The Foot

Have you heard of “The Foot”? You know, the one on the left side of my body, that is somewhat deformed and goes at a 45ºangle to the left? The one they say I got from my ancestors and is likely something I have passed down to my children and/or grandchildren; yes, it sometimes skips a generation. Well I am having surgery on Tuesday to have it fixed. A friend of ours (Bonnie Goodson) was in church 2 weeks ago and walking with one foot in a tennis shoe. In talking to her about what happened, she told me she had bunion surgery by this Podiatrist, Dr. Dave Buchan, who has a new technique for fixing feet like mine with bunions. She swears by him and so I called his office the very next day to arrange an appointment to have him look at The Foot. He is not the first doctor with whom I have met. I have met with several different orthopedic surgeons over the past 10-15 years and each have told me that the day will come when I will need to do something, but that I would not be happy with the results; the procedure they offer is to cut, break and fuse, leaving little mobility.

Well, after meeting with Dr. Buchan (he does hundreds of these surgeries a year) I asked if there wasn't some way they could fit me in before the end of December. His surgical nurse called on Friday and said they made a spot for me and I am now scheduled for this Tuesday, December 16th. In talking to other patients, the results sound very promising. So, when I come home, I should have a proper working foot with a screw or two in it. Imagine, being able to walk without pain; being able to sleep when the barometric pressure changes; being able to walk instead of taking a cart when I play golf; being able to run again for aerobic exercise; being able to wear normal shoes that actually fit. And not having caluses on the side of my toes; and not having people laugh and point at my foot when I am barefooted. All these sound too good to be true.

We are really busy at work, so I have had to make a lot of changes in my schedule to fit this in, but I can’t pass up the opportunity to have it fixed. Getting it done this year will cause our insurance will pay 100% of the cost as opposed to delaying it until next year. So here goes. I will post new photos when everything heals.

They say, if I delay the surgery, my foot could look like this. What would you do????