Life in...Well, the Slow Lane

Some of you may be aware of my health issues. Some of you may not. Here’s a blog to bring all of you up to date.

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, a woman was almost ready for sleep. As she lay there, she stretched her legs and feet, much like a ballerina would with her toes pointed. This was something she had done many times before but this time it was different. This time it hurt. While the pain wasn’t unbearable, it was uncomfortable. She thought nothing of it and went to sleep. When she woke the next morning, it hurt to stand. She figured that she had overstretched and everything would be back to normal in a couple of days.

Well, a couple of days went by and before she knew it, it had been a couple weeks. It hurt for two months before she went to the doctor for something unrelated. She mentioned it to the doctor. The doctor confirmed her thoughts that it was plantar fascitis. For those who may not know what this is, it is an inflammation in the muscles in the arch and heel of the foot. It makes it painful to walk or stand. The doctor assured her it was treatable and wrote an order for physical therapy. She also gave her a work excuse for three weeks off from her second job at McDonalds. The plan was to nip this in the bud to prevent further treatment.

So she began physical therapy. She went twice a week for a month. She did everything she was supposed to do. She iced it, rested it, stretched it, but all to no avail. It was recommended for an additional two weeks off from McDonalds. After a month of PT, her therapist mentioned the possible need to quit her second job. As much as this truly saddened her, she did. There was no guarantee that even if her foot did heal that working at McDonalds again wouldn’t make it flare back up. Her therapist also recommended seeing a podiatrist to look into the possibility of a walking boot or cortisone injections. While neither seemed appealing, she knew something had to be done so she scheduled an appointment for the following week.

The day of her appointment arrived with no pain! She walked into the office without the ever present limp three months after the pain started. After filling out the necessary paperwork, she was called back and they took x-rays. She was then returned to a room to wait for the doctor, who arrived surprisingly quickly. They went through the typical conversation of how long this has been going on, what’s been done to treat it and the like. All the while, the doctor was poking and prodding on her foot. She focused on the heel which the patient thought nothing of it seeing as that was the typical area for most plantar fascitis sufferers though not for her.

“Does this hurt?” “Not really, a tad tender but no real pain.” “What about this?” These questions and responses were repeated several times each with a focus on a different area of the foot. “Have you ever had a foot injury?” “No, not that I’m aware of anyway, just this incessant pain for three months.” “Well, your x-rays show that you have a healing stress fracture in your heel.” Really?? Yeah… really. Tad shocked but it certainly helped make everything fall into place. The question that then remained was how in the world did it get there!?

Shocked and slightly amazed, she asked what would be done to treat it. The doctor informed her that she would need to wear a walking boot for a month and that she would see her back then. In regards to the plantar fascitis, it will have to be treated at another time. Cortisone infections are the next step but were not attempted at day as it was not flared up. November 7^th will come and the boot will, hopefully, come off. We will proceed from there.