My (troublesome) left foot

Am I the only person with a body part that seems to fail regularly and/or attract catastrophe on a regular basis?

I’m currently wearing a large Air Walker cast on my lower left leg because I fractured my ankle. If I understood the doctor at immediate care correctly, I have what is called a lateral malleolus fracture of the fibula. As ankle fractures go, it could be worse. I don’t require surgery and I’m not in extreme pain. But I am stuck with hobbling around on crutches for now.

The first time I injured this ankle was when I was about 10 or 12. I was running full-out after another child when I stepped wrong and ended up on the ground. I spent that evening in the ER with my mother watching Saturday Night Live and waiting to see a doctor. The diagnosis was a sprained ankle, so I  got a pass on playing softball that summer. 🙂

Since that time, I’ve “turned” this ankle many times. In high school, I remember injuring it badly again and having to use crutches to get around for several weeks. And about 2 1/2 years ago I turned/sprained it while walking in flats on a sidewalk in Asheville, North Carolina.

Besides all these sprains, I’ve also broken a metatarsal in my left foot. I wish I could say I was doing something more exciting than taking a shortcut across the bedroom by walking on the bed, though. At the time I broke my left foot I was a newlywed and my (now ex-) husband ended up pushing me around in a wheel chair a lot because after using crutches for only a week my right leg and hip were injured from bearing all my weight.

This current injury was started while I was on vacation with friends in Maine over Memorial Day weekend. I was nearing the end of a hiking trail in Acadia National Park and sprained the ankle while picking my way down a sheet of granite on the trail. The friend hiking behind me had some familiarity with ankle injuries. After feeding me ibuprofen, helping me upright, and determining that I could actually stand on the affected foot, she helped me hobble to the end of the trail.

The ankle swelled extensively and my friends took me back to the cottage we were renting where I spent the rest of the day on the couch with my foot elevated on a pile of pillows and occasionally icing it. We wrapped the foot and I spent the next week taking ibuprofen, occasionally icing, and wrapping the foot. I also curtailed my walking. (I found that Boston is a very walkable city…if one can actually handle all the walking!)

I returned from vacation last weekend with a still swollen and slightly achy ankle, but I seemed to be able to keep to a normal level of activity. Until last Monday, that is. I was on my way to the gym to work with the trainer and was hurrying through the parking lot because it was raining heavily. I stepped on some uneven pavement, the injured ankle twisted again, and down I went. I think I screamed. I know I cried because it really, really hurt.

Some kind people helped me up out of the puddle I was sitting in and got me into the gym. The gym staff settled me in a chair and packed ice around my ankle, and after I had some time to breathe, stop crying, and think I called B to pick me up and take me to immediate care.

There were a couple of exams and some x-rays, and then the crutches and the Air Walker boot were brought in for me to gear up and be discharged. I go back to the doctor next week for a re-check and am hoping the news about my potential for mobility is better. I was told on Monday that it will take 4 to 6 weeks for the break to heal.

I’m hoping that I’m allowed to walk without crutches at or shortly before the 4 week mark because I have a confirmed reservation to fly to San Jose, CA at the end of June. My plans for San Jose are two-fold: pet-sit/house-sit for a friend while she is off on a hiking trip, and scout the neighborhoods in South Bay and East Bay in preparation for a move at the end of the year. Both of those activities are going to be very difficult (if not impossible) if I’m on crutches.

Being off my feet has thrown off my plans for the next month. I wanted to continue my aggressive down-sizing of stuff in my basement, but that is simply impossible while I’m confined to crutches. I’m trying not to injure my right hip like I did when I broke the left foot, so I need to be extra careful about how much “crutching” around I’m doing.

I’m thankful that I can telecommute for work, and that I’m able to secure help from friends. B has been keeping me fed and caffeinated, as well as continued to care for the pets (chickens and dog). A friend from the stable has come over to finish off the seasonal yard work I haven’t had a chance to do, and a neighbor has offered me the use of some home health aids like a shower chair.

I’m going to have to be very patient with myself and trust that my plans for the rest of the year will turn out OK despite this set back. *sigh*