A week ago Sunday morning my right foot suddenly started hurting. Ava had had a sleepover Saturday night so I had to run to the store Sunday morning, pick her up from her sleepover at noon, then drop her for a play date at another friend's house. Then after her play date I was taking her shopping for some new clothes since we didn't get to do too much shopping this summer. By the time we made it to the mall I could barely walk. I had no idea how it happened, so I was wracking my brain thinking of what I could have done. That previous Wednesday I went for a run on our treadmill, something I hadn't done in a while. I was running intervals, so I sprinted as fast as I could for 30 seconds, then jogged for 90 seconds, then sprinted again and did that 8 times. When I finished my foot felt fine, so it made no sense to me that it would have started hurting on Sunday? Friday and Saturday I went for a hike in the forest, but it wasn't too treacherous and I don't remember slipping or anything. I also wore a new pair of boots with a heel on it Friday night, but again my foot was fine on Saturday. It was a mystery! By Monday it was really bothering me, so I made an appointment with Dr. Ted and he sent me for an x-ray at the Military Hospital. He said he was on his way home for the day so he would meet me at the hospital to read the results and speak to the Head of Radiology who got me the fast appointment. When I left Dr. Ted instead of going straight to the hospital I made a pit stop at one of the organic stores because it was right next door. It only took me 15 minutes, but I had to hobble back to my car and by the time I made it to the hospital I saw Dr. Ted pulling into the parking lot (he is hard to miss because he drives a big 'ol Hummer!). I have to say I was really happy to see him because I had just been standing there totally clueless as to where I was supposed to be going. I don't know why I had thought it was going to just be easy to walk in the front door of the place and immediately know what to do - the hospital was made up of several buildings spread out over an entire street, more like a college campus. Of course all of the signs were in Polish and I have yet to cover medical terms in my lessons (although it would probably be a smart thing for me to start considering the amount of time I spend going to the doctor). Dr. Ted wasn't sure where to go either, but he stopped a few people and asked and we made it to the radiology department. I knew I had to pay first, so while the receptionist took my passport she was explaining something to Dr. Ted and I could tell he was getting annoyed. When we left the counter he took me down the hallway and knocked on a door - it turned out it was the Head of Radiology's office, who he had called earlier to get me in. They spoke in Polish and then Dr. Ted told me to give him my money and he left - apparently in order to pay we had to walk back out to the street and to a completely different building and then return to radiology. Ridiculous! I guess Dr. Ted asked Mr. Radiologist if someone could run over for us, since he had a bad heart and walked with a cane and I had a bum foot. Mr. Radiologist ended up going himself and came back about 20 minutes later. We then had to wait in the hallway outside of door #2 for the x-ray. There were about 15 people already waiting and I started to stress that I was going to be late for a meeting I had a school a couple hours later. Thankfully Dr. Ted told me that Mr. Radiologist would take me first, which he thankfully did. It was a quick x-ray and we waited about 10 minutes afterwards for the CD and Mr. Radiologist told him all the bones looked normal. I am not really sure how I could have broken a bone without knowing it anyway, but I guess it was smart to get the x-ray and rule it out. Dr. Ted arranged for me to meet with an orthopedist on Thursday, but could only get me in at 4:00. This is a terrible time for me because the kids get home from school at 4:15 and then I have to make dinner, help with homework, etc. But I didn't want to reschedule it because my foot was really hurting. I considered having the kids let themselves in but I was nervous that my appointment might run late and I didn't want to leave them stranded at dinner time. So my plan was to pick them up from school at bit early and take them with me.
Thursday morning when I got up I thought I was either going to puke or pass out because I was in so much pain. I could barely hobble around to get the kids ready for school, but I managed to get them out the door and take a shower because I had my Polish teacher coming to my house at 9:00. I had my lesson and had a bunch of errands I needed to run and things to get done around the house, but I just could not stay standing up for more than 10 minutes at a time before my foot started throbbing and swelling up. I sat on the couch icing my foot and ended up falling asleep for a bit. When I woke and realized what time it was, I hobbled upstairs to get ready for my appointment but I felt so sick and was in so much pain I didn't think I would be able to drive, let alone go to school, run in to collect the kids from their classes, drive to my appointment, then take them to dinner afterwards. So I skipped the appointment and called Dr. Ted to ask if I could get in for Friday. Thankfully another doctor was able to see me Friday morning, and his office was closer to my house. Of course when I was getting into bed Thursday night, I ended up throwing my back out so Friday morning was the worst I felt. I was now in pain everywhere and could hardly move either of my legs, so there was no way I was driving anywhere. Mike ended up having to cancel some meetings and drive me to the appointment - we had been once before and it really is the most delapidated building we have ever seen (well, maybe that first pediatrician visit when we first moved here was a bit worse). The doctor looked at the x-ray and then did an ultrasound (man did that hurt), and it turns out I have a couple of really small tears somewhere (muscle? tendons? ligaments? this is what happens when I don't understand Polish) on the top of my foot, at the base of two of my toes. I told him I did not remember hurting it but he said it could have been something as small as wobbling on a rock - and he said you may not remember, but your foot does! I couldn't help from giggling every time he referred to my toes as fingers - in Polish 'palce' means both fingers and toes, so they get confused. But anyway, at least I sort of know what is wrong now - he sent me away with a number of a place where I can buy a special insert for my shoe to prevent this, a prescription for an anti-inflammatory, instructions to ice it 10 minutes a day as much as I could, and a prescription for physical therapy. I was able to do a session right after the appointment (I was loving the efficiency of all this!), so they hooked some probes to my foot for electric stimulation I think it was, then afterwards she called it 'kryoterapie", and brought over a big hose that shot out freezing cold air. Interesting. I can't say my foot felt too much better afterwards, but the doctor was at the counter when I was leaving and had me book myself in for PT for the next 7 days. Hopefully this will fix my problem because I am not sure I can deal with having to sit on the couch and not be able to walk or do any of my exercise classes again next week. I wanted to ask him for crutches but thought that would be a little much - although it would make my life much easier because after this appointment, Mike and I had lunch and I dropped him at his office. I was able to drive but then I had to go to another hospital for some blood tests and I couldn't park very close so it took me a good 25 minutes to walk each way, and I was in excruciating pain. And I am sure my walking on it every day is not helping along the healing process, as it is getting more and more swollen. I just wish I know how this happened! At least I have some cute company to lay on the couch with
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