Re: Triple arthrodesis

[dolphinRN]

I had a foot surgery a few years ago that went bad. The podiatrist went in to remove "tissue" the size of a man's thumb from my heel and while he was in there released a tendon. When I was released to go back to work, the hospital had moved the ward I worked on to a revamped area that was not nurse or patient friendly. Either way, with averaging 5 plus miles a day on my foot at work and having a high pain tolerance, I wound up spending months getting the pain isolated with a different podiatrist. He states that I have a major foot instability but also sinus tarsi syndrome.

My foot pops and is painful throughout the foot, but mostly in the heel/mid foot region. It seriously pops where I have never heard a "normal" foot pop. I wear a support when I know I will be on my foot for a long time, but I am now assigned a desk job because the foot isn't stable enough for me to work on all day and manage the weight of lifting patients, pushing carts, etc.

I read online that one of the procedures they could do is a triple arthrodesis. Have any of you had any experience with someone having one? Has it helped them regain "full" use of their foot or have you seen more people with complications afterward?

I do plan on seeing an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in feet, but after dealing with a screwup the first time around, I'm very skittish. I used to enjoy walking even after all I did at work and now that I have 16 month old twins, I really would like to get back into some shape to play with them.

Thanks for any input.:)

[oldiegoldie]

I have severe arthritis in my left foot and ankle. I found a wonderful ortho MD who helped me out by injecting me with steroids/marcaine for a while; I did get to the point that I couldn't function with the arthritis however. The pain was sickening. I would have flares with fever and vomiting.

I have a high suffering tolerance, so when I went to my ortho and told him I was at the end of the road, he told me he would have to do a triple arthrodesis. At this point I didn't care if he had told me that he needed to do a lobotomy...I was desperate. As a night nurse I used to pay people to give my 6 am meds because I hurt too badly to do this myself....

The recovery from the triple arthodesis was rough. Four months of non weight bearing and then significant pain after the cast was off. What nobody told me, though, was that ambulation gets easier with practice.

My current ortho tells me I need an ankle replacement, but I am not nearly uncomfortable enough after my triple arthodesis to entertain the idea of this.

Go for it!