I hate my toe

3 years ago I started to notice that the joint in my left big toe, right where the toe meets the foot, was hurting. If you want science, it'd be pain in my left, first metatarsal phalangeal joint. I didn't know what to make of it, so I went to a podiatrist to get checked out.  We started with the easy stuff, and assumed it was gout.  Modified diet, pain meds, some easy enough tests to confirm.  Well, tests came back negative, pain meds were good but the pain never went away.  And the diet just stunk.  So more tests and xrays and what have you.

The diagnosis became hallux limitus.  The metatarsal bone in my foot had an overhang or lip on it.  The phalangeal bone in my toe rubbed up against it.  This was bad, so I got pain.  Only want to fix it was with surgery.  Well, I waited until I couldn't take it anymore (which is saying something, since I have a really high pain threshold) and scheduled the surgery.  The doc went in, shaved a bone here, screwed a piece there, and said problem solved.  A little physical therapy and I was back to running and jumping and doing all the normal stuff I was supposed to be doing.

That pain free life lasted for almost 2 years.  I started to get that painful twinge in that same toe, in that same place.  And it continued to get worse and worse, so I scheduled time with that same friendly podiatrist.  More tests, and the problem this time was the cartilage separating foot from toe.  Only way to fix it? Surgery.  So, I waited until I could stand it anymore (and this time around, until I got really tired of sitting around with frozen peas or ice packs on my foot every night) and scheduled the surgery. Instead of a simple old Waterman-Greene Osteotomy, this time around was an awesome "hemi-joint implant). The plan was to cut the end of the toe bone off, drill a hole in it, and screw in a synthetic head.  When the doc opened the toe back back, turns out I had zero cartilage, and he had to put the implant on the foot side.

So, more physical therapy, more pain meds, and it was supposed to be back to normal physical activity.  That was more than 10 months ago, and every day since I've had pain in that toe.  Some days, it's back to the ice pack and frozen peas.  Some days, it's back to the pain meds.  But all days are back to being pain filled, with the added bonus of knowing the absolute only way to remedy the situation is with another surgery.

Since I can't go out and play with my daughters, I finally decided it's time to go see a doc, though I'm not giving that same guy the opportunity for 3 strikes.