Anyone had foot arthrodesis (fusion)?
 

I've had spinal fusion surgery, no dramas, but feet sounds a bit more tricky. I'm already in a wheelchair from my back and the advanced OA all over the rest of my skeleton (not my spine tho, weirdly). I'm looking at having both feet fused (rear fusion) to limit the time I can't drive, as it's 3 months in casts.

Has anyone had this procedure, how long were you in hospital & how's the recovery?

Cheers!

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Well I'm booked in for the left foot arthrodesis on Monday, decided it couldn't wait whereas the right foot isn't as bad. Yet.

Advanced OA, spinal fusions L5-6, L6-S1, extra lumbar vertebrae, spina bifida occulta L4, fibromyalgia, tenosynovitis L ankle, roll in a Quickie Q7 chair

Mairi,

I hope your procedure goes smoothly and brings relief.

Sending hugs and healing thoughts, :hug:

Mairi, hope all turns out well for you. I deal with advancing OA in foot, from knee mess from hip replacement mess. All connected. Patience with healing is key.

I was a kind of worse case scenario when I had a fusion of the tibiotalar, subtalar, and distal interphalangeal joint on my middle toe to help alleviate some of the swelling and pain that was caused by arthritis on my right ankle/foot. I ultimately had a bad result from the surgery, but my result was a long way from normal. Most people do well after a lengthy recovery, and can return to walking again with a fairly normal gait.

It is a slow recovery, but as long as you listen to your doctors and about the non weight bearing period of I think it was 10 weeks you should do well. Sorry I did not see this message earlier. Do you know what joints are being fused? I wish you all the best for a speedy recovery.

I almost forgot. I was out of the hospital the day after the procedure. If you have any complications, they may keep you an extra day.

Again, I hope all goes well come Monday.

Thanks! I'm staying in for 3 days then transferring to a rehab hospital for a couple of weeks' R&R 😉 I'm having the cuboid & cuneiform bone fused - an uncommon surgery but uncommon is par for the course with me! Happy my X Files Blu Ray boxed set arrived in time for my month off work too lol

Advanced OA, spinal fusions L5-6, L6-S1, extra lumbar vertebrae, spina bifida occulta L4, fibromyalgia, tenosynovitis L ankle, roll in a Quickie Q7 chair

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Advanced OA, spinal fusions L5-6, L6-S1, extra lumbar vertebrae, spina bifida occulta L4, fibromyalgia, tenosynovitis L ankle, roll in a Quickie Q7 chair

Happy to say it went well & no pain, in a rehab hospital now.

Advanced OA, spinal fusions L5-6, L6-S1, extra lumbar vertebrae, spina bifida occulta L4, fibromyalgia, tenosynovitis L ankle, roll in a Quickie Q7 chair

So glad all went well. Get some rest. Hoping for a speedy recovery.

That is great news! Thanks for letting us know.

May you heal quickly, :hug:

Seeing the surgeon for xray & removal of stitches tomorrow, and getting my plastercast replaced with a fibreglass one. So far still no pain at all from either the arthritis, the incision sites or the bone graft *except* some spiky nerve pain on top of my foot, around the middle toe. Even my hefty Lyrica dose isn't touching it. Oh well! Not on anything apart from my usual regime, with the addition of daily blood thinner injections that I'm really enjoying (bit of a needle fetish haha). Very very pleased with the results thus far.

Advanced OA, L cuboid/lateral cuneiform arthrodesis, ALIF spinal fusions L5-6, L6-S1, extra lumbar vertebrae, spina bifida occulta L4, bilateral carpal tunnel decompression, fibromyalgia, migraines, asthma, tenosynovitis R ankle, rock n roll in a Quickie Q7 chair

(Got home on Saturday after 2 weeks in the rehab hospital, I should add.)

Advanced OA, L cuboid/lateral cuneiform arthrodesis, ALIF spinal fusions L5-6, L6-S1, extra lumbar vertebrae, spina bifida occulta L4, bilateral carpal tunnel decompression, fibromyalgia, migraines, asthma, tenosynovitis R ankle, rock n roll in a Quickie Q7 chair

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Advanced OA, L cuboid/lateral cuneiform arthrodesis 2016, ALIF spinal fusions L6-S1 2013, L5-L6 2011, microdiscection L5-L6 2010, extra lumbar vertebrae, spina bifida occulta L4, bilateral carpal tunnel decompression 1997, fibromyalgia, migraines, asthma, ectopic heartbeat, essential tremors, tenosynovitis R ankle, rock n roll in a Quickie Q7

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Advanced OA, L cuboid/lateral cuneiform arthrodesis 2016, ALIF spinal fusions L6-S1 2013, L5-L6 2011, microdiscection L5-L6 2010, extra lumbar vertebrae, spina bifida occulta L4, bilateral carpal tunnel decompression 1997, fibromyalgia, migraines, asthma, ectopic heartbeat, essential tremors, tenosynovitis R ankle, rock n roll in a Quickie Q7

