Bunionectomy Pt. 1: The Experience

I had my bunionectomy and osteotomy surgery at 7am this morning.  I had to be at the medical center at 6am so they could prep me and get me ready and chat with my doctor and anesthesiologist beforehand. People were looking at me strange because I brought my alpaca with me and carried him around everywhere. But I didn’t care. It’s not weird. Even the pamphlet I received a week ago said that children can bring a favorite toy or blanket with them, and I consider myself more of a child anyway so why wouldn’t I bring a cuddly friend? Anyone that knows me knows that I love plushies and almost always have one with me. Anyway, back on topic; The whole process was so simple though. Like, I went in, signed in, a nurse took me back right away, I changed into a fabulous, ever so stylish, blue and green plaid hospital gown, and just waited for the anesthesiologist. He just kinda talked me through what anesthesia he’d be giving me and how he’d be there the entire time during surgery to make sure I was okay and stuff. He was pretty cool. And then he asked me if my alpaca was coming with me into surgery, and I was like O_e he can come with me?… He said of course and grabbed an extra cap to put on him since it’s mandatory that everyone wears one in the surgery room x) Soon after he gave me some slight anesthesia and I started to feel all good and warm. Lol

Dr. Paca is ready for surgery.

I remember being gurney’d over to the operating room and the rest is a blur.

That is until I woke up DURING surgery.

It wasn’t even bad though. No, I didn’t feel any excruciating pain, and no, I wasn’t actually fully awake. At some point, I just randomly woke up and was aware that I was still in surgery. I could hear my doctor and her assistant talking and I opened my eyes for a second. Which was pointless since I’m like, 90 year old woman blind and didn’t have my glasses anyway. But it was kinda weird and cool at the same time. My foot was numb of course so there was no unbearable pain, however I could feel things just a teensy bit. Like when they broke some bones to realign them, I felt that. It really just felt like…., like how it feels when you crack your knuckles, and it makes that popping sound and you can feel the pop but it doesn’t actually hurt,… THAT’S how it felt. So it was fine.

And then I heard the saw. And my initial reaction was WTF NOOOOO, but I had to let someone know I was awake. I couldn’t really say anything since I was still under the influence and would’ve sounded like a whale. I remember flailing my left arm to get someone’s attention and let them know that I’m now awake. My anesthesiologist was cool about it though. He asked me how I was doing and said he’d give me a tad more anesthesia. So I was knocked out again.

Next I remember, I was being wheeled out on the gurney from the surgery room and into the recovery room. By the time I got to the recovery room, which was in a matter of seconds, I was already fully awake. I could move, and talk, and open my eyes all the way. And I was in no way ‘loopy’ like I thought I would be. It was great. The first person I saw when I looked around was my anesthesiologist guy, he asked me how I was again and told me that everything went perfectly and yada yada yada. I keep calling him the anesthesiologist guy because I don’t remember what his name was….

Then the nurse lady helped dress me back up in my shorts and hoodie and put me in a wheelchair to move me to a different part of the room. I sat there for a minute and she talked to me and brought me water and a granola bar and stuff. It was exactly what I needed since I hadn’t eaten or drink anything in twelve hours. Then she showed me some X rays taken just a few moments ago.

Such a huge difference from my last X rays. My right bunion is GONE(: And I have three screws in my foot.

Just after being moved to a wheelchair after surgery.

Overall, I think this experience went very well. I came home without a problem, I just have to keep it elevated. Which I learned the hard way when I went to go use the restroom. It was such a hassle, but I made it work for my first time doing this. I suffered some dripping blood on my tiles since I couldn’t elevate my foot at the moment. Blood drops started dripping out at rapid speeds and it kinda weirded me out. I’ve never really seen that much of my own blood before. I used to get nosebleeds a lot when I was little, but that was nothing compared to what I saw. But all’s well as of right now.

I’m trying to keep a positive mind about this. I just need to stay positive and hope for the best.

Oh yeah, and here’s a photo of me when I got home and got on my knee walker.

I seriously can’t get over how happy I look in this photo! It’s awesome x)

And that’s pretty much it for experience wise. I’ll definitely be doing more updates on this surgery and post about what’s going on.

Happy Healing!(: