Foot update

Me, my boot, and my crutches

So it's now been 4 weeks since I broke my foot.  Here's what's happened since I last blogged about it  (click here to read that blog...)

Here's a picture of my x-ray.  It's kinda hard to see in this format, but I promise.  It's a broken bone.  :)

My foot in the boot, on the way home from the Urgent Care the night that I broke it

A picture of my swollen foot the morning after I broke it

I went to see the orthopedic specialist 3 days after I broke my foot.  That morning my pain had lessened to where I was able to hobble around a little without using the crutches.  It still hurt a little and the going was slow but I could do it.  I was encouraged and looking forward to hearing what the doctor said.  He looked at my x-rays and agreed with the diagnosis of the urgent care doctor.  I had a "Metaphysical fracture at the base of the fifth metatarsal".  However, he didn't echo what the urgent care doc said regarding recovery.  He said absolutely ZERO weight on my foot for the next 3 weeks.  And then he said that the average recovery time for this injury is 8 weeks.  He wanted to push a hard cast on it but I told him I'd be a super patient and wouldn't walk on it even though it was in the aircast/boot.  At least with the boot I could take it off to take a bath or scratch an itch!  He agreed, showed me how a fungus was growing on my foot because I was sweating in the boot (and then taught me how to avoid that), told me to take lots more calcium and vitamin D, and that he'd see me in 3 weeks. 

I left that appointment feeling awful and completely discouraged.  Zero weight on it?  For 3 weeks?  I couldn't even get to my car easily on crutches let alone anywhere else.  Plus, now my total recovery time had basically doubled (plus the doc said I may need some physical therapy).  Even Peter taking me out for Mexican food after the appointment didn't help my mood. 

I struggled for about the next 2 weeks not to be completely distraught and overwhelmed by this injury.  I felt like I needed help to do everything.  I was able to work from home through the end of the year.  My boss was great and let me do whatever I needed to do to take care of myself.  But I was lonely being home.  Max went to Brittany's every day because even though I was home, I wasn't able to take care of him.  Most of the time I just stayed in bed with my laptop.  Peter was super helpful but understandably is annoyed with the situation.  Brittany and then Kimberly, when she came to town, have been so very helpful.  They have helped cook, clean, do laundry, watch Max, run errands, shop for Christmas presents, tidy before the house cleaners got here, etc. 

I have also been blessed with love from my friends.  The day after I broke my foot my friends Tida and Jess brought me lunch.  They also offered to help me get out of the house and do some shopping but I turned them down with the excuse of needed to work (which I DID need to do) but really I just wasn't game yet to go any further than 20 feet on the stupid crutches.  My friend Lori also came to visit and brought lunch on of the days I was home and so did my friend Chad.  It made me realize that I HAVE made good friends here in Texas finally. 

After the visit to the orthopedic specialist and mental breakdown, we decided to rent a knee scooter.  I figured it would be much easier to get around on than crutches and would enable me to do at least a little Christmas shopping and I could go walk around and look at Christmas lights when Kimberly and Kaity got here.   I got my scooter the very next day after I ordered it and boy, did it make a difference!  I look a little like a doofus but who cares!  It is so much easier to get around.  I am faster, have a cool basket to put stuff in, and it is a little fun too.  It doesn't have a very tight turning radius and going backward is just awkward.  Plus, I have rolled over my good foot a few times and eventually my knee gets sore but the positives far outweigh the negatives. 

A pic of the bruising on my foot

I went back to the office after the holidays.  The building is so large that I decided to take the scooter even though people may think I look silly.  It's just not worth the pain of using the crutches to go all over.  Let me tell you, if you want some attention just go around on a knee scooter in an office building.  I get tons of looks plus everyone wants to talk about it.  I have been given the nicknames "Scooter" and "Scoots".  It certainly is a conversation starter and no one can take me seriously.  I'm a good sport about it though and joke right along with them.

I went back, last Thursday, for a follow up visit to the doctor.  He did more X-rays and said he was pleased with how it was healing.  He said I could start to put a little weight on it (while in the boot).  He said I could put about 20 lbs of weight on it and gradually increase that 5-10 lbs every few days.  He also gave me some physical therapy exercises to do at home and said I could take the boot off to sleep at night as long as I didn't toss and turn too much.  And he'd see me in 3 more weeks.  So I was pretty pleased with that visit.  I was hoping he'd let me start walking around in the boot but this was at least a start.  I have no idea how much 20 lbs of weight is so I can basically using the crutches still but put my foot down and put a little weight on it. 

So on Thursday night I felt like things were looking up and my mood improved.  That lasted for about 24 hours.  Friday mid-afternoon I noticed my back was starting to hurt.  I figured I had probably had bad posture while sitting in front of my computer and tried to sit better to alleviate the pain.  That didn't work and the pain kept increasing.  So at one point I crawled under my desk to try and do some stretching on the floor.  That didn't work either and the pain was to the point that sometimes it was making me catch my breath. 

About 4:30 I decided I couldn't take it anymore and was going to go home.  On my way to pick up Max the pain was so bad that not only was I catching my breath, but it was causing me to moan a little bit.  Britt brought Max down and put him in the car (since I still can't lift the car seat into the car) - I had to work hard to hide the pain for the 1 minute that she was interacting with me.  On the drive back home the pain was so bad that I was really moaning through it just like when I was in labor.  In fact, when he came to get Max out of the car, Peter joked and asked me if he should be timing it (like contractions).  The pain was BAD - and I remember hearing that kidney stones are as painful as giving birth. 

So, as soon as I got inside, I got on Google and started looking up kidney stones.  The pain described was exactly what I was feeling and I had also experience some of the other symptoms that go along with kidney stones.  Then I looked at what caused kidney stones and one of the possible causes is excessive amounts of calcium such as supplements especially when not taken with food - BINGO!  I was taking bunches of amounts of calcium for my foot (as directed by my doctor) and in the morning I wasn't taking them with food and then at night I would take them right before bed.  I couldn't believe my stupid luck - only I would get cursed with something worse as a result of trying to heal my broken foot.

The next few hours were ROUGH.  The pain was seriously bad.  I ended up taking some of the pain medication I was given when I broke my foot and did a couple of recommended natural treatments (drink lots of water, drink a tablespoon of lemon juice mixed with a tablespoon of olive oil, drink water with lemon oil, drink cranberry juice, and drink coconut milk).  I don't know which one worked, but around 7:30 - so 4 hours after I first felt the pain, I felt light years better.  Most likely because the pain killers kicked in.  I don't know when, but at some point I must have passed the kidney stone because when the meds wore off I wasn't in pain anymore. 

I have had some back pain each evening to the point of needing some pain meds again each evening but not to the extent of that first day.  I hope this doesn't mean that I have more stones that are looking to find their way out.  If I don't feel completely better by the end of the week I will go to a doctor. 

So there ya go.  An update on my foot saga.  And I thought 2012 was going to be only good times.  HA HA HA HA HA HA.