I must have told this story about a hundred times now so I figured I'll just write the basic story.

On February 6, 2003 I had a birthmark on the bottom of my left foot removed. Personally I was devasted to hear from 3 doctors that I needed to get it out. This blob of black mark that resembled a watermelon seed has always been a part of who I am. You know when you fill out those identification cards and there's a prompt asking if you have any distinguishing marks, I always filled it out; Small black watermelon shaped birthmark on the bottom of left foot. It's been over a week and now I know I can't write that down on forms anymore.

When I was quite young and I had many sleepovers with family, one of my cousins would tease me in the morning by pushing the "wake up" button. Of course that button being my birthmark. I saw those same cousins a couple weeks before the operation and told them all. It was kind of a brief conversation remembering the "old days." We're all adults now but thinking back to when we were 4 and 5 year olds was kind of fun.

So the outcome of having stitches on the bottom of my foot is I can't walk. Even with crutches I tend to loose my balance once in a while and I end up almost putting the left foot down. I took it easy for a long weekend, but I rushed quickly back to work since I got bored hanging out at home. My husband has been great in helping around the house and making meals. When we go out we use the wheelchair and that has been a totally new experience. At first I was unable to maneuver around with it at work especially frustrating is that the floors weren't quite level, I would start to roll to one side of the hallway.

Everyone has been very friendly, even people I didn't know on the floor. The experience of everyone being super helpful is different, and with too much pride I don't ask for help. Then I get tired and so wiped out by the end of the day, I just crash at night. Some of the fallout of going to work too soon is my foot has begun to swell. Rushing in and out of meetings and typing for too long at the machine has been really tiring for me. While I'm at home I'm probably on the machine for only 10 minutes a day, which is totally different from my routine. So next week I'm taking it super easy. I'm praying every night that the sutures can come out next Friday, but that would mean just staying off my foot for another week so it can really heal.

I want to thank everyone out there for their warm wishes and funny anecdotes from their similar experiences. It's been reassuring and comforting.

Photo before the surgery.
Photo during recovery. Coming soon!
Photo after sutures are out. Coming soon!