Friday 7 September 2012

I had bunion surgery – part one



“It’s ugly, this has got to go,” my doctor exclaimed when he saw the bunion that I had on my left foot. True, it wasn’t beautiful, but I had had it for years and the main thing was that it didn’t hurt too much, so I wasn’t really worried about it.

My doctor is somebody that I have the utmost respect for, so when he told me to go to see the consultant who had operated on him a year earlier, I agreed.

A few days before my appointment at St Thomas’ Hospital, I had been to see a renowned podiatrist, who had told me, that yes, you can notice your bunion (a prominent head of the first metatarsal with deviation of the big toe) but as I had no pain, she couldn’t see any reason to have it removed. I was, therefore, expecting the consultant to say something more or less along the same lines. So, I was rather taken back when he suggested that I have it removed. 



On examination of my feet, the first thing Ioan Tudur Jones, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, said on seeing, what he called quite large bunions on both sides, was that these were not caused by anything that I had worn. Apparently, they are generally hereditary. If there is a history of them in your family, you are more likely to get them.  Shoes, I was told, can make them painful, but don’t tend to be the cause.

The one on the left was significantly larger than the right. The big toes had also tilted quite a way over towards the other toes, especially on the left, causing problems to the second and third toes.

Mr Jones explained that the main advantage in operating on the left bunion would be to correct the biomechanical abnormality that I had in my foot and, given a more stable and medial column, the lesser toes would be less likely to develop problems and, of course, the width of the foot would be reduced.

I felt from the moment that I met Mr Jones that I was in capable hands. Therefore, if I had to spend approximately six weeks in a surgical shoe and the first two weeks with my feet elevated, I thought I may as well have them both done.

Like all surgery, there are potential risks and complications. Mr Jones explained to me that the risk of both infection and nerve injury would be less than 1 per cent. The risk of arthritis in the joint would also be less than 1 per cent. I was told that the bunions were highly unlikely to come back again.

When I told people I was having them done, I was surprised at the reaction. I didn’t realise how common they were. I even got stopped in the street by complete strangers wanting to know about my experience. Friends and colleagues asked me to write about it as many didn’t know what to do about theirs and also many were taken back when they realised that bunions can be genetic.

By Daralyn Danns

Part two to follow