20 Months Update

I obviously failed to update again after the removal of the screws from my big toes! Since May, my feet have continued to improve and I very rarely get pain in my forefeet. My fourth toes on each foot are slightly lower and I do have to take extra care of the skin to prevent hard skin developing again but it's very manageable.

In July, my husband and I went on holiday to Chicago and NYC. It was amazing! Here are a couple of pictures of my feet enjoying Chicago!


SkyDeck in Willis Tower (Sears Tower). Note the new purple Nikes!

Enjoying the beach on the shore of Lake Michigan

In both locations, we really noticed how good my feet were. I managed to walk around both cities without my feet hurting! In New York particularly, I noticed how much of an improvement there was. When I visited New York in 2010, I couldn't walk from Macy's to Times Square (a distance of eight blocks) without stopping a LOT but this time I walked that distance easily. It was a great holiday and really made me realise how much my foot pain had affected me previously.

I have been back at work since the end of August and my feet are also doing much better there. The latest issue is my left hand fingers don't straighten on their own but this blog isn't called Gwen's Hands!

Here are the latest photos of my feet. I was a little concerned that there are still slight protrusions by my big toes and they were slightly sore when I started wearing my new school shoes. After a couple of months, though, the leather stretched and they don't hurt anymore!

 



 

You can see that my feet look really good. The scars have continued to fade and my feet don't swell up anymore either. My big toe nail on my right foot is a bit strange, with different layers growing through underneath each other. My podiatrist suggested using tea tree oil daily for three months, He said if it made a difference, continue and if not then abandon it. I've been doing it for about six weeks and I think it's helping but it's difficult to judge yet.

These pictures show the 'bunion' areas and where I had the screws removed in May. You can see that the skin has fully healed and looks great!
Overall, 2012 has been a very good year for my feet. It has been great to get the screws out and start to enjoy my new, pain free feet!