The process to start correcting my left foot so that I could
walk again started on September 8, 2017.
I had two amazing orthopedic surgeons performing my surgery. They went in and lengthened the tendon to the
muscle that was overpowering the others and causing my foot to turn in. The tendon was lengthened in hopes that the
muscle wouldn’t be as powerful anymore.
I also had my really high arch cut.
Those two things alone relaxed my foot and it straightened out. My foot was then put into an external fixator
that would move my foot to the correct position in a matter of weeks to months
depending on how well my foot responded.
Initially my surgeons told my parents that I would probably only have to
be in the external fixator for 7-8 weeks.
Adjusting to having this HUGE frame on my foot was pretty
hard. The things I was able to do before
now seemed to be impossible. It took me
a couple of weeks to figure out how to do things again. I finally got up the courage after a few
weeks to try using my crutches a little more.
It was an adjustment because my frame was so heavy and really weighed me
down. It was hard figuring out how to
balance with this added weight, especially when my balance was already
off. But I managed to figure it out and
started using my crutches a little more around the house.
Attached to the external fixator were six struts with
numbers on them. Each day these six
struts had to be moved to the number indicated on the program that was given to
me. My initial plan was for 34 days. The
first ten days of this plan consisted of moving the struts so that my ankle
joint would become distracted (pulled apart).
This phase was painful but thankfully pain medicine helped ease it. I saw my orthopedic surgeon every week where
x-rays were taken and the frame was evaluated. Some of my visits consisted of strut change
outs, which is where the old strut was replaced with a longer or shorter one
depending on what the program indicated.
After having the external fixator on for a month it was
decided that one of the wires in my heel had plowed through my bone and needed
to be removed. I wasn’t thrilled about
this news but I was expecting it because I was told at the beginning that my
bones were really soft and the wires couldn’t get a good hold on the bones. I went in for surgery a couple of days after I was told
that the wire needed to be removed. I
had the surgery done at the Orthopedic Center down at the University of Utah
and all I can say is that I love that place.
The staff are amazing and I had the best anesthesiologist! He used to be the head of the cardiothoracic
anesthesiology so he knew some different tricks to get my IV in since I have
really hard veins. For this surgery I
did not have to be put all the way under which was awesome. I was given a nerve block and then just
sedated. I didn’t feel anything and it
pretty much felt like I was out the entire time but waking up in recovery was
so much quicker. I ended up having the
one wire taken out of my heel but then I had three more wires put in, two in my
heel and one more up in the forefront of my foot. So instead of having a total of four wires in
my foot I now had six, three in my heel and three in the forefront of my foot. The hope was that these additional wires
would help support the other wires and hold onto my bone so that everything
would actually move where it needed to be instead of just plowing through. I was given my second correction plan which
was for about 14 days with the first six distracting my ankle joint again
because it didn’t stay distracted (pulled apart) the first time.
I was really hoping that after the second correction phase I
would be able to get the frame off, at least that’s what I kept telling
myself. It had been 8 weeks and my foot
should have been corrected by then so when I was told it needed to go about
another 10 degrees I wasn’t happy. My
third correction phase lasted two weeks and I was convinced that I was going to
be able to get the frame off by Thanksgiving.
Unfortunately that dream was crushed at one of my appointments. I was told that my ankle joint had finally
stayed distracted (which is a good thing), but after my case was discussed with
different doctors around the country, everyone felt it would be best for my foot
to stay in the final position for at least four weeks. Not the news I wanted to hear! I left that appointment with my final
correction phase that would last a week and then my foot would stay in that
position for four more weeks. I did at
least leave that appointment with a surgery date. My doctor apologized that it was taking
longer than what he initially thought but my foot fought the correction which caused
setbacks.
Waiting for the day for my frame to come off felt like an
eternity. I never thought it was going
to get here but it finally did. I went
in to have it removed on December 19, 2017, after having it on for 3 ½
months. The frame removal was at the
Orthopedic Center again so I requested the same anesthesiologist I had in
October. Unfortunately he was working
with the residents that day and could not be my anesthesiologist, but they did
get him to come and start my IV. The
anesthesiologist I ended up with was just as good and I really liked her. Just like in October, I had a nerve block and
was just going to be sedated. My
orthopedic surgeon was already back in the O.R. when I got there and he was
quite talkative to me, which kind of surprised me. He told me that once I was in my cast I could
start being weight bearing and start walking a little bit. I flat out told him that wasn’t going to
happen because I was still terrified that I was going to end up with another
sore on the bottom of my foot so I wasn’t going to take any chances.
The frame removal surgery went great. My foot stayed in its position after the
frame was taken off which made my surgeon very happy because he didn’t know
what my foot was going to do. My foot
also had good range of motion which was a positive thing. While in the operating room my foot was
molded so a custom brace could be made to help me when I walk. It’s supposed to help distribute the weight
evenly on my foot and give me arch support.
After the surgery I was put into a cast and sent to recovery. My surgeon again tried to convince me that I needed
to put weight on my foot and that he made sure that there was enough room in
the cast that it wouldn’t cause any kind of pressure, but I was stubborn and
told him no. So he went to my dad and told him to convince me to put weight on it.
