Six Weeks Post Op: Visit with Dr. Wu and Going Home!

It has been 6-weeks since my surgery and I'm going to be posting less frequently now (either every 2 weeks or every month), unless there is some major change. Since my last post, my cast still had not loosened nor fallen off my feet. The cast is supposed to fall off when the swelling decreases, but I don't think I had much swelling to begin with when they placed the casts on my feet. Thus, I don't imagine the casts falling off on their own as I also have not been walking much to change their form. We shall see what happens when I visit Dr. Wu one last time before going home.  

One main reason why I would like to remove the casts for a little bit is to change the surgical tape and also wet my feet. Right now, I've been cleaning the exposed areas of my feet with alcohol wipes, but no matter what, it does not feel the same. My feet get itchy because the skin has dried up and using lotion/vaseline only helps so far. Besides those issues, everything else is going well. I can keep my feet down longer now without much swelling, but I continue to elevate my feet when easily possible. I'm also continuing to do my toe exercises and find that the flexibility is improving, but very slowly. My right toes are more flexible than my left toes. 

Before I talk about my last visit with Dr. Wu, I have to throw in a food picture. Check out this picture from our Thanksgiving dinner - impressive version of "sweet and sour pork" over ice!




Now back to my visit with Dr. Wu. This past Saturday was my last visit with Dr. Wu before I headed back home to the US. The visit started with Rachel taking me into the X-ray room to perform another X-ray of my feet. The X-ray still looked good so I was happy! Here is an electronic copy of the X-ray.

Afterwards, Rachel gave me instructions for what I should be doing now 1-month post op. Dr. Wu's office has it set up really nice where they provide printed instructions (in both English and Chinese) for you to take with you after each visit. Since I won't be returning to HK until almost a year later, Rachel gave me instructions for all the remaining months. 1-month post op instructions include still not walking too much, doing my toe exercises, and to keep my casts on until they naturally fall off (which unfortunately means I still cannot wet my feet :-( ). They also do not advise using crowded public transportation nor driving at this stage. It is best to have someone drive you to/from places, but I know this can be tough to find someone to help. Luckily my family is helping me with this but I am sure we will run into some issues during the next few months. 

After my visit with Rachel, I went into Dr. Wu's office to be fitted for shoe inserts. The inserts are in European sizes, so it is important to know what your size is. Unfortunately, I did not know my European size so I hope the inserts Dr. Wu gave me are okay. He sized them up to my feet, but I will double-check with Rachel anyways. I was fortunate that Dr. Wu decided to take off my casts for a little bit, as he decided to place new casts on my feet. I was happy to finally see what my feet truly look like and also to be able to wipe down my feet. Below are some pictures.

Before Surgery

1.5 month post surgery

We then went into the next room so Dr. Wu could place new casts on my feet. He also explained how I should tape my feet when the casts come off and when the surgical tape needs to be replaced. Below are some pictures of Dr. Wu placing new casts on my feet, and then the finished product.

Dr. Wu also discussed with me a new exercise I should start doing beginning of the 2nd month. Rachel cleverly called this the Michael Jackson move, where MJ bends forward and defies gravity. Basically, I need to strengthen the muscles in my big toe and to do this, I lean forward, keep my body straight, and place my weight on my big toes. I'll explain more later when I need to start doing the exercises.

Before I left, I took a picture with Rachel and Dr. Wu. Thanked them so much for all their help and I hope to see them again for my 1-year appointment. 

Now, its time to fly home! We took a flight on November 30th and the experience was perfectly planned and executed. My uncle drove us to the airport and we used his wheelchair to transport me to the airline check-in counter. There, we confirmed that I had a wheelchair reserved under my name (you can reserve this easily by calling the airline disability line and having them place a note under your reservation). We then waited for the airport wheelchair to come pick me up. We said good-bye and many thanks to my uncle, who then left with his wheelchair.

The HK airport staff were very friendly and prompt. The airport wheelchair arrived as expected and once they transferred me onto it, we were off to go through security and immigration checks. The airport staff wheeled me the entire way through and I also had a special line I could go through (being disabled) so it made the whole process very quick. The airport staff also assisted me with my backpack and computer as we were passing through security (very helpful)!

We had to wait a little bit before our flight so they had to transfer me to a seat for a bit, and then another wheelchair+airport staff came later to wheel me directly to the gate. Once we got to the gate, they had not yet started boarding, but what was great is that we were wheeled past all the lines and got to be the first ones on the plane. Here are some pictures of me waiting to board (and the lines I didn't have to wait in :-P)

Once I boarded, they also helped me put my backpack into the overhead storage bin and I was seated without any issues. My crutches, I asked them to place in the closet to be out of people's way. I had selected a seat very close to the bathroom so I did not need crutches to walk there. I just balanced myself using the airline seats or walls for support. Again, I was fortunate to have a seat where I could elevate my legs during the flight. This made a huge difference as it felt like the altitude may have caused my feet to swell a little. At times, my feet felt uncomfortable as the cast became very tight. Besides that minor discomfort, the flight was very smooth.

When the plane parked at the gate, I let people next to me off the plane first since I had to wait for the wheelchair. The flight attendant came over to re-confirm I needed the wheelchair and shortly after informed me that the wheelchair was at the gate. He brought me my crutches and I was able to exit the plane with no issues (hooray, I was not the last one off the plane :-D). The airport staff then wheeled me off the ramp and to the immigration area. Again, my family and I were able to go through a special line and we passed the immigration checkpoint with no waiting in line. Our luggage took some time to arrive, but fortunately the airport staff stayed with us the entire time and helped us with all our luggage. They then wheeled me the rest of the way out until we were at the airport exit. We still had to call a taxi and the airport staff said that we could continue to use the wheelchair until the taxi picked us up. We just had to leave the wheelchair at a certain location and the airport staff would retrieve the chair later.

Overall, a very pleasant trip home and I'm very happy to be home! Until next time....