initial days of surgery

Hi, I am a 27-year-old Hispanic female. I am an exotic dancer, which means I dance in high heels for a living, I had bunion surgery at 16 and I don’t quite remember the healing process for that. I had surgery on 3/29/18... on BOTH feet: toes 2-5 for hammertoes and shortening, and tailors bunion on both feet as well. I had my stitches out on 4/11/18. It is now 4/20/18 and my feet are extremely swollen like two sausages. I have to wrap them everyday in coflex in order to better control the swelling. I continuously read things online, and I am driving myself insane wondering when I will have normal looking feet. I understand it hasn’t even been a month but summer is close by and I am paranoid about when I will be able to work again because I need to be able to wear heels. Prior to surgery I wasn’t necessarily taking the best care of my body. I would drink, smoke weed and cigarettes. I am a workout fanatic so not being able to go to the gym is driving me insane. I thought after removing my stitches that I would be able to get into a normal shoe and I wasn’t. Stitches removal was extremely painful. I thought I was going to pass out during the process. Then seeing my toes was depressing; they were extremely swollen like sausages. Then I couldn’t walk in my normal shoes so I had to leave wearing the hideous orthopedic shoe. I had developed an allergic reaction from the surgical glue or tape (not sure) but a week later it cleared up so it was fine. My feet smelled and I had a lot of dry dead skin. It was utterly disgusting.

Today it is 4/20/18 and I am still bed ridden, it hurts to walk. Only orthopedic boot feels comfortable. I am limping terribly but doc said I should try to walk as normal as possible that way I don’t stress other parts of my foot. When I do try to walk “as normal” as possible, I walk extremely slowly. I have decided to remain bed ridden and elevate my feet (I’m hoping this will help me heal faster). It hurts to shower because I can’t really stand for very long without feeling pain. I bought crocs and I am usually a size 8 but I had to buy a size 10, and those are uncomfortable to walk in. I will upload pictures as I go. I have to try to remain patient and remind myself that it takes time to heal especially for such extensive work. I’m just very paranoid about the swelling and when I’ll be able to wear heels. My doc said by month 4 is when patients usually start to have normal looking feet again. And she didn’t give me an exact time as to when I would be able to wear heels. She said some can do it at 4 months, some it takes longer. I am also very careful of what I eat, I googled anti-inflammatory foods and I’m trying to follow my diet as strictly as possible. I am applying arnica gel & taking bromelain 2,400 gdu/gram capsules, and will soon begin taking the arnica pellets all in an effort to reduce swelling and speed up healing.

I am going insane being home with nothing to do and also worried about my financial situation. I don’t want to be stuck in the house all summer because my feet don’t fit into a normal shoe or because my limp is so bad that I am ashamed to walk outside. It’s been weeks since I’ve done my nails, waxed, shaved, done my eyebrows. This surgery is extremely hard on my mind. If anyone out there has some insightful words or has gone thru this process please don’t hesitate to contact me via email at gisellemmab02@gmail.com or reply to my blog. I’m especially curious as to when I should ESTIMATE being able to 1)go back into  a normal shoe 2) when will swelling go down? 3)when will I be able to wear heels? From other blogs, I’ve read to multiply by 2 about what the doctors say. My doc said 4 months for heels/normal looking feet but I guess ill give myself 6-8 months before I can realistically wear heels.