Graceful

Alright, let's see if I can make a long long long story, into a sort of shortish long story.

A long time ago, when I was about 14 I tore the ligaments in my right foot on a trampoline.  I did crutches for weeks, then a boot for weeks, then physical therapy.  After that I danced, and did band and gym class, and I would twist, and turn and roll my ankle.  I ended up on crutches again right before my drivers test when I was 16, and ended up not being able to get my license until June of that year, because I had sprained my ankle again, though not nearly as bad.  Over the next many many years, I ended up in physical therapy for the same ankle twice more, and have twisted and sprained it countless times.  Two weeks ago, shortly before taking the kids to scouts, I did a doozy and twisted it good.  I limped my way through scouts, and the next day the ankle was tender, but not too bad.  By the next week I had forgotten about it.  Thursday comes rolling around, and as I was walking down the stairs my foot rolled in, completely gave out, popped, and took me down.  I sat on the bottom of the steps, crying, feeling stupid, because Rylissa and a German friend heard me yell, and came in to see me on the ground, and hurting.  I was able to make my way upstairs to my phone and call Tim, because this time, I knew I'd done some damage.  Thank heavens for people answering their phones, because I was able to get Tim home, and a babysitter to the house within about 45 minutes, and it was off to the ER.

 

My foot doesn't swell much any more.  I think because I sprain, and twist it so often, it's just used to it.  I still iced it, but it looked so normal, and really it only hurt when I put weight on it, so I figured that the people in the ER would laugh at me and send me home.  So when they did the x-ray and then sent someone in with the news that there was a possible fracture, and I had to see the orthopedic people for a closer look, and possible surgery discussion I was kind of shocked!  I mean, yeah, it did hurt, I did feel a pop, and I couldn't really walk on it, but shouldn't it hurt all the time if it's broken?

In the meantime, they fixed me up with a splint.  It's really cool, if you've never had one (this is my second), they stick it under water to make it pliable, then make you flex your foot to 90 degrees (ouch!) and then wrap it with bandages.  I had to sit like that for about 10 minutes for the splint to become rock hard.  It wasn't comfortable at all.

All done, and ready to head to the pharmecy for the magic pills.... I mean the pain killers.

 All I can say, is that I'm happy my toes were pretty.

After spending the weekend with strict orders not to put any weight on my foot, and to keep it elevated, I was ready to find out what was going on with the stupid foot.  I mean, really, there's only so much time you can sit and do nothing without going crazy.  This morning, a guy from our ward, who just happens to work in the orthopedic office called and said that he'd heard a rumor I'd been injured and was waiting to be seen at their section of the hospital.  He got me in, right away, and we looked over the x rays.  Turns out the x ray tech saw a portion of bone, or ligament, I am not sure which that was detached from the ankle.  That in itself is a pretty serious injury..... the only problem, on closer inspection it turns out it was at least 10 years old. Not new.  (which also means that somehow, somewhere, I detached this from my bone, and never knew about it........ ?) So the possible fracture, was an old injury that I'd been walking around on for years. However, that said, I did severely sprain the ankle.  He said I have what's known as Chronic Loose Ankle. I'm not sure if that's the technical term, but it basically means, that way back, when I first injured myself, my ligaments healed stretched, instead of back to normal.  So my ligaments are now more loose than they should be, which causes my foot to twist easier, and I sprain my ankle frequently.  At this point I have a decision to make.  I either live with my ankle loose, and run the risk of repeating this same injury over and over, wear braces pretty much whenever I do anything, or I can opt to surgically tighten the ligaments.  It's a tough decision, so I'm trying to research it all.  As of now, I'm wearing an awesome boot, and I'm on crutches for at least the next week, and in the boot for 8 weeks.  I also cannot drive, since it's my right foot.  So I'm at the mercy of everyone else, if I want to leave the house.... bummer.

Here she is, in all her glory, my new companion that I will be attached to for what seems to me, like eternity. Stupid foot.