big toe joint fused

[randomlight]

I am a car salesman and my job requires walking on pavement about 90% of the day(six days a week on average).I have been off work due to pain in my big toe joints and have been getting long term disability insurance benifits. I am diagnosed as having mild arthritis in my left big toe joint. It seems to me the problem is not so much the severity of my arthritis but the the fact that I have pain from the thousands of step (toe bends)I must take a day with this occupation.
The Insurance company wants to get rid of me so they are saying that if I have my big toe joint fused I should be able to handle the walking necessities of my job.
I find this scary because I worry about possible foot knee and hip problems
If my feet are trying to compensate for the loss of mobility with so much walking.
Could anyone tell me if I can reasonably ecpect to continue working this job with a toe joint fusion? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[FootDoc]

I find it curious that your insurance company has granted you long term disability benefits for a diagnosis of "mild arthritis of your big toe joint." Now, I'm not necessarily saying that you don't have disabling pain, but if the worst diagnosis that can be offered is mild arthritis . . . frankly, I don't get it. I also find it difficult to believe that you could find a doctor who would fuse your great toe joint because of MILD arthritis. Is there something else going on here that you've failed to mention?

[randomlight]

Thanks for the reply.Yes I was granted ltd for my condition ( not to be confused with permanent disability) while the problem was figured out .However it was because of my job requirements rather than the severity of the problem. On a daily basis I walk as much as a post office letter carrier and the constant bending of the joint with even mild arthritis was excruciating after a while.They feel now that a fusion which will eliminate the toe bending is the solution.My concern is not with normal function after the fusion but will I be able to walk enough to meet the demands of my rigorous job.hope that helps again any insight is appreciated. Thanks

[randomlight]

sorry they wouldn`t let me edit my last post . I forgot to to add that the specialist is on there payroll (not medicare) and more than a little biased to help them get me off recieving payments.I dont think he cares about complications down the road,

[FootDoc]

Fusing a great toe joint will certainly destroy its function as a trade off for pain relief. How well you will be able to perform your work would be impossible to accurately predict, especially by one who has no opportunity to evaluate you. Your own doctor should be much better suited to make some sort of estimate.