3 Months After Surgery

It's been 3 months since my right foot was operated on (2 months for my left). Everything is going great. The soarness & aches in my feet are almost totally gone.  I can be on my feet longer & longer everyday without fatigue. The chronic back, knee, and leg pain I've endured my entire life has almost completely diminished. My quality of life has already dramatically improved, and my healing & body adjusting is only at about 75% complete. There is still minor bruising around the surgery sites of both feet. My foot actually looks normal now as there is an arch present (see the before & after pic below)! Hopefully by this summer, I'll be able to wear flip-flops and walk on the beach without pain for the first time on my life!

9 Weeks After First Surgery - 1 Month After the Second

I got the stitches out of my left foot today. It was the second foot to be operated on, but healed significantly more quickly than my right foot.  I'm officially free of all ankle braces and for the past 2 days have been walking around on my new feet! I'm actually about 1/2 an inch taller now since my sinus tarsi isn't collapsing anymore. I also had to get new sneakers as my old ones were worn out from my prior flat feet and didn't fit well anymore.  After doing research and trying different sneakers, I got a pair of New Balance 993 as my new sneakers. I've always been a Nike guy, but New Balance are supposed to be the best built and designed to eliminate pronation and provide stability. I did get a pair of cushioned Nike Lunarfly sneakers as a back-up as well. Following my surgeries, sneakers with superior cushioning and stability seem to be the most comfortable.  My feet get soar and hurt if I walk too much, but it's not the same lower-back, knee, and arch pain I chronically had before the surgery.  Now it's a soarness around the outside of the foot as my feet are still adjusting to their new corrected position. Now that I'm distributing weight on my feet correctly, I'm getting knots in the shin and foot muscles that I'm using for the first time, but my feet are adjusting and the pain is less everyday. I also get dull aches in my ankles as the weather gets colder or more humid, but Dr. Kass said that will dissipate and is common. The Hypocure website says they've never had a reported case of the stent popping out after 4 weeks post-op.  I'm over 4 weeks post-op on both feet, so it seems I've made it through both surgeries without complications!  Woo hoo!

7 Weeks After 1st Surgery - 12 Days After 2nd Surgery

It's been almost 7 weeks since my first surgery and 12 days after my second surgery. The 1st surgery was on my right foot.  It was the more severely hyper pronated (flat) foot.  That foot is at about 80% now.  My left foot was just operated on 12 days ago. I was in a half-cast for 8 days and did not put any weight on it. The cast was removed in the morning, and amazingly by the evening I was able to walk on it barefoot with almost no pain.  It's healing very quickly.  I don't know if it's mental since I already went through it and was not nervous, or if this foot is just less flat and therefore will adjust to it's new corrected position more quickly (that was my doctor's opinion).  After the half-cast was removed, I was in a walking-boot for the entire day.  It was pretty painful walking in the boot for the first few of hours.  However, by the evening it didn't hurt at all.  So I went home and removed the boot and was able to walk barefoot with almost no pain.  I didn't walk around much, and was very careful not to roll-over my ankle as that could cause the implant to pop out or displace.  Dr. Kass told me if there is no pain, I can transition to the air stirrup ankle brace (by aircast) immediately.  So now I'm walking around with the ankle brace in my own sneakers.  In 2 weeks I can loose the ankle brace altogether as that's when the scar tissue will have successfully bonded to the stent preventing it from ever displacing.  So far the surgery is working perfectly.  For the first time on  my life, I've been walking a decent amount with no orthotics and I have almost no back, knee, or leg pain!

Day 35 - three days after 2nd surgery

I had the second Hyprocure stent put into my other (left) foot 3 days ago (five weeks after my first surgery).  I had the 2nd surgery so quickly because now my body was off balance and walking with only one flat foot was causing me pain and delaying healing of my corrected foot.  Dr. Kass recommended I get the other surgery soon as my first foot is healed enough where I can put minimal weight on it. I'm currently in a half-cast and know what to expect as I just went through the first surgery.  The pronation in my left foot was less severe so I'm expecting to heal more quickly from this surgery.  It's already less stiff and less painful than the first surgery.  Knock on wood... if all continues well in 2 weeks I'll be walking without orthotics for the first time in 18 years.

DAY 18

I wore the Aircast for 1 week, and my ankle hurt less every day.  The Aircast reduces weight & pressure on the ankle, but it also inhibits normal walking motion, so it causes a lot of fatigue. It also caused some pain and soreness in my legs, thigs, and gluteus maximus (yes, my butt).  I took the Aircast off when I was at home.  I wasn't allowed to put full weight on my foot without the Aircast yet, but I began to put a bit of weight on my bear foot to tested it out.  To my surprise, it didn't hurt much.  My doctor transitioned me from the Aircast to the Air-Stirrup ankle brace (seen below) 3 days ago.  With the ankle brace, I finally get to wear my own sneakers!  My first few steps didn't hurt at all.  After walking for about 1 block, it started hurting a bit and aching.  Everyday I can walk longer without pain.  I push myself to walk until I can't bear it anymore.  This is good as it builds up scar tissue and gets your foot used to it's new corrected position.  Once it begins hurting a lot... I rest about 5 minutes and can walk again without pain. It's important to step normally and not favor the operated foot. Walking down stairs (not up) and on uneven not-level surfaces hurt the most. I'm in NYC, so there's plenty of uneven sidewalks and stairs :(  I'm walking normally on the outside of my foot for the first time in my life, so my foot is a little swollen at the end of the day.  I don't get many shooting sharp pains anymore.  My foot just feels very achey.  I take anti-inflamatories and ice it, and by the next morning it's back to normal. When I think about it... Just 2 weeks after my surgery, and I'm walking around in my own sneakers... amazing I think :)