Happy to report it's progressing well. Fibreglass cast is on & back to see the surgeon in 6 weeks. Disappointed they only had pink or white fibreglass though 😖

Advanced OA, L cuboid/lateral cuneiform arthrodesis 2016, ALIF spinal fusions L6-S1 2013, L5-L6 2011, microdiscection L5-L6 2010, extra lumbar vertebrae, spina bifida occulta L4, bilateral carpal tunnel decompression 1997, fibromyalgia, migraines, asthma, ectopic heartbeat, essential tremors, tenosynovitis R ankle, rock n roll in a Quickie Q7

Looks like you still have some swelling there. It is good to hear that you are doing well and off to the next cast. Are they planning on putting you into a boot in the next 4-6 weeks?

Lots of swelling & bruising, but then I'm on blood thinners. I'm in this cast for 6 weeks then xrays & either another cast or boot for the last 4 weeks. I don't walk anyway so it's no biggie either way 😛

Advanced OA, L cuboid/lateral cuneiform arthrodesis 2016, ALIF spinal fusions L6-S1 2013, L5-L6 2011, microdiscection L5-L6 2010, extra lumbar vertebrae, spina bifida occulta L4, bilateral carpal tunnel decompression 1997, fibromyalgia, migraines, asthma, ectopic heartbeat, essential tremors, tenosynovitis R ankle, rock n roll in a Quickie Q7

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I got bored 😱

Advanced OA, L cuboid/lateral cuneiform arthrodesis 2016, ALIF spinal fusions L6-S1 2013, L5-L6 2011, microdiscection L5-L6 2010, extra lumbar vertebrae, spina bifida occulta L4, bilateral carpal tunnel decompression 1997, fibromyalgia, migraines, asthma, ectopic heartbeat, essential tremors, tenosynovitis R ankle, rock n roll in a Quickie Q7

Your cast is just fabulous! I'm so glad to hear you are having so little pain and everything is going so well. That spiky nerve pain will hopefully resolve as your swelling goes down. Nerves hate swelling.

Thanks for the update and don't forget to keep elevating!
:hug:

8 weeks later & things are looking good. I've just had TOan xray & new cast for the last month. So happy with being out of pain - in that joint anyway LOL

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Glad to hear that everything is healing well. I'm sure you are looking forward to finally getting out of the cast and being able to get rid of some of that dead and oh so itchy skin.

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Looking forward to getting cast #2 off on Tuesday. Hope it's healed enough that I won't need a cam boot either. I miss driving! Especially as my husband has been in hospital for 5 weeks after a bowel obstruction led to emergency surgery & the discovery he has a malrotation & Ladd's bands. He has an ileostomy & hasn't been responding well after the surgery. I've had to take another 6 weeks off work to deal with it & keep him company. Luckily his parents live close by & have been taking me & our sons every day. My life is so much fun! Anyhow, I hope I'll be back behind the wheel in a few days so I can have my independence back.

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Shiny new foot! Just scrubbed it for about an hour to get rid of 12 weeks' worth of dead skin, yuk. The site has fused perfectly. I have a lot of nerve issues post surgery but that's always been the case with me.

It's very difficult to walk on, not that I usually walk much anyway, but even with crutches I'm finding it very hard and the swelling is pretty bad, although I know that can persist for months. Still, in the end I'm delighted to say the arthritis pain is gone from that joint now. Only 200+ more to go LOL

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5 months post surgery & I'm really happy with how things are going. I still have persistent swelling so I can't fit into my favourite boots. The nerve injury persists but as I also have CRPS I'm not surprised. At least my feet match in their crappy nerves now! It means my gait, when I bother walking now, is evenly hobbled now LOL. Overall I'm calling this one a success 😁

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New member with foot fusion
 

Hello Maria
Approx 15 years ago had my left foot rolled and crushed in auto / pedestrian (I was the pedestrian) slow motion accident, could be called a freak.
A disturbance caused both the driver and myself to look rather than looking to see what was about to happen. Driver did look up in time unfortunately for me, and hit his brakes only to slide over and stop on my rolled foot.
Anyway was fortunately close to my VA hospital, which had students from the surgery dept at UCLA and most important the dept head surgeon.
It took a year and two surgeries for him to put my foot back together, and today its better than my right foot, with minor considerations.

Well the fusion that I'm referring to was the second surgery where they took a piece of bone out of my knee (did not want a pig cadaver) and put it in a major joint with two screws, that I still have.
Most of the other minor joints fused themselves, along with a broken bone and that toe is a bit shorter today.

That guy was a genius and at the end gave him a big hug, which for him a bit embarising, however he got my point. Today am sure would have a limp and pain with another less skilled surgeon.

Advise from others in my ward with much worse bone corrections, go very slow and let yourself heal before going to the next step.

No pain no gain...forget that
 

Hoping the healing went well for ya...and you must be driving by now.