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Foot Surgery

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Alan R McDaniel Jr

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269
Location
Victoria, TX
#1 wife has been having foot problems for some time now. The main culprit is arthritis, primarily in her right big toe joint in at the ball of her foot. Doc says he wants to fuse the joint. He said that joint replacement would not be good at that joint.

Has anyone had any experience with this procedure? Frankly, I think fusing the joint would be a mistake.

Alan
 
I have a similar situation - bone-on-bone contact at the base of the big toe. My podiatrist has explained the problem, and the corrective procedure. She says the solution is often worse than the condition, and doesn't want to procede. She has suggested I try cortisone shots before going any further.

Another affliction with similar symptoms is gout. A daily dose of Allopurinol keeps that at bay.
 
Thanks for the replies. That was the second opinion. The first was joint replacement. So far the votes from others has been "0" votes for fusion. In other conversations with people who have had joints fused, they have told me that they wish they had not done it. My sister had vertebrae fused and it took her years to get back to her pre-operation pain level which is now tolerable...

She's about decided against it and will try and retry some other remedies.

She was very active, much more so than me, and not being able to walk any appreciable distance without pain is taking its toll on her.

Thanks again for the replies.

Alan
 
I don't know anything about toe joint fusions. The shot sounds more reasonable to me on the toe. If effective, it will greatly reduce the pain. As far as the spinal fusions go, I've had three, one in the back and two in the neck. Glad I had them done. As with many things, it depends on who does the work. I had an excellent neurosurgeon do mine.
 
Jim DeLaney said:
Another affliction with similar symptoms is gout. A daily dose of Allopurinol keeps that at bay.
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I have just spent the last 4 day being unable to walk because of Gout. When I ended up in the hospital with back pain from my fusion for 6 days I thought that was bad but this pain is far worst. Trying to get to the bathroom ( I take water pills ) was a big problem and the last trip I started throwing up due to the pain. Doc has me on prednisone for 2 weeks and I am able to kind of walk today.
 
Jay Caughron said:
I have just spent the last 4 day being unable to walk because of Gout. When I ended up in the hospital with back pain from my fusion for 6 days I thought that was bad but this pain is far worst. Trying to get to the bathroom ( I take water pills ) was a big problem and the last trip I started throwing up due to the pain. Doc has me on prednisone for 2 weeks and I am able to kind of walk today.
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Jay I know your pain. I have had that affliction for a number of year but with allopurinol (300 mg) and diet I can pretty much keep it under control. NO organ meat (no more liver and onions) and cut down on the red meat. Believe it or not even some veggies are bad.
 
Don Baer said:
Jay I know your pain. I have had that affliction for a number of year but with allopurinol (300 mg) and diet I can pretty much keep it under control. NO organ meat (no more liver and onions) and cut down on the red meat. Believe it or not even some veggies are bad.
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Same here - been taking a daily dose of Allopurinol for about 25 years. Gout is unbelievably painful - not something you want to repeat, for sure!
 
I agree on a second opinion at least. Foot surgery has an unexpectedly long recovery time. Be sure to discuss that. I looked at having a bunion removed. Recovery was crutches or a cane for months and then keep the boot for the balance of a year. Definitely something that you only do when the condition outweighs the recovery involved.
 
Don Baer said:
Jay I know your pain. I have had that affliction for a number of year but with allopurinol (300 mg) and diet I can pretty much keep it under control. NO organ meat (no more liver and onions) and cut down on the red meat. Believe it or not even some veggies are bad.
Click to expand...
Yeah the Doc gave me a list of stuff NOT to eat the last time it flared up. I told him to just put me down as everything I like was on the list.:bang: . The problem came this time after getting radio frequency injections in my back. It made my blood pressure go through the roof so he gave me some more BP pills and took me off the one that was controlling the Gout and boy did it ever hit HARD worst I ever had:crutches:
 
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