I have a friend who had two such surgeries. She is now recuperating from other foot surgery as well. IMO, if a doc says to do it, do it. It gets harder with age, and why be in pain when it can be corrected? I knwo it’s easy for me to say this – I don’t have this problem. But people heal better when they are younger, and as we age we tend to develop other problems that make it hard for us to walk at times (my knee is in sore need – pun totally intended – of some fixing up). Talk to more than one doc, get the BEST podiatrist you can for thi person, and weigh all the options. Hatzlacha.