Best Foot Forward.
Boot / Transition Day 44

I'm So Excited

Thu, August 13, 2026
A reaction meme: a man in a shirt and loosened tie in a kitchen, hands raised and mouth open in pure delight, under bold white all-caps text reading 'OMG I'M SO EXCITED!!'
Pain
2 /10
Weight-bearing
PWB
Mobility
Partial weight-bearing starts today; foot's allowed down at last, easing toward walking sans crutches
Mood
Elated and a little giddy; the pin is out, the x-rays are glowing, and I get to put my foot down
Swelling
mild

The day has arrived!! And it’s AWESOME! Now I know I promised a video of the [ahem] “pin extraction,” but I want to save that since it’s long, and I need to find the perfect theme song to set it to, and it’s end of day. So it’ll come tomorrow!

But I have other fun stuff. First: WEIGHT BEARING STARTS BACK! That’s right, we are now at Stage: partial weight-bearing (PWB)! Whoo hoo!! It’ll be a few weeks of continuing to use the crutches, but I’m allowed to put my foot down and dare I say… walk on it.

A side-by-side of two lateral foot x-rays. Left, labeled 'LEFT FOOT 6 WEEKS, POST OP', shows a long bright screw driven down through the heel and a second long screw across the midfoot, with the heel bone still looking unfused. Right, labeled 'RIGHT FOOT 6 WEEKS, POST OP', shows smaller, tidier hardware and a heel that already looks solidly knit together.The reason I can do this is because the x-rays came back and showed significant bone regrowth at just the 6-week mark (!!). As you can see in the photo, at 6 weeks last time, my heel hadn’t even begun to fuse. This go-round, it’s like I’d already been walking on it for a couple of weeks. This is huge, because it means that even as I’ve aged 4 years, my body has done better this time at healing itself. Wonder why that is… < cough-cough, peptides >. Anyway, the doctor approved and said to ease into the full crutch-free life.

There were some other x-rays showing how likely I’ll be to set off metal detectors in the coming months and years (spoiler: VERY).

A top-down x-ray of the right forefoot with a black marker pen laid across it for scale. A screw angles through the base of the big toe where the bunion was corrected, a wire pin runs up the second toe, and a small plate and screws sit lower along the inside of the foot. A close top-down x-ray of the toes: a long, thin wire pin runs straight up the second toe, and a single screw angles through the base of the big toe. The neighboring toe joints are visible in soft grey. A softly blurred top-down x-ray of the whole right foot: the pin stands up out of the second toe, screws and a small plate line the big-toe side, and the five metatarsals fan down toward the heel.

I had 5 cuts: two in the heel, two in the big toe to fix the bunion, and one on the second toe to get rid of the necrosis. My second toe will no longer bend at that second joint, but I’m told I’ll still be able to run and exercise. The toe will adapt. Finally, I wanted to show these because you can also see the pins in the toe, a final homage to my shish-k-toe right there in B&W. It’s been real, it’s been fun, but it hasn’t been real fun, so getting that out was simply amazing. More on that tomorrow, but for this evening, me and my toe are hanging out and enjoying the pin-free life.

One sort-of-crutch-free step at a time.

Firsts & Wins
  • Partial weight-bearing is officially cleared; I can put my foot down and start easing toward walking
  • The shish-k-toe pin is OUT; me and my toe are enjoying the pin-free life
  • Six-week x-rays show significant bone regrowth, well ahead of where the left foot was at this point
  • Doctor gave the thumbs up to ease into the crutch-free life
  • Even four years older, my body healed faster this go-round (cough, peptides)
vs. Left foot (2022)
At six weeks on the left foot four years ago, the heel hadn't even begun to fuse. This time the right heel already looks like I'd been walking on it for a couple of weeks.
Tags pin-removalweight-bearingpwbx-rayssix-week-checkbone-regrowthpeptidesmilestone