A Reader's Experience with Endoscopic Plantar Fasciotomy (Surgery for Plantar Fasciitis)
(Here I say "Heel Spurs" so the search engines will find this essay, even though heel spurs are not the same thing as plantar fasciitis, though they are related.)
Guest Article by Greg Bailey
June 17, 2003
Well, I had my surgery yesterday (June 16, 2003) around 2:15pm and was home by 5:15pm with my foot up on the coffee table (yeah, I know I shouldn't,
but Mom isn't here and I bought the table), surfing the TV channels and ordering pizza!
My procedure was at the North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley and my doctor is Mike Vaardahl. He called me around 7:00pm to be sure I was OK and to encourage me to ice the top and front of my foot to relieve swelling. He told me ice on the surgical site would not beeffective. His directions are that I am not to walk on it much for 3-4 days and then we will see how things are going. He gave me a prescription for twenty Percocet for pain.
I did not have general anesthesia. Some sort of drug similar to strong Valium in my IV and Nitrous Oxide. I don't remember going under and when I awoke, I was still in the O.R. The two doctors were stitching the two small surgical sites on my heel. I was able to talk and I asked Dr. Mike when they were going to start. Everyone in the O.R. sort ofchuckled and Dr. Mike said that it was all over. I told him to go ahead with the hair transplant while I was there because I had a lot of time that afternoon. They all laughed again and he told me that being a podiatrist, he would have to put the hair on my foot!,
My surgery consisted of two incisions of approximately four millimeters each. The camera was four MM wide, thus the need for the incision size.
I was taken back to recovery and given a feast of crackers, Jello and a 1931 vintage 7-Up!
I thought I would be in some pain this morning, but no such developments. I think I will get one of my daughters to rent me a pair of crutches instead of wearing this Velcro boot. Dr. Mike said either or. The doctor believes I will be rather fit by the end of the week and told me that after that, three to four weeks of moderate walking. No yard chores or walking the Rocky Mountain Trail!
My trouble in the past with at least one surgery, was getting the injury site wet. I became infected with staph one other time, which almost cost me my life. Infection is the only thing I am concerned about at this point in time.
I'll keep you apprised of my condition in the upcoming weeks.
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*If you suffer from plantar fasciitis, be sure to read "Plantar Fasciitis: How I Cured My Heel Spurs without Surgery" and "Why I Finally Decided to Have Surgery on One Foot." To read about another type of treatment, heel orthotripsy, which uses shock waves to treat plantar fasciitis non-invasively, click here. To read how I am doing 16 months after surgery, click here.
