Yeah, i got the surgery. What a journey.
I got the surgery in November, and didn’t start base training until January. I lost a lot of fitness, and a lot of strength on the leg that i got surgery on. Turns out, i had a very unusual case. On top of the typical enlarged neuroma, my surgeon said i had an extra nerve that was wrapped around the typical neuroma nerve. I’m like Wolverine from X-men, except i just had an extra nerve in my foot that had a chokehold on another nerve. Neat.
Let’s talk about some cons. Just going to bullet point them out.
I fell a couple of times on my push scooter. I landed on my foot to catch myself, which sent a shock wave (like a more painful funny bone), up through my leg. Doctor said that it was fine, and he expected me to fall. We’re bipedal after all. We aren’t much good with one leg.It was painful to walk after 8 weeks. The weird thing was, i felt pain in my heel - sort of like plantar faciatis. Weird since my heel wasn’t part of the surgery, and we removed the nerve from the topside. The doc said it is normal for your foot to feel pain when you start walking after you have not walked in a long time. The pain in my heel would go away after i started to walk on my heel, and it would decrease day after day. Same sensation with the ball of my foot. Same sensation with bending the ball of my foot. Same sensation with jumping and bending the ball of my foot. Nice slow recovery walks helped work out this issue.I went for a 50 minute run yesterday in z1 or z2, and my foot felt generally sore. I’m not sure if this is due to surgery or if the muscles in my foot are weak. Last night, i got the occasional twinge in my foot near where I had surgery. Not painful, but a little annoying.
What are the pros? I’ve been able to run and bike about 7 hours a week for the past few weeks. I’ll consider it a complete success if I am able to get to nationals without seeing the foot doctor, but so far, so good.
Let’s talk about the things that helped my recovery.
Fuck crutches. Get a knee push scooter. For my mental health, being able to get around quickly helped a lot. I hate being slow, and your arms will get very sore from hobbling around. With your remaining time before surgery, do some squats. Especially single leg squats on both legs. You will be doing single leg squads for the next few weeks anyway. My bandages after surgery were waaaaaaaaaaay too tight. My foot hurt more from the bandages from the surgery. I called the doc after two days, and he said “yes, please loosen the bandage.” Luckily for us, the spot where we would feel the most pain from the surgery is getting removed, so there is that.I wouldn’t prioritize elevating your foot over getting some good sleep. The morton’s neuroma facebook group are junkies for keeping your feet elevated, but i couldn’t sleep with the boot and my feet propped on many pillows. So i took the boot off when i slept and did whatever i could to sleep comfortably. Unless you are elderly and unfit, swelling isn’t going to delay your recovery. If your foot balloons to twice its size, then yeah, you have a swelling issue, and see a doc. I’d recommend getting a light pair of stiff running shoes for when you will be able to start walking again. Hokas did the trick, but not because of the cushioning. Like I said above, i found it painful to bend my foot, so the light hokas allowed me to walk without flexing my foot too much. So far, i would consider getting the surgery again. Good luck and speedy recovery.
I have booked an appointment with the Dr. but that is still a few weeks away.