, AND it wasn't even the consultant I was meant to be seeing! If I'd waited for him, I'd most probably still be sat there now!
So I eventually got to see another consultant and he looked through my notes then wanted to see my feet. Sods law and the problematic one wasn't all that swollen at the time because I'd been sat for so long, neither was it hurting but a diagnosis was still possible. Having had the same problem 4 years ago, he wanted to make sure there was no underlying problem causing it, but nope, nothing untoward was found so he simply got down to the nitty gritty. Remembering how it was diagnosed the last time I gritted my teeth and waited for the pain! He got hold of my foot, applied pressure to the ball with his thumb and squeezed the sides, basically squashing my foot. Yep, there it was! A pop and the worst pain I've ever experienced in my foot! Cheers for that, yep, it really is yet another Morton's Neuroma, just as had been diagnosed by my doctor when I went to see him!
Anyway, he said I had 2 options, cortisone injections into the trapped nerve (because that's basically what it is) which would be a temporary solution, perhaps lasting up to 6 weeks, or surgery to remove the nerve completely. Now what with me not liking needles all that much, and the horror stories I've heard about the injections, PLUS the fact that I'd probably still need the surgery after the injections anyway, I decided to go straight for the surgery. Under general anaesthetic of course! It's possible to have it done under a local, but I wouldn't trust it, plus I wouldn't want to be awake, knowing they're poking around in my foot, makes me feel ill just thinking about it!
He then asked if I had any questions about the operation, even though I've already had it done once, and I simply asked if it was possible to have the nerve removed from the top of my foot, rather than the bottom. Why? I have a lovely 2 inch scar on the ball of my foot from the last time, which is extremely prone to hard skin growth. It grows really thick and feels uncomfortable to walk on so I have to file it down all the time (sorry to anyone who may be eating while reading this!). My answer was that it IS possbile to do it that way, but there are added risks going in from the top. There are ligaments in between your toes that hold your toes up and it's necessary to move it out of the way to get to the nerve. If the ligament happens to be damaged during the surgery then your toe will drop and it could cause complications, meaning more surgery to correct that as well. In the end I decided to go with the flow. One surgeon goes through the top and the other through the bottom, so just whatever, as long as it gets done, and pretty soon if possible please!
I was then sent along to the pre assessment department to have my vitals checked. Height, weight, blood pressure, pulse, etc. I seem to have grown 4cm and their scales took 2lb off me so I was very happy! I was also told that my sats was 100, though I don't understand that, except that it's the level of oxygen in your bloodstream, so god knows if it's good or bad!
A few more questions about the medication I'm currently taking, and can I come at short notice if a cancellation pops up, blah blah and I'm now officially BACK on the list for the removal of my second Morton's Neuroma! I'm not dillusional mind, I know for a fact it's gonna be next year, possibly Summer time at least, before I get it done! Good old NHS...
So I eventually got to see another consultant and he looked through my notes then wanted to see my feet. Sods law and the problematic one wasn't all that swollen at the time because I'd been sat for so long, neither was it hurting but a diagnosis was still possible. Having had the same problem 4 years ago, he wanted to make sure there was no underlying problem causing it, but nope, nothing untoward was found so he simply got down to the nitty gritty. Remembering how it was diagnosed the last time I gritted my teeth and waited for the pain! He got hold of my foot, applied pressure to the ball with his thumb and squeezed the sides, basically squashing my foot. Yep, there it was! A pop and the worst pain I've ever experienced in my foot! Cheers for that, yep, it really is yet another Morton's Neuroma, just as had been diagnosed by my doctor when I went to see him!
Anyway, he said I had 2 options, cortisone injections into the trapped nerve (because that's basically what it is) which would be a temporary solution, perhaps lasting up to 6 weeks, or surgery to remove the nerve completely. Now what with me not liking needles all that much, and the horror stories I've heard about the injections, PLUS the fact that I'd probably still need the surgery after the injections anyway, I decided to go straight for the surgery. Under general anaesthetic of course! It's possible to have it done under a local, but I wouldn't trust it, plus I wouldn't want to be awake, knowing they're poking around in my foot, makes me feel ill just thinking about it!
He then asked if I had any questions about the operation, even though I've already had it done once, and I simply asked if it was possible to have the nerve removed from the top of my foot, rather than the bottom. Why? I have a lovely 2 inch scar on the ball of my foot from the last time, which is extremely prone to hard skin growth. It grows really thick and feels uncomfortable to walk on so I have to file it down all the time (sorry to anyone who may be eating while reading this!). My answer was that it IS possbile to do it that way, but there are added risks going in from the top. There are ligaments in between your toes that hold your toes up and it's necessary to move it out of the way to get to the nerve. If the ligament happens to be damaged during the surgery then your toe will drop and it could cause complications, meaning more surgery to correct that as well. In the end I decided to go with the flow. One surgeon goes through the top and the other through the bottom, so just whatever, as long as it gets done, and pretty soon if possible please!
I was then sent along to the pre assessment department to have my vitals checked. Height, weight, blood pressure, pulse, etc. I seem to have grown 4cm and their scales took 2lb off me so I was very happy! I was also told that my sats was 100, though I don't understand that, except that it's the level of oxygen in your bloodstream, so god knows if it's good or bad!
A few more questions about the medication I'm currently taking, and can I come at short notice if a cancellation pops up, blah blah and I'm now officially BACK on the list for the removal of my second Morton's Neuroma! I'm not dillusional mind, I know for a fact it's gonna be next year, possibly Summer time at least, before I get it done! Good old NHS...
posted by Ailsa @ 7:52 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home