Removing stitches after lisfranc hardware removal surgery

The morning after we arrived in Cabo, the swelling had gone down in my foot and my husband was ready to try and remove my stitches.

I could not wait!!

3 weeks post op after lisfranc hardware removal surgery

I thought I could do it on my own, but my hands were shaking too hard, so my husband took over.  The top of my foot was very sensitive, so he had to be very gentle.

Removing stitches after lisfranc hardware removal surgery

My husband took his time and made sure each thread of my 8 stitches was accounted for.

Removing stitches after lisfranc hardware removal surgery

After we were sure everything was done correctly, he adhered steri-strips to my incision to help hold it together.

3 weeks post op from lisfranc hardware removal surgery

I was now ready to do the "homework" my surgeon gave me.  He asked me to walk several times a day in the resort pools in order to begin to regain the proper movements for walking once again.

Relaxing by the pool after lisfranc hardware removal surgery

I was surprised to find that I had to once again, re-learn how to walk by repeating the mantra "heel, toe, follow through."

 I was not able to swim at all, and was actually content walking around the pool smiling to myself because I was walking again without pain!!!!!!

My homework assignment after lisfranc hardware removal surgery

As you can see, the pool was large enough to really get in a lot of walking!  Once I was able to walk without concentrating, I pushed my husband on a float around the pool while he read a book. Other guests asked me if they could hire me to do the same thing for them!

Recovering from lisfranc hardware removal surgery

I decided that recovering from lisfranc hardware removal surgery is best done in Cabo at the Esperanza resort!!!

Lisfranc hardware photos

A few days after Thanksgiving, the hardware my surgeon removed from my foot arrived in the mail!!!

Hardware used to heal my lisfranc fracture

My surgeon knows I have been writing a lisfranc blog and was more than happy to let me keep the hardware he used to help my body heal from a lisfranc fracture.

lisfranc fracture plate

lisfranc fracture screws

What amazed me was to see the screws varied in color,  physical size and thread size.  Check out the teeth at the end of the screws!!!  YIKES!  Maybe it was for the best that my anesthesiologist would not let me watch either surgery!

lisfranc fracture screws



Psychologically it has been very rewarding to think I no longer have plates and screws in my foot.  My surgeon has assured me that in the next 6 weeks, the holes in my bones left by the screws will fill in.

2 days after lisfranc hardware removal surgery

 2 days after my lisfranc hardware removal surgery I was told to remove the dressing and ace bandage.  I wasn't sure what my foot would look like, and I was surprised it wasn't more swollen.

2 days after lisfranc hardware removal surgery

You can still see where my surgeon placed his initials and where I signed "yes!" indicating my right foot was the correct foot to be operating on.  My surgeon used the exact same incision for removing the hardware as he did for my original lisfranc surgery repair.

lisfranc hardware removal incision

After a shower I had to let my incision air dry and I needed to elevate and ice, something I know how to do!  My nurse told me the ice doesn't have to be over the incision, and that icing the ankle will help just as much.  That knowledge came in handy since the incision area is very tender!

I have been keeping the incision covered with a large band-aid which protects the area from germs.  I remove the bandage daily to make sure the area around my stitches is not turning red with infection.

Lisfranc hardware removal surgical site

I have been meticulous about staying off my foot as much as possible and have been icing and elevating most of the time.  This has been hard, psychologically, for me because it seems like I have gone backwards in my lisfranc journey.  But I know, that in a little more than a week, my surgeon will remove my stitches and I will be able to resume walking again, and this time, I hope it will be pain free !