I have celebrated my two year mark on January 2 of 2015. I am still so grateful that I had the opportunity to do this surgery and that it was so successful. I am now a sophomore at Christopher Newport University in Virginia and am just starting my second season as a collegiate lacrosse player today!! Being an athlete on the varsity level has been a super exciting adventure and I definitely would not be where I am today without the sesamoidectomy. Although playing a sport in college is a lot of fun, there are new challenges that are faced everyday. It puts a lot of stress on your body which means you have to take good care of it with stretching, foam rolloing, icing, etc. It is also important to know the difference of when your body is telling you when to stop, or when it is telling you that you are tired, but you need to keep going. That being said, I have to listen to my foot when I am lifting too much for it to handle. This mostly only applies to lunges or other exercises that requires me to hold a lot of weight when I put most of the pressure on the ball of my foot (this is where the sesamoid bones are located). That pain is because of the scar tissue from cutting through my tendons in order to reach the bone. Aside from the athletics, if I wear heels for too long, my foot tends to get a little sore then as well. So far since that surgery, I have been really lucky not getting any serious injuries! I still highly recommend this procedure if anyone is having any sesamoid issues, especially if you are in close proximity to Dr. Myerson at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
I am so happy that I was able to blog about this surgery because it was so new and there were a lot of unknowns about it. I still remember reading a lot of articles about sesamoidectomies two years ago and wishing that there were more about actual people who have gone through the entire procedure. So far it has over 10,000 views! I just wanted to say thank you to all of the people who have emailed me asking for advice, or just to tell me how much it helped them decide to get the procedure. Good luck to everyone who is thinking about the surgery!
Here is a picture of the scar today! Luckily it is on the bottom of my foot so no one ever sees it. It's very light and kind of hard to see.
I also played varsity lacrosse and had my sesamoidectomy done in Baltimore...but with Dr. Guyton at Union Memorial! Although this procedure was not as google-able in 2011 as it is now, especially with so many individuals stories!
ReplyDeleteAs 4 year post op, I'm in just as much pain as I was previous to the surgery. I've had orthotics, roll out the arch daily and stick to my yoga routine. I think the scar tissue build up (even though I'm religious about my pumice stone) is impeding the musculotendinous unit from lengthening completely. But about a year after that surgery I started training for a half marathon and after I had completed it, my hip started to give me problems in simple 3 mile runs and I'd stop from the pain. Turns out as the pain in my foot started to slowly come back, I subconsciously started externally rotating to avoid toeing off as much. Add in hundreds of miles of training, and I had a glut minimus tear, labral separation and the deep external rotators were so tight I had to have a Women's Health PT just so the therapist could reach the muscles involved.
If there's anything other's with small foot surgerys- especially sesamoidectomys learn from this, please keep paying attention to your form. Go to PT even if your surgeon says a couple stretches should be fine. A PT should be able to guide the recovery so you don't develop a gait pattern that could effect your knee or hip- your surgeon doesn't watch your gait.
Hi Erin,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to have come across your blog! I have recently been told that I have a dead sesamoid and that I need surgery to remove it. After a year of MRI's and x-rays, misdiagnoses and pain, I finally have an answer - what a relief!
I'm hesitant to do the surgery and am looking for peace of mind. I am a cyclist and runner and love to hike, after reading your story I feel positive about the end results. I'm told by my orthopaedic surgeon that I will be fully recovered after 6 months. I'm sure there are many stories out there, it has however been difficult to find a blog with as much detail as yours. Thanks for putting it out there!
Do you have any idea if I was to leave the bone and not have the surgery, what would happen, would it eventually disintegrate or just continue to cause more pain? Is your toe 100% straight now and how is it feeling since your last post in January?
Hello! It is feeling great. I have no problems and I'm doing really well. If you would prefer to email me please do so! Erincallahan7@gmail.com
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