Having the frame removed felt great. The pain I had been feeling because of the
wires and pins in my toes was finally gone.
It was a lot easier to do things and the best part was that I could
finally sleep on my side, something I was really looking forward to. Another positive thing was that I made it 3 ½
months without any kind of infection! After
I had the frame put on back in September I was sent home with antibiotics to
start taking when an infection occurred in one of the pin sites. I was told there was a 100% guarantee that I would
get an infection. Thankfully my dad and I
found the trick to being infection free, and that was to just clean the sites
once a week. I would put my foot in the
bathtub and we would use my shower head to clean it. It was something I hated because it was kind
of painful but it worked.
During the two weeks that I had the cast on, my dad tried to
convince me to start putting weight on my foot and told me that everything
would be fine because my foot was now in a straight position and I have almost
100% blood flow in that foot. After a
week or more of being in the cast I finally took a leap of faith and started
putting pressure on my foot. I prayed
constantly that I wouldn’t end up getting a sore on the bottom of my foot. I worked on my balance with my dad and it was
really hard. After not being able to put
any weight on my foot for 19 months and then just standing up on it was really
hard. My balance was really bad but as I
worked on it each day I started to make a little progress.
I had my cast removed the beginning of January and I did not
have any kind of bruising or sore forming on the bottom of my foot, which I was
really happy about. I was so scared that
I’d have another sore which would cause another setback, but Heavenly Father
answered my prayers. Unfortunately the
cast did rub against my heel and caused a little sore. I wasn’t happy about that but it is healing
so that's good, it's just slow. My foot still has a
tendency to pull inward but since I have the strength to pull it back into a
straight position I may not need to have any tendons transferred, but only time
will tell. After the cast was removed I
had a removable splint made that I had to wear while I waited for my brace to
be made. This splint was meant to keep
my foot in a straight position but since it was removable I could take it off
and work on my balance and start walking a little bit with a walker. I’ve been working on my balance almost every
day and walking a little bit every day as well.
My balance is getting better but I still have a very long way to go! Hopefully one day I will be able to get to
where I want to be with my balance and walking.
Having an external fixator on my foot for 3 ½ months was not
easy. During one of my many appointments
one of my surgeons asked me how I was doing psychologically with it. I told him I was handling it. It wasn’t easy having it on. It made things very difficult and having
everybody stare at me when I was out in public wasn’t very fun and it
definitely made me feel even more self-conscious. Not only did I have to deal with the
psychological aspects of a frame but it felt like everything else in my life
that could go wrong started to go wrong.
Toward the end of October I found out that my left external iliac artery
was severely narrowed to the point that it could become occluded (become blocked), which would
not be a good thing. The thought was that when I had my aortic valve replaced back in February 2017 with the TAVR procedure it affected this artery and scar tissue started to grow and caused it to narrow. My vascular surgeon
went in and did an angioplasty (a procedure to restore blood flow to an artery) on my external iliac artery. Because of the type of balloon that was used
to stretch the artery out, I had to be on a blood thinner for ten days. This was very scary for me and my parents
because I have a history of bleeding and we believe that blood thinners are
what caused my subarachnoid hemorrhage back in 2016. It was a very long ten days but thankfully I did
not have any bleeding happen, although the headaches I dealt with each day were
not fun. Now I just have to be evaluated
every couple of months to make sure that this artery doesn’t start to narrow
again. If it does I will have to have a
stent put in to keep it open.
Despite the pain, stress, and at times depression I am
grateful for my experience with an external fixator. I hope to never have it again but it did
teach me a lot. It provided
opportunities and blessings that I wouldn’t have received without it. During the 3 ½ months that I had it on I was
able to go to the temple a few times. A
couple of times while I was there I was asked by different sisters what
happened and if I could do it all over again would I? The answer to that question is YES! I would go through everything all over again
because I’ve been so blessed. I wouldn’t
trade the experiences I’ve had for anything!
I know without a doubt that Heavenly Father has been guiding me every
step of the way. I can see His hand in
everything and it amazes me how everything has just come together. Sure, it’s been hard and at times more than I
feel like I can handle, but life is hard.
It’s not meant to be easy. If
life was easy we wouldn’t learn and grow.
I’m so grateful for Heavenly Father’s perfect plan and the knowledge
that I have that I’m not alone in what I go through. I have a Savior who has felt everything that I
have felt. He knows not only the
physical pain I go through but also the mental, emotional, and spiritual pain
as well and He is there to help me. The
Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and very powerful. If we apply it into our lives we can get
through anything!
This is what the plan for my third correction phase looked like. Each strut had a different number that it needed to be set to each day. All four correction plans looked like this. There was an app I had to go into everyday and mark off that I had moved each strut. The app allowed my doctor to go in and track my progress and make sure I moved each strut.
These are what each strut looked like. There were six of them that went all the way around the frame.
What my foot looked like before the external fixator. My stroke caused my foot to turn this way.
After my external fixator was taken off and my cast removed. It's not perfect but it's better than it was.
