Putting my feet up after a long two days doing Walk For Autism. You can see how swollen my feet are. Can you see my little ‘caterpillar’ surgery scar from when they operated on my feet, broke bones, chiselled them, re-set them with a surgical staple and then plastered my feet from my toes to my hips. I had to re-learn how to walk and have weak ankles and need heel reconstruction surgery.

One of the reasons I am motivated to do some intensive walking 🚶‍♀️ is to help me lose weight so I can have the operation. Wish me luck! 6 days and 60,000 steps to go until April 7th.

If you my friends and family could donate $1 (one-off) and help me get from $92 to $100 I would be overjoyed.

https://www.walkforautism.org.au/fundraiser/vanessapike-russell

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I’ve never thought of lighten / dull the scars on my feet.

I’ve never thought of doing that (helping lighten / dull the scars). Mum used the words ‘your little caterpillars’ caterpillars 🐛 and encouraged me to see them not as something to hate about myself but something to thankful for. 

I used to walk with my feet turned in together, knock kneed, and after the operation my feet were almost corrected. I used to love the ‘6 million dollar man’ TV 📺 show. ‘ we can rebuild you’ theme. Mum smiled and called me her ‘6 Million Dollar Girl’.

When I think about it, as traumatic as it was waking up and screaming in pain after the reconstruction operation, I am so thankful that mum begged the Orthopaedic Surgeon ‘there must be something you can do’ after the initial operations failed. 

She took me to a conference of Orthopaedic surgeons. They probed and prodded my feet, twisting and flexing and hurting me, seeing how much flexibility and movement they had. 

They talked amongst themselves like I wasn’t there, then turned to mum and said, ‘yes - there is something we can do but it will be very invasive (understatement!!) and it should correct the position of her feet and help her to walk better. 

It was agonising for her to have to see me go through the operation plus waking up and screaming with the pain. I was 9 years old and remember her sitting beside the bed for hours l, crying and telling me the pain and discomfort would all be worth it, and helping me to re-learn to walk and helping me post-operation as I was in a wheelchair for months.

To think of going through that process again to have heel reconstruction surgery fills me with angst and dread but it will happen one day. I need a house like my last one that was wheelchair friendly. In need to lose 20-30 kilos so it isn’t as damaging to my feet 🦶 

So In some ways the scars are a badge of courage and not something to be ashamed of.

Does that make sense? 🙂

 Mum used the words ‘your little caterpillars’ caterpillars 🐛 and encouraged me to see them not as something to hate about myself but something to thankful for.

I used to walk with my feet turned in together, knock kneed, and after the operation my feet were almost corrected. I used to love the ‘6 million dollar man’ TV 📺 show. ‘ we can rebuild you’ theme. Mum smiled and called me her ‘6 Million Dollar Girl’.

When I think about it, as traumatic as it was waking up and screaming in pain after the reconstruction operation, I am so thankful that mum begged the Orthopaedic Surgeon ‘there must be something you can do’ after the initial operations failed.

She took me to a conference of Orthopaedic surgeons. They probed and prodded my feet, twisting and flexing and hurting me, seeing how much flexibility and movement they had.

They talked amongst themselves like I wasn’t there, then turned to mum and said, ‘yes - there is something we can do but it will be very invasive (understatement!!) and it should correct the position of her feet and help her to walk better.

It was agonising for her to have to see me go through the operation plus waking up and screaming with the pain. I was 9 years old and remember her sitting beside the bed for hours l, crying and telling me the pain and discomfort would all be worth it, and helping me to re-learn to walk and helping me post-operation as I was in a wheelchair for months.

To think of going through that process again to have heel reconstruction surgery fills me with angst and dread but it will happen one day. I need a house like my last one that was wheelchair friendly. In need to lose 20-30 kilos so it isn’t as damaging to my feet 🦶

So In some ways the scars are a badge of courage and not something to be ashamed of.

Does that make sense? 🙂