I have been having foot pain in my left foot for quite some time. I saw a highly recommended podiatrist for runners (he is a runner himself) about a month ago and he was shocked that I hadn't had arch pain before now with all of my previous running because of my extremely high arches. He said it is likely that my foot structure changed after my pregnancies. He altered the support of my existing running shoes and said that if that worked, then he didn't need to see me again. But to call him back if I was still having pain.
Over the next few weeks, the pain I was having under my big toe and arch shifted to the top of my foot. It began to hurt when I wasn't putting any weight on it and swell. I made a follow up appointment thinking he would fit me for custom orthotics ($200 that insurance doesn't cover...awesome) and give me an anti-inflammatory. He looked at my foot and did another set of x-rays. When the tech and the doctor walked back in with a boot, I was speechless. I thought they were in the wrong room! He told me that he was pretty sure I had a stress fracture, though it wasn't showing on my x-ray (but that is common at first). He said that you can run through most injuries, but NOT a stress fracture. And that if I can't run, then he wanted me in a boot to stabilize it and hopefully speed up healing. Boo hoo!!
I left the office and cried in my car and some more while I got lunch to go. I am just not good at slowing down and I knew that's what this meant. I was upset about having to halt my St. Jude training with Heather and frustrated over what this would do to our busy Fall plans. I did call the doctor back later and asked him if I could bike over the next 2 weeks to keep my endurance up. He said no...that I could do anything I wanted in the boot but just not physical exercise. He said that if all went well at my next visit in 2 weeks that he would clear me to wear my tennis shoes with orthotics for a week and then get back to running. And that I would still have 6 weeks to train for St. Jude after a 3 week hiatus. He thought it was doable. We will see. Of course, he also said that a full-on stress fracture takes 4-6 weeks to heal...so there's always that possibility, too.
To be perfectly honest, I have been teary on and off over this dang boot for a few days now. I broke down and cried to a friend at lunch (sorry Cami!), because I was just overwhelmed by it all. It is heavy and awkward to walk in and I am completely exhausted by the end of the day. But I am getting used to it and things are looking up now. I am trying to slow down (in my own way) and am just hoping for good news in 2 weeks!
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| Blurry, but she was "petting" my foot because I told her to be easy with it. :) |
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