Snap Crackle Pop Part 2

It's been a week since my cataclysmic tumble down the stairs that broke the 5th Metacarpal bone in my right foot. Putting weight on the foot is forbidden, so I have to walk around on crutches, which means my arms have to lift my body weight with every step I take, no twirling, dancing around or rollerblading. Now many people, including my own kids, have walked with crutches and know what I'm talking about. It's not fun. Rolling around the house on a computer chair is kind-of fun, but lifting my whole body weight with my arms is not. My arms and shoulders are still sore, although not as much, but still, I have a very long way to go before building upper body strength that can lift my body weight on crutches for any distance. I get dizzy on the crutches, especially first thing in the morning and at these times, it's difficult to completely lift my right foot off of the ground.The simplest things have become much more complicated from putting laundry away to getting things ready for breakfast.

Reusable bags like you use for groceries come in real handy in carting stuff on crutches, you just have to remember not to load the bags up too heavily because that's more weight you're lifting in addition to your body weight on the crutches. Also, I have a drafting table along with a tall chair to make it possible to work at the table. This chair comes in real handy when working in the kitchen, because it's a tall chair. I can work at the counters. I can pull myself along the counters from the sink, to the stove, to the coffeemaker, to the fridge. The only problem is that we have ceramic tile floors and the wheels get caught in the grout lines and my feet don't reach the floor. I try to push it using the crutches kind of like oars, but I can't get up enough momentum. I just have to push off hard enough to overcome the grout lines and try not to run into the counters.

What also comes in handy when you're on crutches, is one of those metal water bottles with a screw-on cap, especially if the screw-on cap has a clip attached to it. I put a lanyard on the clip and can cart the water bottle while on crutches. I can fill it at the refrigerator while on the rolling chair. Also wearing clothes with pockets in them comes in handy, you can haul small stuff in your pockets, as long as it's not an ice cube, while traversing the floor on crutches.

Also, I have a small computer chair on wheels that I can use for sorting laundry or trips down the hallway. My brother, who lives with us, is a tremendous help in getting stuff, hauling stuff like bags of laundry if needed. I highly recommend using a shoulder bag as a purse and putting it over your head and one shoulder. With just putting it over the shoulder, it can get dropped easily and bending over to pick something up is an even bigger pain in the neck.

Also, I am still looking for a full-time job and should I get lucky enough to get called in for an interview, I'd have to have one of my kids drive me to the interview place and I can just imagine the impression I would make on a prospective employer, hobbling in on crutches wearing this big walking boot that is building up a healthy collection of cat hair. I guess it'd be okay if he or she liked cats.

As I mentioned earlier, I have a fracture of the 5th Metatarsal on my right foot. It is the last bone, leading to the pinkie toe. This type of fracture can occur due to a violent twist to the foot, which is what happened to me. It could be one of three different fractures, a Jones fracture, an avulsion fracture or a mid-shaft fracture. I looked all of this up on the internet. I have no earthly idea what kind it is but really hope in my deepest of hopes that it is not a Jones fracture. Jones fractures don't heal well due to low blood supply to the area of the break.

My daughter had once warned me not to look up medical conditions on the internet because it would show the worst of what could happen. She was right. I looked up "5th metatarsal fracture" on Google and came up with all kinds of scary stuff, including a number of colorful, graphic photos of what the surgery would look like should that be required. Seriously, they showed insides and everything and were totally and completely gross. In addition, there were forums that included post after post of people with 5th metatarsal fractures that weren't healing. Several of them had been on casts and crutches for weeks or even months and there was no sign of healing. That is a little scary because most of these people were younger than I am. In addition, I have Type 2 diabetes and diabetics take longer to heal, especially in the foot. I am, to be honest, a little bit antsy about the whole thing but remembering Stacy's warning about the internet.

Also, I read on the internet that this is a common sports injury. Beckham of soccer fame apparently once broke his 5th metatarsal. Also, it is a common break for ballet dancers. It can either be an acute break, or a result of stress. Stress breaks occur over time when the bone is repeatedly stressed over and over again from an offending activity. Mine is an acute break, it happened all at once, because I wanted to go downstairs. This one website said that breaking of the 5th Metatarsal is a painful injury, which I thought was odd, because ever since I got this boot (sometimes called a "Moon Boot"), I've had almost no pain.

For tough fractures that won't heal, there is a device called a "Bone Simulator" which sounds like something from 'The Jetsons.' I don't even know how it works. I wish it were like in 'Harry Potter' where they could wave a wand and do a bone knitting spell, or like on Star Trek, when you stick your foot in a device with little blinking lights on it and you're repaired, just like that, no crutches, no 'Moon Boots,' no casts, you're good as new. Unfortunately, much to the chagrin of any of us who have had to deal with one fracture or another, our technology hasn't reached that point in medical advancement as of yet. Even if it did, it would probably be outrageously expensive. So we heal the old-fashioned way, with crutches and 'Moon Boots' and pray and hope our bodies heal those bones as quickly as possible.

Tomorrow, I go to see the orthopedist and pray and hope he sees some sign of healing in my broken 5th Metatarsal. I'm going to just keep on praying, that's the best healing there is.