06/01/08 20:52 from Camille

"Debra,

Not sure I have an answer for you. The only thing I can say, though, is that I had bunion surgery on both feet in March. After the casts were removed, about a month ago, I started having pain in my left foot arch (never had that before and I do not believe having Dupuyten's or other similar diseases). I then noticed a nodule and pain on and around the area of the nodule, and along the plantar fascia. My surgeon indicated that I have a plantar fibroma which, in his opinion, was not caused by the bunion surgery. So, now that I am starting to get better from the bunion surgery, I have to deal with this new issue, which sounds more difficult to resolve (surgeon said nothing can be done about this condition!).

My humble thoughts on my issue, is that when they took off the casts (after 5 weeks), as the foot in the left cast was not straight like the right one (every time I tried to put my foot down, it was rolling to the side), damages to the plantar fascia occured, perhaps both during the time the foot was in the cast and after it was removed (the plantar fascia seemed to have shortened, and when I put my foot down it was very painful - so might have had small tears in it which, in turn, could have caused the formation of the nodule).

So, although bunion surgery may not, in and of itself, cause the disease, indirectly it may either cause it or aggravate it depending on other factors such as how well the cast fits the foot. In my case, the moral of the story is that, if a cast does not seem to fit well have it removed and replaced before the due date!

Also, re. bunion surgery, my views are that if you do not have pain, and you can still find shoes that fit you - DO NOT DO IT, AS IT IS NOT WITHOUT RISKS! This surgery should not be done for cosmetic reasons...

By the way, my right foot (with well fitting cast) seems to be healing well at this point ...

Camille"