Day 28: Checkup appointment

Hello! Today was another checkup appointment with my doctor. It was a quick in-out appointment, thankfully. Doctor came in and the first thing he said was "It's looking good!" He said he notices my toe growing, which is a relief to hear from someone who doesn't see it everyday. He mentioned again (as he does every time) about how my skin is stretching as my bone lengthens, and that is why I feel the  tight feeling on my skin.

As to my previous blog post and how I was concerned about the length, he definitely reassured me! He had originally told me (on the day of surgery) that it would take approximately 20 days of turning the device, but after day 20 my toe still looked super short so I was nervous and disappointed...today, however, he told me--quite confidently--that I should be turning for about a month to get the 10 mm of length I need for my metatarsal to be the correct size. I think he is taking a more conservative approach to the amount of length I turn each day, as to make sure my skin, ligaments, and nerves have time to catch up. He was going to wait until next Tuesday's appointment to take X-rays, but he decided might as well take some today! He personally took the X-rays and explained what he saw as he went along. He pointed to the "bone regenerate" which he was pleased with, and seems happy so far with how things are looking.

After I left, he called me and said he had just measured the X-rays and figured I need approximately 3 more mm of length in my metatarsal, so I should continue turning two clicks a day until Saturday (6 more days) and then we will check the progress on Tuesday! How exciting :)

Here are a couple pictures of how my foot looks as of today:

My toe is finally longer than my pinky toe! Even by just a littleeee

What the pins and incision site looks like. The two middle pins have that yellow-red film around them because they are the ones moving/sliding across the skin to lengthen my bone. Completely normal!