Spring has sprung

I dont know about most of you but springtime for me always brings a busier schedule. Things up here have been good, we have been graced with AMAZING weather so far for the month of March and I could not be happier. The heat has been turned off and the windows have been opened!! Mornings and evenings are spent on my back deck with a cup of coffee or a cocktail:)

I have been getting in to see surgeries as much as possible. The last surgery I saw was a bunionectomy of the first toe and a ..wait for it... de-rotational arthroplasty of the fifth digit. AKA, we cut off some of the 5th toe bone in order to rotate it back up to face the rest of the world with all its 4 other colleagues. Very cool surgery, the bunionectomy we did is basically any podiatrists bread and butter surgery so it was nice to finally get to see one.

The bunionectomy we did was called an Austin. For the general public, that means nothing. For us foot surgeons, it is a certain technique we use. There are a ton of different bunionectomy procedures you can do, an Austin being a very popular one for lots of reasons, but mainly because it tends to be stable and the patient is not knocked off their feet for a long period of time. So when doing these bunionectomies, we use a bone saw to cut the metatarsal (aka, the bone that links your toe bones to the rest of the bones in your foot). Yep, thats right, a saw..its awesome. Every girl needs a good set of power tools and mine happen to be in the operating room:) Not only are there saws involved with this surgery but we also throw some screws and pins in there to hold the bone in place.

Our bone saw.

So, to make a long story as short as I can, we cut off the medial/inside part of the big toe that sticks out in a bunion. We then make a cut in the bone a little further back (closer to where your big toe bends when you walk) which allows us to swing the bone back in fourth until we get it in the correct position. Once we do that, we put screws in it to hold it in place and sew ya back up!

The basics of an Austin Bunionectomy

So that was the major part of the surgery I got to see. The de rotational surgery of the 5th toe is not nearly as exciting as the extensive name implies. You go in a cut the part of the bone that is rotating, realign the toe, put a pin or screw in it and sew it back up. Still good to see though.

In other events not related to academia, I was able to go home at the beginning of the month for two FANTASTIC bridal showers. I had a great time at both of them and it was wonderful to see and be surrounded by such wonderful friends and family. It really made me even more excited for our wedding day.

me and my lovely bridesmaids, Cheryl, Regan and Kelly! Lindsay we missed you!

Other than that, I have been enjoying not having any classes to worry about. I am loving the fact I am able to start reading again for fun (always a nerd at heart). My next book, The Hunger Games...I am waiting patiently for my on hold copy at the local library to hurry up and be sent to my iPad.

I will leave you guys with that tonight. There are more surgeries and procedures I have done which I will blog in the next week or so. So stay tuned for lasers, sutures (aka stitches) and hole punching patients.

Shout Outs

~My wonderful father just celebrated his 60th birthday on the 21st!!! Wishing him many many more happy and healthy years!! Love you

~To my beautiful bridesmaids Cheryl, Regan and Kelly for not only being apart of Mike and I's big day but for helping out with my bridal showers. Love you girls.

~To Stef with an F Mancuso, good luck with all the spring events and shows. I am jealous I am missing Gym Class Heros at the local UNCW. Love yourself!

~To all my patients that let me practice on them, cheers to you!

xoxo