Done turning!!!
So last Thursday was the last day I turned the external fixator, that means that the maximum length my toe should grow was achieved.  To be honest I would of liked it to be a bit longer, However it did grow longer than my fourth one and it is starting to look normal.
I been doing stretching exercises in the morning and at night I heard about goes getting stiff but boy! I had no idea! It gets really stiff and its hard to walk on, I mean I never truly knew how much toes are important until now.  So I been doing the strangest thing exercises and my toe it's slowly getting there.  I cannot bend my foot just yet because of the way my external fixator is in my foot but I'm hoping it will be easier once it's out.  I will be having it out on Dec 26th 😃.  And we will go from there to finally being able to fall asleep under the sunshine with my shoes off

Here is my latest pic

pain!!! ouch!!!

Last night was the first night ever that I actually had pain due to the bone growth.  I had previously just had discomfort but not pain.  It woke me up like at 2:30 am and I thought it would go away by itself, so I didn't take anything right away, I waited.  However it just kept on hurting more intense, so I went ahead took a 500mg tramadol pain medication and it totally helped, I read in other people's experiences that it does start hurting once you keep on turning, we will see how the next days turn out.  However I am seeing growth on the exterior😁 that keeps me motivated.

i can put weight on it!!

So last week my foot was hurting so bad, but it was not due to the procedure but because the fixator was rubbing on my skin... ouch!!! Literally, Everytime I tried to put weight on it it would rub on my skin because the fixator was too close to my foot, I didn't know what to do, I couldn't sleep or have a peaceful moment during the day, so I contacted my doctor as soon as I realized the problem, he advised me to put some cotton in between the fixator and my skin... 😑 but there was no space for it, I could hardly reach in between with a gauze, so I went to pay him a visit... to Monterrey, that is a 1 1/2 hour flight from Veracruz, I bought my ticket which was not so expensive and totally worth it!! He fixed the placement of my fixator and showed me how to massage my toes because they are bending, fiu!!! My foot now feels so much better, I can put weight, and clean it more easily!!! What a relief, honestly if you are going through this procedure do everything you can to stay comfortable and to treat yourself right, no Matter if you have to go across the country to see your doctor 😂😂 ...

just keep turning

Its been already almost three weeks I did the surgery and almost two that I started turning.  I don't see much difference yet, so I decided to draw a line that I remark everyday after I clean my foot.

My foot is been red around the pin areas, and very uncomfortable, I sent an email to my doctor about it and he recommended to clean it with peroxide instead of microdacyn (a solution I was using) so I did, but it is still red, so today he asked me to do some blood work, a bh vsg and a reactive protein C, I went to do it this morning I had to go early this morning and now I'm waiting on the results which should be ready tomorrow, the test were $242 pesos, which is not bad at all. I'll wait until tomorrow see what the test reveal.

Turning twice

I started to turn twice today, one time during the morning and one time at night.  I lost my turning key the very next day after I started turning so I been using an Allen key that I purchased at a hard ware store that fits but I always feel nervous when I'm turning I always do it super slowly making sure I'm on the right direction etc.  Today I had some errands to do so it was super hard on my foot, it was swollen the whole day, when I got home I put it up and iced it but it is still swollen, and the pain comes and goes but it's bearable, I haven't take any pain pills today, I read somewhere that it starts hurting more when u start turning twice a day, so far it's my first day and its ok, we will see how it is tomorrow.

The surgery

The fixator is in!
Oct 24th I had my surgery, I was very scared because I thought I would wake up in pain or even feel pain during. However I pleased to find out that I over reacted!!! 😂 I felt nothing since the moment I went into the surgery room the staff was very nice and caring they told me how the process was going to go and what I should expect, then they proceeded to put on me a intravenous catheter on a tiny vein in my hand, from then I remembered waking up once but didn't feel pain then went back to sleep, when I woke up they were already placing me in another bed, to allow me to wake up, which happened in the next hour.  My surgery lasted about an hour to an hour and a half, while I was waiting in the room to recover from anesthesia they had left the IV fluids on me to help my kidneys drain the drug faster.  Then when I was finally recovered my girlfriend helped me to dress and we were out of there me in a wheelchair then in crutches, of course I didn't put any weight on my foot yet, the doctor told me to start putting weight on it the next week. So I did, and at the beginning it was very hard to walk with the fixator mostly because my foot was swollen.  The next day I went to the doctor so he can remove the bandages and show me how to turn which I also had to start doing a week after surgery.

I read in some blogs that it hurts more once you start turning, however so far I have been turning for about 5 days and I have only felt intense pain once, I took a pain killer and I was fine for the whole day.  I try to walk and put weight on my foot when I can, since it's still uncomfortable to walk with the device on.

The process

When I was researching on whether or not to do the surgery I noticed not a lot of peor posted how they started, how they research their doctor etc. And monetary cost, I think that would of really helped me.  So here is how I did it.

I first started looking for specialist in my area, podiatrist, I started looking for one long long ago, but I guess the surgery was not so popular ten years ago because for me it was difficult to find a doctor that would perform it, I visited when I was living in Washington about 3 doctors who none of them referred me to a surgeon, they would just give me tips on how to take care of my foot, what shoes to use etc.  The first doctors I finally found that did surgery were in Florida and at that time I didn't have insurance so I couldn't afforded, so then more years passed by, I lived in Canada too for some years and didn't find a doctor that could do it or that I could afford.  Finally GHlast year I moved to Mexico and I began my research again, I found now that more doctors do it now in the states because they began to understand it's not just cosmetic, but it's psychological and for some people very uncomfortable when wearing shoes to have a toe rubbing on it all the time because it's floating on top of all the other ones.  But anyways I was in Mexico and I was determined to find a doctor here.  I finally found one but it was in another state, I lived in Mexico city and he was in Monterrey that's a good 12 hrs in car going north, thank God for airplanes.

I contacted the doctor and we began communication by email a year ago, the price for one foot back then was 25,000 mxp that's roughly $2000 American dollars, back then I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the surgery yet because that would mean taking time off work for at least 2 months.  I took a year to prepare for it, so I contacted the doctor again and told me price had gone up to 29,500 mxp still affordable, we began by doing blood work and x-rays, communication by email and I sent him pictures of my feet in different positions for him to analyze.  He then said that I was fine to go to surgery the bone on my toe looked like it had a good width and my blood work results look great. The blood work and x-rays were done at a separate lab called el chico In Mexico city which were about $1,700 mxp.

I got a ticket to Monterrey and met the doctor on Monday morning, the ticket was around $645 mxp so like $50 dlrs one way.

It seems c