Monday, March 12, 2007

Broken Toes and a Cold

Went to see the podiatrist today. He said I had stress fractures in two toes on my left foot. No wonder it hurt so much. I don’t remember any trauma. Woke up a month ago and could barely walk. My foot swelled up. Went to see my doctor who looked at it and said it’s not gout and it’s not broken. He didn’t take an X ray. I did tell him that I strained the flexor tendons in my toes at the YMCA in December, but that it had felt better with time. So he gave me the name of a podiatrist. I got in to see him today. He felt the foot, said he’d bet I had a stress fracture and let’s take some X rays. One toe had a hairline fracture; the other looked as though someone had dropped a safe on it. Multiple fragments. I asked him why it had been bad in December with the initial injury, felt much better, then one morning I woke up and couldn’t walk. He said the toes may have been damaged in December, even fractured, then like a weakened steel pipe, finally given way on that morning a month ago. Hmmmmmm. So now I’m wearing this giant Frankenstein “air cast” for three weeks. It’s not painful. Anymore. I wish the doctor would have taken an X ray a month ago, but that’s water under the dam. Oh, and I have a cold.

But I do have potable water, food, health care, shelter, heat, a job, insurance, a son who loves me, lots of wonderful friends. Guess I have it pretty easy. A lot to be grateful about. As my mom would say, “time to count your blessings”. Excuse me while I blow my nose.......

3 comments:

Suzy said...

Wow, I didn't know about any of this! Didn't even notice you limping around. So Duke's waiting on you hand and foot, er ... paw?

poodledoc said...

yes, its rather odd in a clinical sense. The pain had reduced by maybe 90%. I'm pursuing some other angles such as bone density scanning, seeing if any meds I take might cause bone density reduction. We'll see. Sometimes, combining clinical knowledge with a tidge of fear can lead to putting the cart before the horse. So, I'll take it "step by step".....and no, Duke is just shooting me dirty looks for not taking him to the dog park today. I think its high time he got a job.

Suzy said...

Oh, don't mention JOBS. We just had THAT conversation for the umpteenth time and we are talking right past each other. Sigh. I wish someone would just offer her a job. Does Dick's department need any go-fer types? It's got my insides all tied up in knots.