Yes, Zen. I looked for years for some other solution because of said chickenness, but apparently sledgehammering the foot is the only fix. Grateful it is only one foot. I have heard people doing both at the same time. I don't even know how you could.

It is encouraging that you didn't regret it. Did they leave pins in there? She said there are screws that remain forever. I can't wait to walk the dog!

Ha! That is some solid cat torture there, Calli.

Is bunion surgery elective, or do you have to have really extreme ones before they'll consider it?

Made it back from China this morning. I will post more fully when I get the chance. For the moment I will just say that Ryan did so very well with all the travel upheaval. We got up at 5:00 yesterday morning, had a ride in a fairly hot bus for over three hours to the airport, and then of course had two waits in airports and two flights to make it home, over 24 hours after we started. He was a real trooper.

I've also noticed that passersby stopping to wave and say hello to my little boy is apparently independent of culture. People everywhere find him irresistably adorable.

Laura, they did leave the screws in. No problem with most of them. I had one of them taken out a few years later because it was bothering me, but that was minor. I still have a little numbness and weird sort of pain in that area, but it's not a big deal; I rarely even notice it. Otherwise, I have no pain and no loss of mobility or ability. Just a couple scars, which, eh.

Sail, my surgery was elective in that I didn't HAVE to do it, but insurance covered it because the bunions were so bad. The doctor called his partner in to see my "Frankenstein feet" X-rays. He was impressed. They said they were the worst bunions they'd ever seen.

Resistance is futile. Well done, Ryan.

The bunion surgery is elective I imagine. The doctor was pretty straight with me. She was clear that it was never going to get better any other way and more than likely would get worse. The only hope to be able to walk pain free was surgery. She also said that it was going to hurt worse than labor and put me in bed for 2 weeks and could be 6 months to a year before I could wear all my shoes because of swelling. The swelling has been minimal, so I think I am lucky there. Of course, my leg has been elevated almost 100% of the time for best chances there.

That is encouraging, Zen. It looks like the scars might be pretty impressive, but I hadn't planned on being a foot model so I really don't care.

No issue with insurance covering it. I asked if I was going to get a preexisting problem because it has been there for decades but that wasn't a problem. I had asked about getting it done years ago, but the doctor refused because my children were young. He said experience had taught him that mothers of small children will not stay off their feet and will screw the healing process completely.

Laura, I was wearing regular sneakers in about three months. The healing process was much easier than I had been led to expect. YMMV, of course. I did find that sitting for long periods of time (like, more than five minutes) was extremely uncomfortable for a few months.

But, um, keeping the leg completely immobile and always elevated can lead to a blood clot. I mean, don't panic or anything, just, like, move the leg around a bit. Wiggle your toes, flex your foot, raise and lower your leg, whatever you can do with a cast on to keep the blood flowing.

Oh yeah, although it is elevated I am restless and constantly moving it around, playing with my toes to keep them from being so numb, etc. Also, since I have tiny bladder I have to get myself onto my rolly chair and into the bathroom and back about a zillion times a day. I get the cast Tuesday when they remove the sutures. Not really looking forward to that. But I should be released to walk on it a bit then, so that will be nice.

Laura, I hope your recovery is quicker than expected, and yay shower!

BT, I am not at all surprised that Ryan charms people wherever he goes. He is ridiculously charming in still photography, and I can't imagine how adorable he is in person. I'm also impressed at how good he was on those long flights; I doubt I would have been as good.

We are going out to breakfast and then we might actually get some unpacking done. I have been useless getting stuff done this week because somewhere along the line I aggravated an old arm injury.