A Casting Call

My travelogue wasn't moving along very well so I decided to write about something else.

Several years ago I had major issues with my right foot. It wasn't pretty. I had physical therapy, X-rays, MRIs, cortisone shots, a moon boot cast on for 3 months 23/7, I had orthotics, I had everything you can think of. When my employer sent me a letter saying I had to discontinue using my sick time for physical therapy (illegal request), I went to my doctor, grabbed him by the throat, and said, "JUST FIX IT!"

Luckily I did that, because after I had walked around for years with miserable and intense pain with a diagnosis of plantar fasciitis, I had actually had tarsal tunnel. I had three nerves in my right foot that were grown into the muscle, and were crushed. When I woke up, the doctor excitedly told me, "I have never seen anything like this!" I said, "Knock me back out....." Within 18 months I was walking normally again. Oh boy!

Now my left foot has gone south, but it's not the same problem. Both feet were hurting pretty badly until this last trip to AZ. Towards the end of the walk out of Sabino Canyon (3.8 miles in, 3.8 miles out, plus my little excursion for some "privacy" for a moment) I felt like the bottom insides of my foot were on fire, shortened, and had grown razor blades. I tried to ignore it. After that, I wore my orthotics in my shoes for going up hill and took them out and put in the normal insoles for downhill. It seemed to keep me mobile. Sort of.

Same doctor. He told me I have contracted Achilles' tendons, bilaterally. That means both feet have tightened tendons. The right one is slightly improved, or else the left hurts so much that I don't notice the right. I will wake up at night with shooting pains. It's charming.

His current fix? Wear a cast at night. OK, I can do that. However, he says, I have to have a "regular" cast put on, wear it for 24 hours, then return and they will saw it off and make it removable so I can wear it just at night. I said no can do. I would go home and saw it off. I have claustrophobia. I admit it. If there are support groups for this, I bet they are held in small, locked rooms. I also had visions of taking two dogs out to pee every two hours in the snow and ice while I am on crutches, unable to even touch the left foot to the ground, even on the stairs, while the cast is not totally set.

Next step. For claustrophobes, they make us get the cast on, sit in the office for 4 hours, and then they saw it off and make it removable. Still, no weight on it at all for 24 hours. That, I said I could do.

So, Monday I sat at the doctor's office for 4 hours in a chair with a walker in front of me. I propped my cast on the walker and read for 4 hours. ST couldn't even sit with me, but he did call from the airport on his way out of the country for a business trip. Luckily, I managed to wait until I got home to use the ladies' room. I don't do crutches well - it hurts my hands. I found that out after the surgery on the right foot.

I left the doctor's office with my little purse, a bag with my book, diet soda, and snacks in it. I also carried a cast with a black "shoe" on it. I chose a hot pink cast. They had to wrap large white velcro straps on it. It looks like Santa was amputated just below the knee. I had to carry that to my car.

My next shopping trip will be to get some fake white fur so I can decorate this attractive medical appliance. Maybe add some bells. Ho, ho ho. I have to sleep with it on my foot for 6 weeks. I asked what do I do if I travel? Take it with me. Ho, ho, ho. Does that count as a carry on?

So I have been sleeping since Monday with a cast on my left leg. Every night I have started to put it on my right foot, probably from the old routine. Once I realize it's not going to work, I laugh, and switch feet. No progress yet. I still get up feeling like the bottom of my foot is too short and can only walk totally flat footed, and even that hurts. I had concerns about restless leg syndrome and a cast, but that hasn't been a problem. My doctor says that tight Achilles' tendons can cause RLS, so I might get rid of it once my tendons are back to normal.  

The other option? Have a slice into my left calf, maybe 1-2 inches long. He would reach all the way to the other side of my tendon from there also, and make a few small nicks into the tendon. It would then loosen a bit, eliminating the foot pain.

Sounds easy, doesn't it? Did I leave off the part where I would have to wear a regular cast 24/7 for 3 weeks? No can do. Then a soft cast or walking boot or both for another 3 weeks.

So I sleep in the cast, go to physical therapy 3 times a week, do exercises at home, and hope for the best. I also lost 10 pounds, hoping to relieve a little pressure on my feet.

My doctor is a very staid guy. Just seeing his excitement after he saw the insides of my right foot seemed out of character. Very serious fellow. After the last visit with him, I asked him, as his had was on the doorknob to leave the room, if he has foot pain. Oh yes - he has the same thing I do. He smiled (first time I saw that since we talked about AZ and rattlesnakes), and said he literally, truly feels my pain.

I want to walk 10 miles at a time without (much) pain again. I want to hike in the mountains without whining. I love to walk. Whatever it takes, except a cast I am not able to remove. It's OK if it is removable and I am told not to - I can handle that. But if it cannot be removed, we have a problem, and I have a recpirocating saw. Some weird thing inside of me just knows that it would strangle the hell out of me. Sometimes I have to slide my watch a little lower down my wrist because it feels too tight. Luckily I have never had a broken bone that required a cast. (OK, once I did, but I refused the cast and wore a splint.)

Wish me luck. I can do this. I am naturally limber and generally stretch very easily. Hopefully this includes my Achilles' tendons.

Perhaps I over-worry about this, but the thought of having to choose between a lifetime of pain and a cast I can't remove is not where I want to drag myself.