I decided to write this blog of my experience of having webbed toe surgery as there seems to be very little out there of people actually detailing how it went, how it felt or if it was worth it to them. So here's my story and some info that may help you decide if it's right for you:
Pre-op:
A little about me: I'm a 22 year old female who for as long as I can remember wanted surgery on my feet to have what society calls 'normal' toes. My mum even told me a story about my 3 year old self asking her if she could cut my toes with a pair of scissors. She now looks back on it as a sign that maybe she should have taken me to have the surgery when I was younger. My webbed toes were on my 2nd and 3rd toes of each foot up to just below the nail bed.
I have always hidden my feet. I know some people enjoy the fact they are unique, but for me, I just wanted to be like everyone else. I love swimming but don't really go often, and if I do, I put plasters over my feet. On one holiday I went on (as an adult) and a man asked what I had done. I lied saying my shoes rubbed and left blisters so I kept plasters on. I love summer but always fretted about it. I felt like I wanted to be in closed shoes so I could wear socks in case I went to someones house and had to take my shoes off. Even during university I managed to keep everyone unaware. I am not the only one in my family to have this, but only my granddad has it as far up as me, everyone else's is barely noticeable.
So, I went to my doctor and one of the first questions she asked me was 'why have you waited so long?'; incidentally even the consultant asked that too...I guess because I've always been embarrassed of my feet and don't like showing them to people, I had to work up the courage. I thought at this point in my life, if I didn't do it now, I would be forever fretting, avoiding situations I wanted to be in but worried about and maybe even avoiding holidays. Some people may not get it, but surgery was important for me, I wanted a life. I have had teasing about it but no really out right bullying. I wanted the surgery for me to feel more confident in myself.
So the doctor referred me to a consultant. I was lucky enough that my surgery would be covered and done in a private hospital.
My consultant, after looking at x-rays which showed me to have simple syndactyly (toes are joined by soft tissue only), said he would happily do my op. I opted to have both feet done at once and was told recovery time would be at least 4 weeks.
Operation:
As far as I know, the operation entailed splitting the toes and putting on a full thickness graft which was taken from just below my ankle. Different surgeons take them from different places, but for more info, I found a good website that explains this type of procedure
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/surgery/repair-of-webbed-fingers-or-toes/overview.html. The stitches I have are also all dissolvable so no having to have them pulled out!
The operation went well. I think I walked down to the theater around 4.30pm and I was back in my room before 7pm (including the putting me to sleep, op, and waking me up in that time). It was a bit of a rough night that night after the anaesthetic but that's nothing to do with the actuall op; being woken up to check my blood pressure every now and again probably did help either. My feet didn't hurt all that badly during the night, but then the anaesthetist did say he may put local anaesthetic into my feet to keep the pain down, so it may have been that. This is what they looked like when I awoke:
The physio had told me how to use crutches but they needed to make sure I could walk before they would discharge me (its an outpatient operation with a one night stay). My first attempt at walking was terrible. It hurt like hell and they had to put me back in the bed. Apparently I went extremely pale and I really did not feel good. They gave me some stronger painkillers (until then I had just been on paracetamol) and after 4 hours of needing the bathroom, I managed to get up and walk there (physio present and the bathroom was in my room). I also had to walk up and down stairs so they were confident I could manage. They will also only discharge you if you have someone at home. I had my aunt and uncle over the weekend (op was on a fri) and I just stayed upstairs pretty much with my feet elevated on two pillows. You are told only to get up for the bathroom the first few days. Then my lovely boyfriend came to look after me for a week and took me to my first appointment to take the bandages off.
Attractive shoes to help with walking:
Post op:
Washing was a bit tricky. I put plastic bags over my feet and sellotaped a seal around them to stop water getting in as I was told not to get the bandages wet at all. I took my stronger painkillers and paracetamol alternately for the first few days after the op, then just down to paracetamol and about 6 days post op, I only took paracetamol if I really needed it. The pain subsided pretty fast and now I can barely remember what it was like so it can't have been that bad! The bandages came off two weeks after the op. The consultant said the graft had taken well and these are the pics I took while there:
Right:
Left:
A cotton adhesive pad was put over the ankles and a Vaseline covered gauze was put between the toes. I was told I could wash my feet and was given more gauze to replace after this. However, I did become worried about them (on the Friday I didn't really see what the graft looked like so after I washed them, they looked weird and I was worried about infection) so I called and they gave me an appointment to see them on the Monday. They said all was fine, changed the guaze again and told me to buy some to change every other day. A week after the bandages were taken off, this is what they look like with guaze:
Left:
Right:
I'm most impressed at my left ankle where the graft was taken. It looks almost healed! I asked if I could possibly drive to my next appointment (2 weeks after the bandages were taken off) and they said I could, so now I just need to get myself to the point of being able to. The best way to get things up and down the stairs is to carry a backpack and put things in there. I have also tried walking without the shoes and without crutches and it feels very weird. It feels like walking for the first time, really foreign. It's hard not to walk protectively of the toes which means walking strangely, I think I need to teach myself to walk properly again! The majority of the time my feet need to stay elevated but I'm much quicker at getting around places. As they have been up for the past 3 weeks, they seem to get a bit funny when they have been on the floor too long from all the blood rushing to them. The toes do swell a bit every now and again but it goes down. They do bleed a little still but its normal. Also due to them being elevated, my feet do get like ice blocks occasionally but something heated like a water bottle in the vicinity helps.
Anyway, that's as far as I am so far, I will update as I go through each hurdle and post more pics when i'm all healed. The consultant thinks I shouldn't really have any scars where the graft was taken from. I know one question I was looking for an answer to from people who had had the surgery; 'was it worth it?' Even now, for me, yes it is. I walked down the stairs in the shoes but no socks the other day and thought 'even if scars remain, the way they look now is so worth it'.
If you have any questions I haven't answered through this blog, then please feel free to ask.
