Sunday, October 3, 2010

Paul's Sesamoidectomy

Paul had surgery on not one but two of his feet in August. (I guess that makes way for more than two feet).

I always forget how difficult it is coming out of surgery. I told Cami she could just pick me up at the hospital after surgery was over. She decided to take two days off for my surgery (Women's intuition).

Thanks to Cami for taking two days off I could go to the bathroom and eat food since I was stuck on the couch with two swollen feet. We used the train method for me to get to the bathroom since I wasn't good at just balancing all my weight on the heels of my feet.

Here is a picture of the bones of the foot. I'm pointing to the tibial sesamoid bone that was removed from each of my feet.
Here is a picture of my foot about 1 week after the surgery.

11 comments:

Tricia said...

Eeeeeeew. But I hope you feel better.

Becca said...

haha a sesamoidectomy, still makes me laugh to think about this word

Mark said...

How long did it take for you to recover? Are you able to run or play or do normal foot activities after the surgery

Paul said...

Hi Mark. It was some time ago so I don't quite remember the exact timeline. It took a few weeks where I felt comfortable wearing shoes. Feeling in my big toes didn't come back fully for a few months. I hear it's different for everyone.

Yes. I'm back to full activity. And it's better than ever now because I can't fracture those bones every again!

Unknown said...

Hi Paul. Glad to hear that your foot healed well. I am scheduled to have my tibial sesamoid on the right foot removed in July and I am really skeptical about going forward with it.

It sounds like yours was successful with a successful recovery. I was not able to find many success stories online, do you know if it is common for it to recover well? I would like to get back to running and wearing heels but not sure if the absence of that bone will restrict these activities.

Also, I read that angulation overload deformity may occur due to the removal of the sesamoid. Any thoughts?

Paul said...

Hi Cristina. My doctor said that he had a patient recover and start running within weeks of surgery. I think you'll recover just fine.

I wouldn't worry about angulation overload deformity. The two sesamoid bones in the ball of your foot just help tension and hold the tendons and ligaments in place. They're just accessories that are helpful but not always needed.

I fractured the bone the first time 2 years before I finally had surgery to remove it. I was originally told to be inactive for weeks/months for it to heal. It would start feeling better and I would resume activity and then re-fracture the bone. I finally went back to the doctor and he said we should remove it.

I was faced with the decision to continue having periods of activity with the risk of re-fracturing or just removing and facing the results of removing. I'm glad I did. I haven't had to worry about my feet since then.

You'll be back on your feet running and wearing heals in no time. Good Luck in July.

Unknown said...

Thank you for your quick response!

I too have had my sesamoid bone broken for 2 years now. I've tried everything, resting, physical therapy, cortisone shot and bone stimulation - none of which worked.

Was the recovery period hard?

Paul said...

If you've gone through 2 years of waiting, physical therapy, etc. then another month or two won't be a big deal. :)

The first week was tough. I had surgery on both my feet at the same time so it was difficult to move around. After a few weeks I was walking normal without shoes, but took some time to get back into full activity.

Kirsten said...

Just stumbled across this post while searching for Sesamoidectomy stories - Wondering how @Paul and @christina Z are feeling now post op - I too am worried about getting my sesamoid bone removed and fearful of not running or wearing heels :)

Paul said...

Hi Kirsten. Two years later and my feet haven't felt better. I don't run anymore but that's because I don't like running. I'm into biking, and swimming, basketball, and lacrosse. The sesamoidectomy has made it possible for me to do all these things and not worry any longer if I'm pushing myself too much in fear that I'd re-break that bone. Hope that helps.

Unknown said...
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