'The ugly lump is gone. I could cry with gratitude'
Wenneke's story can be found in the August issue of Santé (in the store until August 11). She kept a diary of her foot surgery in Spain. On April 27, she had her lump toe removed in Clinica San Román, a clinic that has been exclusively performing foot operations for thirty years.
Here you can read the sequel to her diary, from the moment she returns home.
Thursday 7 May Walking with a limp in Amsterdam is quite difficult. I'm a little embarrassed about that weird Chinese Velcro shoe I'm supposed to use to protect my operated foot. I am not allowed to cycle for the time being, but I dare to ride on the cargo bike I used to transport the children with. It cannot fall over and there are still shopping to be done. In the Albert Heijn people look at me a bit pityingly, while I stumble along the shelves with flat foot.
To make matters worse, the key of the lock of the cargo bike breaks off. With the groceries on board, I push the bike home as if it were a walker. That evening I interview the Chinese piano star Lang Lang for work. Out of vanity, I put my good foot in a nice flat-heeled boot. When he sees my surgical shoe, he says 'Made in China' † We have to laugh, but I have felt more dignified in the Concertgebouw.
Friday 8 May
I wake up feeling sore. My sore foot seems a little swollen through the bandage, and one of the operated middle toes seems slightly off course. I feel guilty, apparently I did too much the day before. Somewhat panicked, I take a few pictures of my foot and email them to the Clinica San Román.
Soon there is a reassuring answer:I can adjust that toe a bit with the special bandage they gave me. And if the bandage is allowed to come off in three weeks, everything will be fine. I'm relieved, but make up my mind to slow down a bit. Do not strain too much and regularly raise my sore foot. That has an immediate beneficial effect. My foot is thinning again, the pain disappears.
Saturday 9 May to Saturday 30 May
Life goes on. Writing pieces is fine with such a battered foot. The sleeper under my little toes has returned to the correct position, and to the extent that I still have some pain from time to time, it decreases daily. I'm getting so used to my temporary handicap that it's like I've always been there.
But on the evening before Pentecost, I suddenly had it all with that dirty bandage on my foot. It starts to itch and it stinks. Realizing that it has been three weeks since I flew back from Alicante, I immediately decide to go to the OLVG emergency room to have the bandages cut off. But they refuse there, because I was operated on in Spain and may have been infected with bacteria there that they are not waiting for here. Protocol is protocol. Then I'll do it myself.
I go back home and get a pair of scissors. After some hesitation, I cut the bandage off my feet as instructed by the doctors at Clinica San Román. A flaky foot emerges, which craves a lukewarm foot bath with lavender foam. Only when I've dried my foot again, do I really dare to look. The result is amazing:my new foot has been transformed into an exact copy of my healthy foot. That ugly lump is gone and all toes are neatly lined up. I could cry with gratitude.
Sunday 31 May to Tuesday 16 June
Just to be sure, I continue on the Chinese Velcro shoe. I protect the place where the nodule used to be with gauze with healing ointment, so that the scabs on the incisions heal very quickly. I will have an X-ray taken at the OLVG and send it to the Clinica San Román.
There is more movement in my foot every day and soon I can walk barefoot again at home. I buy flip flops made of extremely soft leather, which I am getting better at.
Wednesday 17 June
Today I receive an email from Clinica San Román that the X-ray is all right! I'm happy. In six weeks I got a new foot, and already I can do almost everything with it again. I run, bike and swim. The scars are no longer visible.
Even though my foot sometimes swells a little bit, I no longer feel a sore feeling. It is a miracle. In two months the doctors will allow me to walk in high heels again. I go for the most beautiful pumps ever purchase.
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