Diagnosis: First Opinion

So after years of throbbing feet due to, in my own assessment, making poor (read: fabulous) shoe choices, I got to a point with my right foot swelling and not fitting in shoes properly that I went to see a podiatrist. I truly thought he'd say "oh it's inflamed, here's a cortisone shot, wear flats, go on your way" or worst case, "you have a bunion, and we fix that by 30 min of using 'Yoga Toes' each day." What I did NOT expect was for X-Rays to reveal prehistoric-looking bone spurs on the first metatarsal joint (that's the big toe) and to learn that the spurs were restricting normal movement, had broken off and were jamming the joint, and that the 3mm-too-long first metatarsal bone caused grinding away of cartilage and normal joint formations. In short, I have filed away the good parts of the joint and had bad outgrowths akin to a spiked dog collar going around the perimeter of the joint. Very ugly stuff. I wish I had a copy of the X-Rays to show you!
My podiatrist, a very cool guy who clearly is into his job and what my films revealed, indicated that surgery is the best route for repair/recovery. That I didn't have to do it ASAP, but within a year or two at most, and that I was an ideal candidate due to my age and attacking this before arthritis and limited mobility set in with age.
So I walked out saying "OK, guess I'm having surgery," and scheduled a pre-op visit and surgery date of December 1, 2009.