What? you ask...yes I have a fractured foot, and it has been going on for a while now...in fact even before Aji left for Manila. The night before he was busy packing his bags and I decided to do something useful and productive, what better chore to conquer than the dreaded pile of Laundry. I was coming down the stairs with the laundry basket and ina flash lost a footing on one of the stairs. There I was just limping until I sat myself with excruciating pain on my left foot. I knew that I had bent it while slipping. I held the pain and tears inside so as to not alarm Aji but I knew this was going to be a pain in the 'rear' for atleast a few days. I iced it that night and convinced Aji that it was just a sprain and All is well. He took a taxi to the airport and I kept Rhea at home that day since there was no way I could drive. The weekend went by and there was a big bruise on the foot, so i called my general practitioner to get it checked out since the swelling and pain was still there. She took one look and said that chances of it being a fracture is rare and it looks like a capillary had broken and resulted in a clot and that was the bruise. She advised that in case the swelling remains, to go in for an X-ray. 2 weeks passed and with the swelling still intact, I went in for the X-ray. The report came back and the Dr.'s office called to say that per the X-ray it looks like i have sustained a hair line fracture which is already healing. So wearling a supportive shoes for the next 4-6 weeks was the way to go. What confused me was that there was no mention of a follow up visit or anything even afer i asked. That was the moment I should have decided to go to a specialist. MISTAKE #1 - I decided to give it the 4-5 weeks per the dr. since I trusted her blindly. God knows why. fat forward to April and Aji kept insisting that I go in for a second opinion. After much prodding frfom him I wasnt sure who the right Dr. was - An ortho or a Podiatrist. Based on my limited research I decided that a Podiatrist being a specialist of the foot and ankle was the perfct choice for my ailment - Right? WRONG - that was MISTAKE #2.
So i went to the Podiatrist and he took some additional X-rays and came with a grave expression and told me that I was at a cross roads with? this injury. This was not a hairline fracture as previously stated by my beloved GP. it was a compound fracture and not a measly one at that. Its the dreaded JONES fracture which is commonly sustained by athletes. Its the fracture of the 5th meta tarsel and a very slow healer since it is at an area of low blood supply. LOVELY. In addition, hear this - this can recur and recovery may not be complete. One of teh options is surgery in which a metal plate is placed with 2 screws to hold tha bone in place to help completely heal. He gave me a fracture boot to wear, ave me a prescription for crutches and even suggested one of thise motorised vehicles that people with foot problems use. Oh the Horror!!! In the midst of all this, Aji was getting ready for another trip to Manila any day. I'm sure my shock and disbelief was clearly plastered on my face (esp. since he said that he could do a google on Jones fracture and it would say the same things he mentioned)and the nurse put me at a little ease by saying that I should consider surgery as a last resort and just check with the Dr. as to when I need to come back for a follow up. I came out of the office emotionally drained wondering how all of this will work out with Aji traveling and all of the kids activities and being in the middle of the busiest time at work. After a few deep breaths, i set out to the medical suply store to get the crutches and from there headed back home. In between had an tear filled phone call with Aji explaining everything.
Came back home, I put ina request to work from home for the next 2 weeks and then slowly started thinking about everything with a clear head. we decided to call Dr.Parimal - our family friend (Note to self - Do not wait till the last minute to do this) to get his take. He suggested that I go to the ortho, suggested a practice and also suggetsed that i call him back if i dont get an appt soon. I got an appt for Friday. Went in and this time hubster came with me and so did Sean ma bwoy! OOH what a difference, Dr. Kim was super nice and very patient. he did agree that it is a difficult one to heal and was perplexed why the GP didnt suggest a boot rightaway. he also gave me a band to wear on the foot and a special shoe to wear in case i have to drive short distances. He sounded more optimistic about a full recovery sans surgey. Well, we will have to wait and see. For now its 4 weeks of confinement in the boot and then assessment of progress. I really hope this works. he was also not very happy about our travel plans in Aug so now we're trying to figure out what we can do about that.
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