Foot Surgery

I've been having some foot pain for the past three weeks, so I went to the doctor last Tuesday. It was a plantar wart and the doctor treated it with cryotherapy. Unfortunately, as of today (exactly one week later) it was absolutely zero percent better.

It was supposed to have blistered and begun cracking and peeling by now. But...nothing...stubborn wart.

So I went back in to see the doctor this afternoon, and of course he said he would have to surgically remove it. Yikes! I knew this would be a simple office procedure...therefore I would have to have a local anesthetic (as opposed to general...meaning I would have to be awake and feel this shot). I don't like needles!

He had me lie down on my stomach on the table, and while the nurse began spraying the freezing treatment on it, he injected the anesthetic. I began raising the upper half of my body off the table while simultaneously kicking my "unoccupied" foot! Ouch!

Thankfully, the anesthetic was very quick acting. Literally, within less than a minute I didn't feel anything anymore.

Then the doctor began removing it with a scalpel and cauterizing it with what my daughter described as a "mini-blowtorch!" He did tell me that it went deep. He had to cut and cauterize about half an inch down into my foot. He said it would definitely be very painful when the anesthetic wears off. As of the writing of this post, my foot is still numb and I had the procedure at about 5:30 this afternoon. I plan to take the pain medicine he prescribed in just a few moments and then go to bed. The medicine is to be taken every four to six hours (as needed), so that means I will probably wake up with some pain tonight.

So, to my blogging friend Tom, I can probably empathize (maybe a tiny bit) with you by tomorrow morning! I know it won't be ANYTHING like what he has gone through with his foot surgery, though.

On a lighter note, as the doctor was performing the procedure, he was explaining to the nurse and to me that when he practiced in a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, he performed this very procedure many times in a day. Only, he had a laser to cauterize it with (which meant less chance of damaging healthy tissue), and there was some sort of vacuum attachment that sucked up the burnt flesh so you didn't have to smell it as much.

Oh the joys of living in a small town!