Foot Tumor- Surgery!

Last Fall when I was at a doctor's office, he noticed how large my right foot was on the top; a bulge or a mass seemed to be present. He asked, "What happened to your foot? That doesn't look good." I decided to have a podiatrist check it out, and he agreed it was abnormal. He said, "It could be a ganglion cyst, but if it is, that's the biggest ganglion cyst I've ever seen!" He tried to draw out fluid to diagnos the problem, but no fluid came out. Therefore, he ordered an MRI! I had to laugh when I realized, "I've had MRIs this year from head to toe!" The MRI result showed a large mass, diagnosed as what they thought was a hemangioma, in other words- a muscular foot tumor. This has been growing for the last couple of years, and is causing increased pain when I walk or run. I love to run, and when I've experienced pain, I just thought it was time to buy new running shoes-- not so!

With countless phone calls to insurance, doctors' offices, and my mom's research online, we learned that the best, least-invasive way to take care of this, was to try something called sclerotherapy. It's not commonly done in Utah, so I had to get special pre-approval from the insurance to have it done at the University. There, on February 2, I underwent general anesthesia, and they inserted a needle to my foot to map out my blood vessels. They were going to inject a detergent that would scar off the blood vessels that could be causing the muscle to grow, bulge, and be abnormally large. However, the medical professionals all agreed when they mapped out my vessels, that this was a tumor that couldn't be sclerosed. (There's a new very for you!)

After healing from that experience and being back on track with teaching for 9 weeks, I thought, "I want a break next time I go off- no more doctor appointments!" But about a month ago, Tyler and I realized it would be best not to wait. I would have more time on my April off track break to recover than I would over the summer, and the pain was getting so bad in my foot that I couldn't run very far. We are so grateful to Tyler's brother, Mike, who is an experienced surgeon and works with many surgeons at the Mayo Clinic. He advised us months ago to work with an orthopedic oncologist. We found the wonderful Dr. Scott, who has been so helpful through this process. Dr. Scott said that if sclerotherapy didn't solve the problem, he could perform the needed surgery. Below... this is how my foot looks today! The blood bag is coming off tonight though. :)


So... when we called, they miraculously had an opening for surgery on April 2nd-- which would give us exactly four weeks for me to recover before going back on track! I did have to miss the last three days before Spring Break, but luckily, my student teacher and last year's wonderful long-term sub, Bonnie, were able to take the class over. So, Monday I underwent anesthesia again, and this time with extra strength so I wouldn't get nauseous. I was pretty groggy and out of it until mid-day Tuesday! Dr. Scott the surgery went as planned. He took out half the dorsal muscle, along with blood vessels, causing the tumor in the top area of the foot. My foot is not in a sort of cast, wrapped tight, with a blood bag inserted to help drain the blood each day. EWW! I've never even heard of having a blood bag! But apparently, with muscle tumors, blood has to be drained daily to keep from getting hematomas (blood tumors). I need to stay off the foot, not putting any pressure on it, and keep it elevated above my heart as much as possible. (That proves to be a challenge when I would rather be up and doing-- but I'm trying to be a good girl and follow orders!)

Sweet Tyler and my amazing Mom were there as I went in for surgery, and my dad was apparently there too, although I was so out of it, I only remember hearing him sneeze in the recovery room! I slept SOOO hard in the recovery room, only waking to tell them I needed to use the restroom, and I had a lot of help getting there with not walking on the foot! Tyler packed the fun "knee scooter" and crutches in the car and picked me up. I don't remember much since I was so out of it! I was slurring my speech and not making sense... almost like I had just had a stroke! That anesthesia is powerful stuff!

I'm so grateful for Tyler being there and taking care of me, especially Monday night when he stayed awake all night to check my blood sugar every 25 minutes and make sure I was okay. They were worried I might sleep through something with how out of it I was! I've been at home several days now and doing well! We've emptied the blood bag 2-3 times a day, taken a couple of "scoots" outside with my scooter, hobbled around the house a lot with crutches, and figured out how to shower! There are so many tender mercies in this too. The couch that we were not supposed to get from RCWilley until today, came last Saturday! What a lifesaver it has been EVERY DAY of this recovery! And another great blessing: Everything in our little place is so close that I don't have to hobble far on crutches to the bathroom, or bedroom, or kitchen! And NO stairs too!

So grateful we got this new couch (this is a picture of the one at the store) for me to enjoy during recovery!
Right now I'm grateful for the time to talk and visit with family and friends, catch up on the blog here, read good books, plan for school, and other stuff I can do in a horizontal position. I'm realizing today that I probably overdid it the last few days, because I'm feeling lots of nerve pain! The hardest part has been the swelling of my foot and the tight pain. The blood bag has had less fluid each day, and today we'll take it off. Tuesday we'll go see the doctor to get the boot off and stitches out-- I'm sure that will be eventful!

I'm so grateful for the blessing I was given Sunday night with all the family there-- the men able to stand in the circle when Dad and Tyler anointed and gave me a beautiful blessing of healing! I know the prayers of my sweet students, nieces and nephews, grandma, siblings, and friends for a speedy recovery are working! I am so glad the doctor said I'll be able to get back to running again- this time without as much foot pain (when I'm healed!). Tyler and my mom have been trading off days to be with me, and what wonderful nurses they are to get things I need! It's been fun the way they text each other to keep tabs on how I'm doing! I'm so blessed with concerned people in my life.

Two tumor surgeries down, none to go! (Is my hope! :)