Today is a celebration for me. It marks 2 years since I had foot surgery and got new feet! After having bunions for most of my life, I got them removed.
What are bunions? Don't old ladies get those? These large bone protrusions at the base of the big toe, typically are on older women, unless you have the misfortune of inheriting them genetically.
Not only did they look bad, and make it hard to buy shoes, but they were also extremely painful.
Surgery day!
I wish I had gotten a picture of my feet, but you can see how they looked with the socks.
For several weeks after surgery, this was the only sight of my feet that I saw...these mutton chops!
After several days of crawling on my hand and knees to use the restroom, my parents gave me the gift of industrial knee pads!
My best friend, Liz, had knee surgery around the same time, so the two of got to be cripples together.
I was so thankful for a friend to share in the misery and monotony of life as a bedridden cripple.
On day, when Liz and I were just getting back on our feet, we went shopping together. I noticed a couple of stares when we pulled into the handicapped parking at the grocery store. I'm sure they were thinking, "What were two, young, perfectly healthy looking girls doing parking in this spot!? " That was, until we opened the doors and both hobbled out to the closest
eventually, I didn't have to wear the gauze wraps around my feet, and were able to use these.
For two months I was bedridden and completely at the mercy of gracious friends who would come and take me places, just so that I could get out of the house. My surgery changed me in more ways than one. Yes, I have beautiful strait feet now. For the first time in my life that I can remember, I am able to find shoes that can fit. But even more than that, I've learned some things along the way. I've never been so completely helpless and reliant on others. It's not fun being helpless! When you have to get down on your hands and knees to do the simplest thing, such as using the restroom, it's humbling.
It's hard to have to watch people have fun, play sports, or dance, when you love to be active and want to join in. It's frustrating to be bound to a wheelchair, that can only be pushed around by other people. It's hard to know I was running 6 miles at a time, only to stumble with pain at 6 steps.
Through this time, I have learned to be empathetic to those who can't get around as easily as I can. I see the people here in Nigeria, on the sides of the street whose bodies have been twisted by polio, and I know their pain. Because of this experience, I have learned empathy and I hope it's something I won't soon forget. The scars down the side of my feet remind me of what was and what I went through, and I give God thanks for it all!
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