My family and I arrived at Dr. Wu's office a little early for our Saturday appointment. Dr. Wu's office is located in Leighton Center near Times Square in Hong Kong. His office is part of a medical floor and is very clean and spacious.
When we arrived, I was greeted by Dr. Wu's nurse, Rachel, who had been very helpful and informative during this whole process. She gave me registration forms to complete and brought me into a room to take pictures of my feet. She took pictures from various angles and also took pictures of the callouses that I had. From there, we were brought into Dr. Wu's office to have a face-to-face consultation with him. Upon meeting with Dr. Wu, I was reassured by his helpful and open nature. He was very courteous and answered whatever questions we had. He listed the pros and cons to the surgery and what to expect. He also clearly stated that the success of this surgery was also very much dependent on the patient and how well they follow the post-surgery instructions. If the patient walks too much after surgery, this will not help the fibrous bridge to form successfully.
After we met with Dr. Wu, I was then brought to another room to perform a foot function test, that was specifically designed for Dr. Wu's office. I was placed in these tennis shoes that had sensors in them. I was then asked to walk on a treadmill, using my normal walking gait and speed. Next I was asked to put as much pressure from my heel to my toes, as I walked - to overemphasize my gait. This allowed the software to see exactly what parts of my foot were being used when I walked. The function test showed that I didn't use any of my toes for support, and that I was compensating my gait to avoid pain in my bunion. It was very interesting to see and I'd be curious to see what this test looks like after I have fully recovered.
After my appointment with Dr. Wu, I met up with my friend who had the surgery performed a year prior. This was also very helpful as it allowed us to see that everything was okay and she was happy with the result. I had always thought to have surgery done on both feet at the same time, since the surgery was in Hong Kong. I rather get through the whole process once instead of having to worry about coming back a second time to have the other foot fixed. Luckily, Dr. Wu's technique is less invasive which makes operating on both feet more feasible. The few patients I connected with also had both feet operated on at the same time.
So, the decision was made to move forward with the operation! I was happy the visit was such a success. Now, I had about a month to prepare everything in California, before I fly back to Hong Kong for the surgery.
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