I'm now into my sixth week since surgery. I'm on track, making good progress, but I'm so close to time frame for recovery—six to eight weeks. My five-week follow-up last week went well, but I left feeling overwhelmed. The doctor said he didn't need to see me for another four weeks, which is just in time for my pre-op appointment for my second foot (!). To-Do List Since the appointment, I've no longer been using crutches (yay!), and I've been working to help my incision heal completely (I'll spare details), at which point I'll need to start treating it with a special scar gel to keep the tissue from hardening. Also during this interim, I'll need to be a bit more aggressive with my toe exercises to increase flexibility (i.e., make it hurt). And, when I feel comfortable enough, I can try gradually transitioning from the boot to an athletic shoe. Once I feel good in athletic shoes, I can resume driving. That feels like a lot of stuff to manage on my o...

Earlier this week I had my three-week follow-up appointment. I'd been really looking forward to this appointment because (1) I hate not feeling reassured in every moment that all is well, and I had to wait a whole two weeks to get that reassurance, and (2) this appointment would hopefully be the one where I could remove all my bandaging for good and get permission to start weaning off the crutches and try walking just in my boot. For the most part, that was the outcome. Although, my doctor wanted to put one light layer of dressing on, until today, when I had permission to remove it and finally wash my foot after three and a half weeks! l need to make sure to keep the incision site clean and apply neosporin and bandaids daily. Shape aside, which is lovely, my foot is pretty gnarly looking. The skin is all hard and wrinkly from having been swollen and then shrunken down, and also from the amount of time it was bandaged up. Now that I can look at it, I don't really want to. I k...

My recovery has been going well, and the better I've felt the more I've ventured out into the public. But the public I once knew is now full of hazards that have at times led to near falls, falls, panic, and an acute awareness of every inch of space around me—especially floors and doors. Crutching itself is not really difficult or scary; it's maneuvering through tight spaces, on unlevel ground, up and down steps, on water-spotted floors, and through weighted doors that makes it somewhat terrifying. Whereas I used to take my nieces to the bathroom in a restaurant, they now have to take me because I can't hold the door for myself. Other dangers while standing: pivoting, reaching, squatting down, leaning, getting up from a low chair—basically anything done standing on one foot except simply standing still, which gets tiring, too. I'm often grateful for the years of yoga classes I've had, which have undoubtedly helped my balance and made would-be falls into just nea...