I have a foot and I’m not scared to use it!

It’s five weeks since I broke my foot and yesterday I had a visit to the fracture clinic to have my cast removed.

I’m now able to walk without my crutches although I do have a limp. This is because my ankle and calf muscle are really stiff and it’s these areas that are causing me the most discomfort. My heal also hurts but I am sure this will ease the more I place weight on my foot. I’m not really experiencing any pain on the break site. I have had a couple twinges around the break area when I’ve twisted/stepped awkardly. As you can see from the photo below I have quite a bit of bruising around my ankle. I’m not entirely sure why though! The blue arrow is indicating the location of the break!

The doctor has said it will take about 8 weeks for the break to heal completely and advised that it’s going to be 3 months before I can go back to running / dancing. Apparently running is the worst sport for this type of break.

I hobbled out of the doctors room on crutches with the doctor calling behind me to stop cheating and to remember I can put weight on my foot now!! I’ve decided to totally ditch the crutches as they’re just a hassle – it’s much easier to slowly limp along.

Fracture clinic visit – sparkly new peg leg!

I had my 3 week check up appointment at the fracture clinic yesterday. I was straight into the plaster room to have my cast removed. They used a rotating/vibrating saw to cut it off. It has a special blade that stops when it reaches soft material. The vibrations felt really weird but in a nice way. Once the cast was off my leg felt like it didn’t belong to me! It was so light and it seemed really vulnerable. My leg so desperately needs shaving – I had a quarter acre of growth under that cast!I had to wait a while for the doc to come through and see me so I spent the time reacquainting myself with my foot/leg!

When the doc came over he did that sharp intake of breath thing and said that I’d broke the bone quite badly and that on the original x-ray ends of the break were quite far apart. He had a squeeze of the break site which wasn’t too painful. I then needed to see how I got on walking. Standing up without the cast was the most strange feeling. I had kind of forgotten how to walk and In the end I had to use the doctor for balance. I took about 4 steps. Initially the pain was just in my heel but after the 4th step the break started to hurt so I hopped back to the couch. The doctor recommended that I have a cast for 2 more weeks. Knowing that I have knocked my foot several times over the past 3 weeks I concluded the doctor was right!

This time I have been fitted with a special “3M Soft Cast Casting Tape” cast. It is softer and more flexible. It has a strip of red rigid strips around my foot and up the side of my leg to act as splints. There is no wadding/padding inside, just a thin cotton type stocking. The best thing is that I am now able to shower wearing this cast. I had a shower this morning and I think I might stick to baths with my leg propped over the side because it’s taken about 4 hours for my leg to dry out inside the cast. This doesn’t feel comfortable and I was leaving wet patches on the floor as the water filtered down through the cast and out of my heel!!!

Cruising for a bruising!

Well here is my final update on the bruising as it’s pretty much gone now. I bet you can hardly contain your excitement!

I now only have a small amount of bruising on my toes.

Tuesday 10th June

Wednesday 11th June

Thursday 12th June

Friday 13th June

Monday 16th June

Poor little black and blue foot

Ok so this might not be the most exciting blog post ever written….but I’ve been keeping a photo log of the bruising on my broken foot.

I didn’t have any bruising for the first couple of days. In fact when I had my new cast fitted on Monday 2nd, my foot look perfectly normal. The bruising only really started coming out on the Tuesday. I can only see the bruising on my toes but I bet it’s quite bad underneath the cast.

Tuesday 3rd June 2008

Wednesday 4th June 2008

Thursday 5th June 2008

Friday 6th June 2008

Sunday 8th June 2008

Whilst trying to return the biscuit tub back to the kitchen I stubbed my good foot on my crutch and then slipped, knocking my bad foot. Not surprisingly I’ve had some mild pain since.

The dummies guide to coping with a broken foot!

 

Although this isn’t the actual xray of my fractured 5th metatarsal, I believe this ‘artist impression’ is a good representation of my fracture. I did a pretty good

job of breaking it, even if I broke it in a pretty stupid manner!

As it’s been fi

ve days since I broke my foot and I’m starting to get the hang of life with the use of only one leg, I thought I would treat you all to some top tips! These are things I’ve discovered from living with a broken foot!

