BLOG 280: AN INSIGHT INTO MY HEALING JOURNEY AFTER FOOT SURGERY

During the last few years, I’ve been having to adjust to a shift that happened to my body. And while this issue has brought with it its own challenges, I am still on a journey of healing. And I’d like to share with you the highlights of that healing journey.

One morning during August 2022, I woke up with a very bruised and swollen foot. I had no recollection of having had a particular injury or hurting myself in any way, but that morning it felt like I had a rock underneath the skin of my big toe - and my foot was beginning to bruise before my eyes. 

That same day, we had a holiday trip to Devon booked, and while we were on our way down there, I stopped into a minor injuries clinic to have them examine my foot which was continuing to bruise and swell. Multiple doctors in the clinic had a look, and none could provide a proper diagnosis. They told me to ice and elevate the foot. And that was it. 

About three or four weeks later, I made an appointment with a podiatrist. This doctor sent me for a scan, and it was revealed that I had an adventitial bursa - basically, a fluid-filled sac, which was causing this tremendous amount of pain beneath my big toe. In fact, up until then, it was so painful that I couldn’t walk barefoot, I had always needed something padded underneath my foot, which I satisfied with custom insoles for my indoor and outdoor trainers. But the pain never got any better. 

Eventually, I was referred to another podiatrist, and she sent me for a more thorough Xray and an MRI. During that scan, they also noticed that one of my sesamoid bones - one of the small bones in my big toe - was completely fractured (they call it bipartite), and I was told that it was either like that my entire life, or it had happened on that day of the initial trauma.  

So, again, this all started back in 2022. Fast-forward about 18 months of visits to doctors and specialists and not being able to walk barefoot…in all, it had been discovered that the bursa on my big toe was inflamed, which was causing much of that pain and that stone-like protuberance under my skin; I also had this fractured sesamoid bone; and, after the last MRI, it was also found that I had severe ligament damage and a lot of inflammation. In the end, the podiatrist suggested that I speak to a surgeon. 

During my chat with the surgeon, he advised me that it would probably be about a 50/50 chance that surgery would correct all of the above issues. I listened to my gut instinct: as many of you know, I always try to go for a natural, holistic approach when it comes to my health and my body. However, I decided to go ahead with the surgery so that I could at least say that I had given this last-resort method a try. 

My operation was scheduled for 28 February, and just two weeks before that, we had a family holiday in Cape Verde scheduled. And while we were there, I had routine morning sessions with a fantastic healer on the beach (the sessions were open to everyone staying in our hotel, but I think I was the only one who wanted to spend their holidays waking up to do a healing session at 8:30am!). I was barefoot in the sand during these sessions, doing a lot of grounding exercises on my foot, and I couldn’t believe how comfortable I felt walking barefoot on this pillowy sand after nearly 2 years of not being able to go anywhere barefoot at home - it felt so freeing! 

This was only a few days before my scheduled operation, and I had never felt this much relief in 2 years. In fact, I was so close to calling and cancelling my surgery because I felt that the healing work I had been doing these past few days had completely relieved me of this pain. We had been staying on the main island of Sal (which means “salt”), and they have said that the salt waters and the earth underneath have incredible healing properties, which I fully believed; I also think there was a bit of a play on my mind, knowing that I had an upcoming operation, so my body kicked it into high gear and began to heal itself naturally. 

Regardless, I still went ahead with the operation on 28 February. I felt in my gut that I needed the physical help of the surgery alongside the energetic work to help heal.  And I’ve been healing every day since both with the physical healing of doctors and the spiritual energetic healing.

For the first six weeks post-surgery, I was mostly immobile. And I didn’t feel like I had made much progress. Plus, I was told by the surgeon to take painkillers to help cope with the pain. Now I know that everyone is very different, but I didn't want to take constant medication. During the day, I could manage pain with breathing exercises, but at night, I needed to sleep in order to recover properly and I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I was in pain. So, what I decided to do was just to take two paracetamols every night before bed to help soften the pain and make it more tolerable. 

So, at the moment, almost 5 months after surgery. I do feel that there is progress in healing. I can walk with a good quality sandal at least 10,000 steps a day. I walk a little barefoot at home but mostly wear a little foam sandal just for some support. I can't quite fit my trainers on yet as the scar (4 inches) and the joint is still a little larger than usual but I know it takes 9 months to properly heal.

I am so pleased with the progress I have had post surgery. I have been doing so many holistic healing modalities daily (that's another blog for another day!) and I know that every day I am getting better and better.