Whew.
On Monday, after re-reading my somewhat crazy-sounding last post (The Fine Line), I decided that what I needed to do was bite the proverbial bullet and just go to see Dr. Cutter and get the issue laid to rest for good. I called at 7:00 am and got an appointment to see the good doctor the next day at 2 pm.
Whenever I go to a doctor, I feel like they all think that I am a nutso hypochondriac (which, I do admit, might be a tiny bit true). I try to not sound that way, but inevitably showing up to a doctor and saying, "My foot hurts and I'm scared" probably does sound like an over-reaction. Me, overreact? Never. Anyway, I told him what was going on and he listened patiently, then pressed hard along all my foot bones to see if I jumped out of my skin (nope).
He asked me to demonstrate the yoga move that I think caused the first break and as soon as I did, he said, "Yup I can definitely see how you might have pulled something in your foot doing that! I don't think it's broken, I think you just over stretched something."
I must have looked dubious because his next question was, "Do you want me to take an X-Ray to ease your mind?"
YES. Duh.
10 minutes later, we are looking at my X-Rays when Dr. Cutter says my least favorite line ever: "Hmmm what is THAT?" while tracing a dark lateral line in my 4th metatarsal. "Hm. I think it's a nutrient vessel, but I have never seen one show up that prominently before! I think I need to get a consult."
Commence sweaty palms and elevated heart rate on my part as Dr. Cutter gets a radiologist on the phone and I hear only half of the conversation as they discuss this odd line in my X-Ray. After what seems like an eternity and an endless stream of "Okay.. okay... okay" Dr. Cutter hangs up and says, "We both agree that we don't think it's broken."
Yay... I think?
We also compared my October X-Ray to the current one and I finally saw with my own eyes that you really can't see the old break anymore. It's like it never happened. This small fact has already done wonders for my mental state.
So here comes the bad news, which is that I have been benched from running for another week, meaning that I am losing yet another long training run, meaning that I will have only one run of more than 6 miles under my belt before the Shamrock Half.
The other bad news is that if my foot still hurts by mid-week next week, Dr. Cutter wants an MRI.
All I see when he says that is $$$$$$$$.
But despite these things, I left feeling pretty relieved. Not surprisingly, my foot feels much better today, yet again confirming that in most cases, my pain is completely mental and brought on by my own irrational worry.
I am my own worst enemy. But I always knew that.
Even though I'm bummed about being benched for a week, I am feeling pretty positive. I can still run the Shamrock Half. It won't be a PR and will probably be really ugly. But I will be able to do it and honestly, this little scare has reminded me again how incredibly thankful I should be that I can run at all.
Meanwhile, I'll spend the week cross training like a boss.
And I will calcify my damn bones into submission.
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Oh yeah - and as much as it pains (bad pun alert!) me to say it, no more yoga.
Wow. I’ve been so busy, I’m scrambling to get a blog together at all, but I too spent some time getting a foot x-ray yesterday. I thought I had a stress fracture and after limping around all day decided that I had to KNOW. And similar to what you mentioned, as soon as they assured me that it wasn’t broken, I felt better. But I’m still not running and probably starting my taper a week sooner. Good luck with your foot.
ReplyDeleteOh no! I hope my crazy paranoia isn't rubbing off on to people...
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you were also ok because seriously, I wouldn't wish crutches on my worst enemy.