DAY 9

I was in a half-cast for 8 days following my surgery.  I was not allowed to put any weight on my foot during that time.  I went to the doctor yesterday who removed the cast and bandages.  I had no swelling and my foot looked great.  It was straight and my arch didn't collapse.  I was only able to put a tiny bit of weight on my foot, so I won't know if my fallen arch is corrected until I'm full weight bearing. However on a inspiring note, a tiny bit of weight is all it took to collapse my arch before the surgery.  I was put in an Air Cast (seen bellow) and finally allowed to walk on my foot.  The first 2 steps were very painful, but then every step after that hurt less and less.  I walked around for short periods sporadically for the rest of the day.  By the evening, many of my steps didn't hurt at all, although every 3 or 4 steps did still produce pain.  The pain was bearable though... about a 6 out of 10.  I didn't walk too much as it was the 1st day I'm walking and I didn't want to overdue it - it's best it ease into it.  I got home and took off the Air Cast, and my foot still had no swelling.  Things are going great.  I hope it continues this way :)

MY BACKGROUND

I'm a 33 year old fit male. I've had flat feet all my life.  They have always caused pain and discomfort.  I've worn custom orthotics since I was 17.  The orthotics helped relieve my pain and discomfort a bit, but as I reached my mid-20's I started getting chronic lower back, sciatica, and knee pain.  By the time I reached my 30's, I was suffering from sciatica and lower back pain almost daily.  I need to use a lower back support pillow almost every time I sit.  After standing (with or without orthotics) for more than 20 minutes, I always experience some level of pain or discomfort.  My posture is also a bit slouched due to my flat feet. So, now that I'm still young… i opted for the Hyprocure Implant as it's the newest and seemingly best designed stent on the market and has a high success rate.  To perform the surgery, I chose Dr. Jeffery Kass who has a practice in Forrest Hills, NY. He's a great doctor who has performed the most Hyprocure stent implant surgeries in all of New York.  He has tons of experience, answered all my questions, and is a truly caring physician. I decided against the alternate reconstructive flat foot surgery because it's very invasive, has a history of complications, and of the length of recovery (1 year per foot) is too long.

DAY 5

I have no pain and my foot feels very loose and good.  I'm mastered using the crutches but am really sick of being confined to the house.  It's summer so for a change of scenery and to enjoy the weather, I take the journey down the 4 flights of stairs with a friend.  We just sit and chill in front of my apartment building.

DAY 4

I have no pain at all.  My foot feels pretty loose and I can put partial weight on it to balance when I'm standing up.  On a mental note, I'm getting extremely stir crazy as I live up 4 flights of stairs and so I barely leave the house. Who would've thought the most painful thing about this surgery was being cooped up in the house for a week :(

DAY 3

I woke up with some pain for the first time and my foot was throbbing a bit.  I took anti-inflamatories and the pain soon subsided.  My foot feels less tight and swollen, although the half-cast and bandages prevent me from actually seeing if it's swollen or not. However the Ace bandage feels as it's wrapped too tight and I have some numbness in my toes and on the side of my foot.  My doctor tells me this is common and to just loosen the Ace bandage myself. After I loosen the bandage, the numbness and tight feeling goes away.  Since the half-cast is covering the surgical area, I can't ice it.  Instead, my doctor tells me to ice the back of knee as the capillaries to the foot run through that area and it will have the same effect.  I accidentally put some weight on my foot a few times and it hurts a bit, but nothing severe.  This entire procedure has brought me little to no pain. Maybe this is because I'm a boxer, and my tolerance for pain is high.

DAY AFTER SURGERY

I wake up with little to no pain, but my foot feels very tight and a bit numb.  I'm in a half-cast and must use crutches which is a uncomfortable as I'm not used to it.  I avoid the crutches at first and just hop on my good foot to get around, but that ends up putting too much strain on my knee and ankle so I use the crutches more frequently.  I take anti-inflamatory pills (twice daily) and 1/2 a pain killer to take the edge off.  So the implant doesn't pop put or migrate, I'm not allowed to put any weight on the foot for a week.

DAY OF SURGERY

*I'm not allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight the night before.

I'm put under local "twilight" sedation.  This isn't supposed to be as strong as general anesthesia, but it still knocks me completely out for almost the entire procedure (about 20 mins).  I wake up near the end while the doctor is adjusting my foot and then stitching me up, but I feel no pain.  My mouth is extremely dry and I'm thirsty, and because of the IV I also have to pee badly.  Strange combo :)  The doctor applies a half-cast (not a full cast - I can remove it if needed) and Ace bandages, then I'm off to the recovery room.  I'm groggy for a few hours following.  I feel little to no pain, but the area just feels very tight.