4 Years P.O.

Just had a brief appointment with the lovely Mr Cooke who, very upsettingly but probably very deservedly, is retiring soon and he said people have found this very helpful so I thought I would add some more final notes and (potentially) some pictures (when I can locate a camera). Before I start I would like to say that Mr Cooke and Mr Rogers and all the staff at the NOC in Oxford were absolutely amazing, they're such knowledgeable people with this disease and the care you get is just excellent.

I would have to say if you are thinking about doing this and hesitating in any way I would say go for it. It is 1 week of quite a lot of pain, 2 weeks of minor pain and inconvenience and 6 weeks of pain-in-the-proverbial plaster but overall it's definitely worth it. The issues CMT feet people have obviously don't go away, my reflexes are still poor and so I do still mostly watch the pavement when I walk, rather than the surroundings, but otherwise I LOVE my new feet. Interestingly, I was most upset when all the exciting stitch marks which made me look like I had odd tattoos or fancy dress socks faded. I felt they made me really look like I had earned my new feet! 

The main issues the surgery has improved are ones I didn't even notice I had. When doing long walks or workouts that involved squats I found I had pain running down the outside of my legs (peroneus longus I suspect but don't quote me), this has all but vanished. My feet feel, for want of a better word, more 'centred' on my legs. I do occasionally go over on my ankles but I suspect everyone does when they have the odd glass of wine and doesn't pay attention to the cobbles but I don't feel so much like they're always a moment away from collapsing outwards. My new trainers which I purchased with some trepidation 8 months ago (my post-surgery ones were actually falling apart) I spent a week waiting for the blisters that never came because now my big toe isn't raised so it doesn't rub - amazing!

I have never been particularly self conscious, I think someone who puts surgical pictures of their feet on the internet is unlikely to be, but I now feel that if I meet people in my socks they may not even know I have 'funny feet' as everyone seems to like to call them. So while I have lost a nice conversational ice breaker I have gained, what I consider to be, really cool new feet.