Bright Ideas

surgical shoe

Some people come up with the most amazing solutions to simple problems, or should that be simple solutions to amazing problems.  I know that when a colleague at work told me how she solved the issue of swollen foot post bunionectomy, I was staggered by how simple the solution was. And I was very grateful that Jennifer Lang shared her solution with me.  For most people, recovery from a bunionectomy operation takes approximately 12 months, at least 3 of which are spent wearing either a surgical boot, or a surgical shoe, not much better.

my Dunnes Stores solution

The next 6 months are spent with one foot at least one size bigger than the other, due to swelling, that should give you a clue to the solution, a surgeon's solution is to continue wearing the surgical shoe. Jennifer bought two pairs of identical shoes, in two different sizes, and was able to wear relatively normal shoes, the larger size on the swollen, recovering foot. I was enthralled with the idea and bought myself two pairs of cheap sneakers that worked so well! No one ever knew they were two different sizes, (one being two sizes bigger than the other) not that I would care if they did, at least I had shoes and didn't have to clump around in a surgical shoe. If you look closely at the photo you might notice these were bought in Dunnes Stores in Dublin, hence the sizing is European.




The same solution works for my granddaughter. She was born with a club foot and at almost 4 years of age, she still has a problem with it. The club foot is a full size smaller than the normal foot, and she needs ankle boots to keep it stable. During the summer the poor child can't wear sandals because, unless they are two different sizes, one will be so big as to be dangerous. Luckily we can get her some very fashionable boots to wear that solve all the issues in one go, because they are sturdy ankle boots, they keep her foot stabilized and the fact that they are too big for the club foot doesn't matter. And for the hot summer days, we get her two pairs of identical sandals in two different sizes.

So, on to the other bright idea. Having had a bunionectomy and worn a surgical boot resembling a storm trooper last year, I have now had another foot surgery, necessitating wearing a surgical shoe for 8 weeks. When I was in the recovery stage at the surgical center, the nurse told me that one of her patients had decorated her surgical shoe with 'bling'. I loved the idea; I love bling, and I hate that surgical shoe with a passion. So, I ordered some self adhesive bling from amazon.

This how it arrived

I had no faith when I opened the package. The bling came in sheets of 20 stuck to plastic backing, well supposed to be stuck, in fact almost half had become dislodged from their plastic sheet and had stuck to the inside of the plastic bag, or on top of other sheets or in clumps of 5 or 6 stuck together. I tried a few pieces on my shoe to test the adhesion. It failed - sort of. It failed to stick to my shoe, but I had the hardest time getting the bling up off the hardwood floors, the furniture and my clothes where it ended up after it fell off my surgical shoe.

Next I got out my glue gun and tested that on a few pieces, success! it survived the night - yes, I have to wear the shoe at night at least until the stitches come out, maybe longer. So I stuck a few more pieces on using the glue gun, next task is to clean up the glue spillover. But actually that is not so important is you really only notice that close up, as in the photo.

might need some more, or maybe a few sequins?

 I do hope these don't come off, at least it is not yet shorts weather, so if some of them get attached to my husband's legs during the night, no one will be any the wiser.