So the foot is like a bunch of bones that flex and move around together. The one closest to the ankle has grown a large spur, which is both interfering with movement of the other bones, and irritating the two large tendons which pass right over it.
There's no way to ignore this -- it will never heal itself without breaking off, which would hurt like the dickens, or possibly get worse. I am scheduling surgery as soon as possible.
I have a weird difficulty with scheduling. If I do it now, there is a chance that I won't be completely healed during the New Zealand / Australia trip. That's one risk. The other risk is that if I wait to do it later, I may not be able to enjoy the amount of hiking I had planned to do in New Zealand. And AussieCon4 is going to require a lot of walking, as I'm stuck in one of the farther hotels.
I'm going to get it done as soon as I can and pray I'm all healed up by then.