1) In the absence of a wheelchair, a basic computer chair on wheels makes an excellent alternative. I am now able to move around the downstairs with quite some speed. It also enables me to carry items, which is not possible with crutches. I wouldn’t advise going out in public on your computer chair. You’d probably get some funny looks – stick to the crutches in public places!

2) Crutches really hurt your hands. I have covered the handles with my (clean) fluffy bed socks. This makes it a bit more comfortable to use them.

3) Get yourself an unbreakable flask. If you are not fortunate enough to have a wheelchair/computer chair/carer/personal assistant then a flask is essential for your days caffeine intake! I can just about carry a flask and hobble along on my crutches. It needs to be an unbreakable flask because it does clatter against your crutches as you shuffle along! The last thing you need when you’re already invalid is a trip to casualty after swallowing glass fragments!
Now I make use of my wheely computer chair, I’ve reverted back to making cuppas and carrying them (with extreme care). Be careful to avoid scalding yourself from spillages. I tend to take 2 or 3 sips before I attempt to transport my hot bevarage. I think a thermal cup with a lid would be useful in this situation.

4) A shoulder bag is essential. It’s not possible to get anywhere easily or quickly when you are minus the use of one leg. I have got into the habit of placing everything I’m likely to need in a big shoulder bag. My bag currently contains wallet, keys, mobile phone, cordless home phone, pen, paper, painkillers, magazines and a bottle of water. The bag travels round the house with me so that I’m never far away from the things I need. It’s a real pain to have crawled to the top of the stairs…and then the phone rings downstairs!

5) A tall stool is your friend. I asked my children to place a tall stool in the kitchen for me to use. This means that I am able to reach the sink/cooker and cupboards and have both hands free. I can use the stool in a ‘zimmer frame’ manner to help me propel myself around the kitchen.

6) Create cushion mountains. For the first few days it’s essential to keep your foot elevated. I have created a cushion mountain on the sofa, one on my bed and also have a stool and cushion which I use whilst sat at my computer. I also find that my foot is more uncomfortable than painful and padding it with cushions whilst I am sat down or in bed trying to sleep eases the discomfort.

7) Obtain a big sock! My poor little toes poking out of my cast often get cold and feel uncomfortable. I cover them with a large/stretchy sock.

8 ) Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Being stuck in the house might be driving you round the twist…but it’s a long way to hobble to my local shop on crutches – I got half way before a friend intervened thankfully! I’ve had loads of offers of help and people really don’t mind taking a trip to the shop for you (they wouldn’t offer otherwise). Spare your arms/shoulders/hands and healthy leg the trauma.

9) Online grocery shopping rocks! No need to leave your home or have to worry about carrying anything. It helps if you have a couple of eager kids to pack the shopping away when it arrives. Also, expect them to want to sample some of the goodies after they have packed them away – it’s only fair I suppose!

10) Bathtime basics. I’ve started to master the process of keeping clean. I’m bathing every other day and then having a (one legged) stand up wash in between. There’s no need to spend £10 on a “waterproof protector” (as shown on the leaflet given to me by the fracture clinic)! A large carrier bag and some gaffer tape does the trick! Take care climbing in and out of the bath. When you are in the bath stick your poorly leg over the edge and make sure that you have everything to hand before you get in. Dry your good foot well before you get out of the bath to prevent slippage and further injury!

Walking cast and wheely chair!

I had an appointment at the fracture clinic on Monday to have my temporary cast replaced. I got to see the xray and I have broken my 5th metatarsal. They’ve fitted me out with a ‘walking cast’ , complete with a special shoe. When I am ready I can start to put some weight on to it.

The pain isn’t too bad now, it’s mainly just uncomfortable. I’ve got some bruising coming out on my toes now.

I’ve found walking with the crutches really tiring so I’ve discovered a new way for transporting myself around the house – I am wheeling myself around on my computer chair. It’s much quicker than using crutches and I can even carry things, which I couldn’t do on crutches. This is quite timely as the kids are starting to get cheesed off with my requests for help!

Invalid alert. I broke it.

There I was quite happily trying to learn this dance (as you do)…when I twisted my foot awkwardly and heard an almighty, eye watering click. As if by magic I was no longer able to stand on my foot.

The kindness of a friend, 3 hospitals and 5 hours later….

Be warned: Dancing in your living room is dangerous.

No running. No Streetz dance. No Forest School. No life…for about 6 weeks. Ack!

I am an idiot!