The good, the bad and the ugly.  My foot doctor believes the foot looks to be healing nicely, absolutely no touch down contact until January 9th at the earliest and swollen colorful foot with pin sticking out of 2nd toe along with ~ 3 inch incision.  I keep telling everyone there was a reason I did not go into teaching or medicine -  the nurse insisted I put an icepack on the back of my neck to sooth me following the surgical dressing removal and new x-ray and new bandage - there was concern I was going to pass out and the tears were real, but I did not scream.  Needless to say by the time I reached my comfortable position on my living room sofa, the pain medication was definitely overdue.  A word of wisdom here - take the drugs before the visit to the doctor's office.

I definitely believe doing the hammer toe and bunionectomy at the same time was the way to go for my preferred life style choice, i.e. once and done.  It is interesting reading about other's experiences with similar afflictions including their healing and coping processes.  The nature of these issues is different for everyone especially as it relates to the bunionectomy.  As I understand the ratings go from mild to moderate to severe, with my issue being in the severe category.  I mention this so that others may benefit from my procrastination - fix it early!   I continue to be optimistic that the pain and numbness I was experiencing prior to the surgery will be replaced by simple pleasures such as walking, golfing (no cart), yoga, traveling and working free of pain and complications, relatively of course.