My Foot! My Foot!

My Foot My Foot!

Okay the only person who would really get that blog title is Grace. We had a teammate in college that would always say that in a funny voice, I don’t even remember now why…moving on….

Well it sure has been a roller coaster with this whole foot thing. Since I first injured it I have seen a doctor in Germany, a doctor in the states, a physical therapist in the States, 4 different Occupational Therapists here, another podiatrist here (doc in the states was a podiatrist), a massuese and now a sports doc here…I have had my foot x rayed in Germany, MRI’d in the States, and now had 2 more x rays and another MRI here…I have been told again and again that my injury was significant but that I will be good to play by _____ that date kept moving back and back, and yes, I am now playing on it, but man it has not been easy…

(Also that beaut of a pic up there is of the burn I got on my foot from the tape I was using to tape my arch. That was just like a little extra fun since the falling arch/bone bruises/locked up ankle wasn't enough...It's better now but it really didn't feel so good for about a week...)

So the first MRI that I had in the states did not show any damage to my ligaments which really baffled some of the docs, and myself as well. I knew there was no way that all the ligaments had been fine considering what I had done. The MRI just showed TONS of intense bone bruises…Every x ray came up clean, but I had just continuously been in pain.

The OT’s here mostly have dealt with my foot by trying to manipulate the joint and get it to loosen up. The podiatrist would pretty much work on every single little joint in my foot and try to get everything moving, he also gave me acupuncture, which I have never had before, to help loosen up the ligaments running inside my foot and up my calf which were pulling on my arch and causing it to fall. I do think that helped. Then I saw a masseuse who tried to rub out all the knots that had accumulated on the ligaments on the inside and outside of my leg…This was intensely painful. Pretty much all of it has been painful in varying degrees, but this one left its marks:




So after all of this going on and no real relief, it was suggested by multiple OT’s and the podiatrist that maybe I ought to just get a cortisone shot. I went into the sports doc the first time about 3 weeks ago, expecting to get a shot right then. He told me that he did not want to give me the shot without me first getting an MRI because he was concerned that some of my pain could be coming from cartilage damage and not just fluid (which is what the cortisone could help me with)…
So…I went and got another MRI. I was eager to see what it said- would the bone bruising look any better? Would any other ligament stuff show up? Would there be cartilage problems? I couldn’t get back to the doc until this Monday. He saw my MRI and said “I would love to give you a shot today but…” My heart fell. This time he said he was still worried about one more area that the MRI didn’t pick up. In looking at the current MRI it does look like the bone bruises are starting to heal, he also did not see any cartilage damage. However, he said that the first MRI had not picked up (how???) that I had torn ligaments on both sides of my ankle. He said they were all healing and will be fine so long as I don’t roll my ankle again (definitely taping – or “strapping” in Aussie terms- AND wearing my brace)…but with all the damage that was done he said it was a very severe injury and so it made him wonder if there wasn’t damage to the ligaments that hold the two leg bones together just atop the ankle joint… So now he was sending me for an xray to make sure that those ligaments were okay, and THEN he would give me the shot if they were alright…

Got my third X Ray Tues, got back into the doc yesterday and within a minute of sitting down he’d looked it over, declared me fine and said “alright! Let’s do the shot!” It’s weird when such a phrase gives you a sense of excitement…Then I got really nervous right after. I wasn’t sure how this was going to feel. The shots I got in my knees in college (not cortisone shots, but that’s still what was coming to mind) were with these really fat needles and it did not feel great…Multiple people I’d mentioned getting the cortisone shot to had made faces or comments suggesting this was going to be painful…I was so nervous that when the doc told me to get up on the table on my back I climbed up and laid down on my stomach. He was quick to tell me to lay on my “other back” and I laughed and told him I was so nervous…Ben was with me (more on that in a moment) for moral support and courage. The doc marked my foot where he wanted to do the shot, rubbed it and cleaned it off, then stuck the needle in- it was one of the easiest shots I’d ever had. I immediately went from big nerves to feeling REAL stupid. I laid on my stomach over that??!! Ha ha…

So now it’s a waiting game. Doc says it can take about 5 days for the shot to take effect. I have to try to keep my foot immobilized till our game Fri-tomorrow night. I keep telling myself in a few more days I should be able to work out again like a normal person and all this waiting, and now all this laying down, will be worth it! Here’s hoping!!! I can’t wait to get into better shape, to really work on my game, and just play up to my potential!!