Good thing I didn’t see the x-rays before Dr. Gaggero pulled out the pins yesterday, I thought those fuckers were 2 or 3 inches long at most (a few cm), nope, deeply into my foot.

As always I expected pain but there was little-at the office.  Like ripping off a bandage, he suddenly pulled and twisted each out, gripping the curved pin ends with a pair of Craftsman slip-joint pliers. Very little bleeding from the snake fang marks.

Before surgery, you can’t see several digits because the bones are so deformed they’re stacked on top of each other.

It’s deeply weird to hobble around with pins, you can never forget they’re there and how it would feel to kick something so you truly welcome the protective ‘boot’. You think of those kebab skewers growing into your toe bones.

But no, the toes said goodbye to the pins quite happily. If I’d known how long they were I wouldn’t have done weight training. No wonder it hurt more than usual.

I was exulting in being pin-free when the pain hit last night. My mood boost deflated when I realized I’m less than halfway there after a month of convalescence.

Too, the punctures bled through requiring cleanup on isle 3 with hydrogen peroxide and gauze. I’ve relapsed to needing rest and foot elevation again.

But I feel better this morning despite the foot being tender and sensitive after a month of rigid, pinned mummification. I am supposed to encourage the good toes to join their repaired brothers and to rotate the ankle for range of motion; and alternating hot and cold footbaths. I’ll be glad to do that when the pain subsides.

So shit, back to pajama pants and slipper/’boot’ for another week and no walking or showers yet. But the doc and the pictures say the toes are healing right, and so far I’ve only taken cannabis for pain, avoiding nausea inducing Norco or NSAIDS. And it is wonderful to live unpinned.

Text and images by todgermanica. Free for noncommercial use with attribution. I’m not paid for any ads.