Morton's Neuroma

[Racegun]

Well, I must have a neuroma and want a few answers or I wouldn't be here. Actually, I have two, twins, one in each foot. It wasn't bad enough that last year my feet had to be relieved of their bunions so now they have decided that recovery from that round of surgeries wasn't near to fixing what other torments the little darlings were hiding. Oh to have normal feet again!

I knew something was terribly wrong when the early morning walks I have been taking with my puppies was getting to be a trial of wills of whether I was even going to be able to finish our regular routine. This was worrisome since I had finally been able to find boots/shoes to wear since the bunion surgeries. The Drs don't tell you that after bunion surgeries you old shoes/boots won't fit!! The burning in my toes became exquisite to the point that I was off to see my foot Dr again to confirm my suspicions. Yesserie! Both feet have the neuromas. I can see no reason to not have surgery to get them fixed as recovery cannot possibly be as bad as living with them. Without fixing the problem I'll have to give up an active way of living and that is not acceptable.

What I want to know is all the good and all the bad involved in kissing the neuromas goodbye even if it involves another cut and sew session.

Genie
Princeton, Texas

[SueLynn]

Hello. I had Morton's neuroma removed from my right foot Dec 5, 2006. Before this for a period of a about 6 months we tried injections (Cortisone and neurolysis). Neither worked nor did prosthetics. Thus, the decision was made that the only thing to do was surgery. I was ready because I was miserable along with my family. It was a bit better for about 3 months at which point it started going down hill again. We rocked on until December 2007 and the doctor and I both agreed that something was wrong (though he had never had one that did NOT work in the 13 years he has been in practice. He had not seen a stump neuroma either other than in textbooks and during his rotations. He was baffled as well as us. So, after Christmas and New year the decision was made to do it again. On Jan 29, 2008 the surgery was done again. The path report was stump neuroma and some nerve fibers that were attached to the side of the bone between the joint (3rd & 4th toes). I go back Monday to get the stitches out. It has been more painful than the first one as he had to do some exploring to see what was going on. I will try to return and let you know the outcome. There was little choice whether the surgery or not, shooting pain waking you in 2 and 3 in the morning were not acceptable or tolerable. SueLynn

[Racegun]

Thanks for the reply and your situation sounds similar to mine except for the re-do. My neuroma extraction is scheduled for next week, Feb 21 and I'm looking forward to it.

I am curious as to immediate results and recovery time if you have details.

Genie
Princeton,Texas

[SueLynn]

Recovery is coming along nicely I believe. I went back to the doctor and had the stitches removed. There is still swelling and that will go down. The doctor and I are both encouraged. Today is the first day I have been able to get a shoe on, albeit a Clark open-back. I am so looking forward to this being over with and being able to walk close to normally again. He had to go very deep to do the exploring and so it will take a bit longer to heal than normally. I will check back to see how your surgery goes. Good Luck! SueLynn

[Racegun]

So, the surgery on both feet for twin neuromas was yesterday, Feb 21. I returned home not unhappy but quite relieved to be rid of the little devils. I asked the Dr what he found. He said the right one was really, really big and the left was a lot bigger than expected. He said all I should notice will be some numbness on the insides of my toes where the neuromas located near. I can live with a little numbness a whole lot better than the stabbing pain/burning sensation. As to post-op pain and discomfort I really cannot complain for I had expected something similar to what I experienced following the bunion removals. There's virtually no real pain or I have a high tolerance for it. The one main thing I tried to stress upon the Dr was to not wrap the bandages as tightly as he did after the last bunion removals. He did a good job of it but late last night I had to do a slight re-wrap on my left foot to get the pinky toe a bit looser. That's really all I have to complain about except for an uncontrolable craving for sweets which I took care of with double brownie fudge ice cream with both fudge topping and caramel syrup. There's no cure like choclate!!!

I'll be going back to the Dr on Monday to get the original bandages/wrapping off and a much lighter one installed, stitches are scheduled to be out on Friday. Anticipating these events I bought in advance a really nice pair of Asics Gel Nimbus running shoes to take the place of those darling surgical booties. I don't plan any running for a while but settled on the Asics because they offer similar stability as the booties and have a very comfortable roomy toe box which can be adjusted as whatever swelling goes down during the healing process. There is little swelling to complain about even now.

Something the Dr suggested concerning icing post-op might be helpful at this point. Since the nerves running to the toes are along the arch side of the foot near the ankles, the Dr told me to put ice along that side and the cold would actually run up to the nerves to cool down any swelling. It really does work!

Genie
Princeton, Texas

[klr]

Good luck Genie - keep us all posted on your recovery.

Karen

[SueLynn]

Well, today is the first day I have been able to do any kind of walking. Yesterday I was able to get my earth shoes on and today I was able to get my tennis shoes on. The swelling has gone down considerably, but there is still some. The doctor said I had to remember that this is the 2nd surgery on the same site and that it was quite extensive because he wanted to see what was in there that would have made it get worse.

My question is has anyone had the feeling of something under the ball of the foot during recovery? I am being very careful not to stand/walk on it as to not cause anything to go wrong. Will this go away or just become a numbness which I can certainly live with?

Thanks, SueLynn

[Racegun]

As this is the second day post-op and I'm not having much of a problem walking, I couldn't be happier. I expected a lot worse from having both feet done at the same time. I think the feeling of having something in the ball of your foot is simply swelling which should go away. I have a little in the left foot ball and some bruising on one toe but that's expected so not to worry. When I walk I put just as much pressure on the right as I do on the left.

It's hard not to get antsy about things being back to normal but that does take time which will be well worth the wait in the long run. Neither you nor I want to do another repeat performance so we just wait, keep the feet elevated as much as possible and dream of shoes yet to be purchased. These little foreys into foot health are but minute interruptions in the big picture of miles to go before we're finished walking this earth. After all, what does not kill us makes us stronger!!

Genie
Princeton, Texas

[SueLynn]

Thanks, Genie, for the encouragement. After having this problem for almost a year I guess I am looking at everything. LIke you, I look forward to having many more miles to walk in this lifetime. I do so look forward to putting on my headphones and walking my 5 mile route again. Of course, I will have to start out with shorter walks, but that is alright with me.

My foot was black across the top of all of my toes, even part of the big toe, so you did well.

SueLynn
Monroe, Louisiana

[Racegun]

The whole thing has boiled down to the fact that the neuromas were there hiding while I was struggling with horrible bunions on both feet also. Once the bunion surgeries were healed the neuromas made their entrance, the right one with a vengeance. Like you, SueLyn, I've been battling for almost a year and now it's over. The next step would have to had been a foot transplant but I don't think medical science has come that far yet!

BTW, we have family in Monroe.

Genie
Princeton,Texas