A dear friend is having her bunion removed. And she is hearing horror stories about being off her feet for 6 weeks, and bone shavings, and excruciating pain etc…etc… Can someone in the know about having a bunion on their foot removed please calm my dear friend down.
How long do you have to be literally bed-ridden?
How long before you can drive your car? (standard shift)
How long is one on Pain meds?
How long before one can wear s shoe?
Any other helpful advice would be appreciated 
Depends on the severity of the bunion, the procedure being performed, and the particulars of the patient.
Mrs. Mercotan had a bunion done years ago, with the idea being to do the other foot soon after.
Well, that was about 14 years ago now, and she absolutely refuses to have the other one done. She feels the cure was far worse than the disease. She was off the foot completely for weeks, surgical pin, casting, crutches, pain, pain relievers, dependent on others to assist in caring for her, etc.
And I had one done about 6 years ago; cast, crutches, no pressure on foot, pins (they took a slice out of my firt metatarsul). I drove an automatic for a long time, traded cars with my parents.
I would do it again in a second, it never again hurt as much as it did the day BEFORE surgury, and I only took the pain meds for like, a day.
Depends on whether you could drive a stick shift BEFORE the surgery! 
Like Qadgop said, it really depends on the particulars: an itty bitty one, the big toe completely dissapearing under the rest of the foot, etc.
In my case, I walked out of the hospital after the pocedure. (Well, almost. Rules and regs meant I had to ride a wheelchair from the out-patient area out to where I was picked up, but I was otherwise walking around inside the hospital. They wanted to make sure the protective half-shoe they gave me fit properly.)
My bunion was a deceptive one: on the surface it looked like a rather small one. X-rays proved that it was a moderately large one. (I forget the exact figures, but take the typical measurements for the normal angles between the bones and add anywhere from 5 to 10 degrees to it and you have what mine was.)
The procedre itself involved sawing the bone in two, snipping out a wedge, and screwing the endpiece back on.
I only took some OTC stuff occasionally on the first two days: never did use what they prescribed to me.
It took two months before I could fit one of my regular shoes (a tennis shoe) on, and that was only because I took the shoelace out of it. The main problem wasn’t finding a shoe that could accomodate the swelling, per se, but one that didn’t irritate the incision. (It took about 4 months for the swelling to mostly go away.)
There was no way I would have been able to drive a stick afterwards (I had the left foot done). It would have been too much pressure on the healing bones, and I would have had a real problem feeling what I was doing.
The only complication I had was that the swelling pinched one of the nerves in my big toe, so if I hit the bottom of my toe juuuuust right… :eek: That resolved itself as the area healed and the swelling went down.
It’s been nearly eight years now, and the only long term side-effects I’ve had is a few semi-numb spots where the incision was (noticable only if I look for them), and a thin scar that isn’t very visible.
I’d do it again in a heartbeat. The bunion, and its underlying cause, was shifting my gait so much that my knees and hips were almost falling apart. I couldn’t meander around a mall for more than 30-45 mintues before having to stop. I was having problems sleeping because of the pain. Now I can walk all day without problems and I no longer sound like a bowl of Rice Krispies.
As for helpful advice:
*Keep the foot elevated and iced down whenever practical. This will keep the swelling down, which is a good thing. Less swelling → less discomfort and should result in faster healing.
*As soon as she gets the clearance from the doc, move that toe! Bend it (carefully) with her hand back and forth in the direction of normal movement. This will help keep the toe from stiffening up.
*She may need to experiement with how she sleeps at night: she may find even the weight of a blanket uncomforable on the foot.
*If a pin/screw is used, it normally doesn’t need to be removed unless it causes problems. Mine’s never given me any problems, nor has it set off metal dectors at the airport. 
Hope this helps.
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