Cannot believe I haven't posted in this long!

Here it is, October 30, 2016. I have not posted in nearly two years!  It has been eventful, to say the least. Months after my foot injury two years ago (end of May 2015), I finally had surgery.  This was after my doctor had me in an aircast boot for months and on crutches most of that time trying to see if it would all heal. (I wish I'd acquired a knee scooter). It didn't hurt during much of that time, but it didn't heal.  My foot was quite swollen the entire time, then my second toe also began to "hammer", and quite painfully. . . in addition to the other injuries.  I lost a lot of muscle in calf, and it has never returned.  Even though I did not want surgery, I finally demanded it so that I could move foward in life.  I was depressed, too.

Maybe if the doctor had put me in a nonremovable solid cast that I couldn't remove, perhaps I could have avoided surgery. . . .

Surgery meant no swimming or driving for 7 weeks.  Besides the incision through the top of my foot, I had a pin coming out through my second toe siince it was fused.  It was very weird.  Very painful, too, and I was once again reminded that I cannot handle taking narcotics for more than two doses or so.  Projectile vomiting, anyone?

Not in my imagination!

Yes, I have a partial plantar plate tear as well as some other issues in my right foot.  The "crackle snap pop" of a couple of months ago was not just all in my imagination as my previous dr made me feel.   Maybe you can't imagine how relieved I am that this is the case.  That said, I have also found out that these are rather difficult to really heal.  A simple fracture would have healed faster, and would have healed by now.

I diagnosed myself via online searches of my symptoms 10+ weeks ago . . . but then was with a dr who apparently didn't have a clue, and then an mri done that totally missed this tear . . . and the radiologist diagnosed me with Morton's Neuroma.  The dr who did the ultrasound last week laughed when I told him that. . .  he said, "That's funny!"  Entrapment neuritis could not be ruled out, but a neuroma of some kind was! 

And let's add tendon displacement, synovitis, swelling, and, oh, plantar fasciitis on top.  How fun.

  I will work on a further post with links to interesting tidbits of info on plantar plate tears. 

Seriously?

This has been on my mind for weeks. . .

Seriously?  There are people out there who did NOT learn as a child not to put ice directly on an injured body part?  They never learned to wrap the ice or provide some barrier between ice pack and skin? 

When I read about ice treatment for injuries, there are warnings!  This just seems second nature to me. . . 

Plantar Plate Tear?

Two months post injury. . . maybe plantar plate tear.  I will have to write an entire post about all of my research after it is confirmed.

Person (Dr?) who did ultrasound on both of my feet for comparison purposes seems to know what he is doing.  He seems to know what is looking for.  He also commented that I must have a high pain tolerance given that I am able to sort of walk on my foot!  I always thought I had high pain tolerance until the dr I was seeing earlier said there was nothing wrong (it had all healed) any more, and told me to get acupuncture or a second opinion.  I went the second opinion route first. . . which was a good plan.  I should have done this sooner! (I think I saw a tear on the ultrasound.) 

I have to wait for regular dr appointment for real results of ultrasound.  Meanwhile, I will continue limping along.  Still hoping for no surgery.

Although, to be honest, at this point I am willing to consider surgery if it will heal faster.  This hasn't helped my goal of getting healthier and exercising more.  I have been been told to limit exercise still right now.  Actually, my foot still hurts just sitting flat on the floor . . . and best when elevated - even after all of these weeks. And to further note symptoms . . . heat still makes my foot hurt (even warm water n the shower), vibration in the car hurts, it feels better with support in the boot, when I first did this I had swelling on the plantar side and dorsally (on top), as well as bruising in the "v" on the plantar forefoot.  I still have swelling both sides of my foot and up my second toe mostly, although my big toe and third toe look slightly swollen, too, in comparison to my other better foot.

I have found nothing online that exactly matches all of my symptoms!  Very frustrating. Seriously, in descriptions of plantar plate tears, little of this is mentioned.  And other patients' posts online include details that seem all over the map, from not much pain at all to up to a 9 (which is closer to my experience) . . . and no one mentions the vibration or warmth things, but perhaps that has to do with the swelling inflammation?  Seriously. 

Four more days and hopefully I will finally know a reason for this pain (and difficultly going about life) after two months. 

Day 2

So. 

I spent this morning using half a box of tissue.  Nearly three hours of a drippy nose.  

Mold count out doors is very high.  I just can't wait until it freezes outdoors so that I can workout indoors again more regularly.  

I did not eat excess sugar (and no marshmallows) today!   I am pleased about that. 

Day One

It has been a while since I have last posted here. 

Every summer, perhaps unlike other people, I gain weight.  It is partially because my allergies in the midwest go haywire by late July, and most of the time, I just feel ill.  It is more difficult to exercise in part because my allergies trigger my asthma, and partly because ragweed just messes with my anxiety.  Therefore, I am craving sugar all the time, and more often than not, I give in. 

Even though yet again today I spent the entire morning with tissues in hand due to a another runny nose, I am going to not let myself eat nearly as much sugar today as I have in the past weeks.  I have only gained about four pounds in the last two months, but between that and less exercise, it is enough to notice while wearing certain clothes (in how they fit.) 

So I am declaring here that I am going to do much better, and increase my exercise as much as I can!

F is for Flight of the Navigator

(For the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge, I am revisiting excerpts of some of my old journal entries from approximately 1986 to 1999.  There will be something in the entry that has to do with that day's letter. These are my original writings and I intend them to remain as such.) 

 March 2, 1987:
 "I had a nice weekend.  We saw two movies.  We watched The Flight of the Navigator and Toby Tyler. The first one is my favorite, even though I liked both.  In a week and a half is my birthday.  It is also my golden birthday.  I hope I get a boom box or a synthesizer or a tape.  The boys have already gotten me a present.  I wonder what it is."  

Trailer for Flight of the Navigator: