As I dug deeper into what to do long term; surgery or alcohol injections, I was amazed by how hard it was to find good information on the long term results, or even any stores from other people who had dealt with this. My podiatrist didn’t exactly instill faith when he told me there were no real hazards with the surgery route, and seemed amazed that I already knew about stump nueromas. Yay internet. I was also surprised at exactly how hard it was to find a good foot doctor in Denver, considering all the world class athlete training that goes on around here.
Below is log of how things went during the full 6 months I have been at this process. I have used my ability to play hockey as my barometer for how my foot was doing, as skating puts my foot through a pretty good workout.

At the start of 2012 it was clear that I had to do a long term fix. While my foot was good enough to get around on, it was really limiting my physical activity, and when my 21 lb daughter could squeeze my foot and if felt like someone hit it with a hammer, I knew it was time.

I elected to not do surgery, and go the route of the alcohol injections. For me it didn’t seem to me like there were major benefits to going the surgery route since it might keep you off your feet for a couple of weeks, and the healing time was a couple of months. It also seemed like its possible to try the alcohol route, and if that doesn’t work then go to surgery. Also, I have a 5k deductable on my health insurance so the price tag was 3.5k vs $500 for a full round of alcohol shots.
First Shot

So on February 17, 2012 I went in for my first alcohol injection. I was expecting it to hurt twice as bad as the cortisone shots ( which did really hurt ), and for it to take me off my feet for a few weeks. At this moment I am pleasantly surprised. The injection itself hurt less than the cortisone, and by the next day (with a bit of ice and Advil) I am up and running and think I will be able to play hockey tomorrow. My foot feels as good as it has in 6 months. I am scheduled to go back every 2 weeks for additional shots, with my doc thinking I will need around 8 total to deal with this. I will update as time goes on.

Thanks for reading this and good luck to everyone who is dealing with this really issue. It’s amazing how an issue with your foot affects your whole life.
2/23/2012
Since the first injection I have continued to keep about the same schedule as always, even played a few hours of hockey. Last night my foot started feeling more sore than usual, just enough that I was starting to notice it. That has continued this morning, with more of that pebble in the shoe feeling than I have had in a while. Let’s call it a 3 on 10 scale. There is one new feeling; now when I flex my toes up, I can feel a slight popping right where the nueroma and tendons are. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s disconcerting.
3/5/12
Second shot. Foot was feeling really good prior to the shot. No sharp pains. The second shot hurt a lot less than the first, maybe because I knew what to expect this time. The only hard part was the zingers shooting up my leg as the needle was in or near the actual nerve. This time around I immediately iced my foot for the remainder of the day and took ibuprofen. The payoff was the next day the foot was only mildly sore, and walking was not a problem.
3/15/12
Things seem to be going well. Overall soreness has continued to not be an issue, and there have been no more sharp pains, even when squeezing my foot from the sides or putting pressure on the top or bottom. I played hockey last week and for the first time in a year there was no sharp pain while I skated. There is still a little bit of that pebble in the shoe feeling on my foot when I first get up in the morning, but its minimal and goes away in the first hour. I was even able to go to a meeting wearing dress shoes without any pain.
3/16/12
Whoops. Foot felt so good I did two days in a row of a pretty hard workout on our elliptical trainer, and that was apparently too much. Foot is very sore, used iced and motrin.
3/19/12
Third Shot
This time I watched as the needle was repeatedly put into my foot. It’s a long thin one and they move it around about 5 times, so no wonder it kind of hurts. That being said the pain was even less than before. I spent the day with my foot elevated, used ice packs and also Motrin. Falling asleep took a while longer as my foot was pretty sore, but it wasn’t a big issue.
Today is the day after the shot and while the top of my foot is a bit sore, no other issues and it looks like I will be just fine walking around and hope to get back on the ice for a hockey workout tomorrow.
3/25/12
Foot is fine, but making sure I don’t overdo it again like last time. While skating it still hurts a bit, sometimes more than others, but playing in my game yesterday it was totally pain free. Did manage to wear dress shoes for over 6 hours with was unimaginable just over a month ago.
4/2/12
4th shot
Ouch. This one didn’t hurt so much as I got some zingers up my foot as she really got the nerve good. Spent the day icing and elevating.
4/5/12
This time around my foot has remained a bit sore and tender. Not too bad, but after 3 days every other shot my foot has felt really good. Now there is the feeling of just a bit of pressure on the top of my foot, and I am aware enough of it that I haven’t skated or really done much of anything. No actual pain, but just a very strange sensation. I did wear dress shoes for a few hours at a meeting yesterday.
4/16/12
5th shot
After talking with the dr about how sore my foot was after the 4th shot, it turns out she had done most of the alcohol in the same place rather than spreading it around like she had done before. This time the shot didn’t hurt much at all, and she spread it around a bit more. The end result was that after just one day of icing I was back up and around.
4/24
Things have been pretty good, moved to sandals and can even walk barefoot for short distances. Went to a long skate last night and had real foot soreness after about an hour. Not quite pain, but it was uncomfortable enough that I considered stopping ½ hour early, which I didn’t, but it did keep me from fully using my left leg while skating. I have been doing a ton of yardwork lately, moving 19 cu yards of mulch, which may have contributed to the soreness. It may just be my imagination, but it is starting to appear that when my foot is on the floor the 2nd smallest toe (right next to the spot we are killing) seems to be splayed out a bit more that the same toe on the other side. By this I mean there is a slightly larger gap between the 2nd and 3rd toe on the left side than the right.
5/15/12
6th Shot
Prior to this shot my foot has been feeling about 70% healed up. Some soreness and dull pain when skating or after walking for longer distances. Also some minor feelings of discomfort when first walking in the morning, but that goes away after about 5 minutes. Overall it has been a really good improvement, but I would love to get another 15% better. Right now daily activities are just fine, but I don’t think I would do very well with long (2+ mile) hikes or playing hockey more than just once or twice a week.
This shot was done by the other dr at the office. He was really, really fast. Iced the foot for a few hours but then went about my normal day.
5/17/12
Foot feels pretty good. Was not very sore the next day, although it was tender. Thinking about skating this afternoon, going to bike a lot this weekend so I will see how it holds up.
5/26/12
Feels the best it has since I started this process. Almost no pain while skating, can hike about 2 miles and can walk around the city without any issues. Its feeling about 70% of normal. At this rate I am thinking 8 shots will be the magic number for me to get the most out of this process, but I am only expecting to get to 80-90% of normal. Still no noticeable numb spot at all.
7th Shot
6/1/12
This shot hurt the least of all. After talking things over with my doc, this may be the last one. We are going to wait at least a month to ensure there is no backsliding in pain or mobility, but overall things are feeling really good.
6/5/12
I wasn’t even out for a full day this time around. I have skated 2 times since the last shot and there is no pain at all in my foot, which is great. I have also been wearing my Chako flip flops, doing tons of walking, biking and elliptical and no pain. Still haven’t done a multi mile hike, but that’s next on the agenda and I am feeling really good about things. As of right now, I am hopeful this is the end of the nueroma, and also the end of the shots. My foot feels great.