Quick update on my foot

My foot has been hurting for awhile now and it's to a point where I am going to see an orthopedic surgeon on Monday. Here's what happened (if you watch Monk, that's what he says before he tells how a crime was committed)

A little over 3 weeks ago I woke up Thursday morning and my left foot was hurting. I didn't think too much of it, just thought maybe I hit it somewhere and as the day went on it kinda went away. The next morning it was hurting more and I was limping. It started to really bother me and I didn't know what was going on. I couldn't remember hitting it anywhere, I hadn't dropped anything on it and I hadn't sprained it...(so I haven't been to the gym for awhile, big deal! I'll go when the health issues go away) so what was causing it? It started to swell a little and was turning red. That Saturday we had a busy day. We were all over the place, had hair appointments, lunch with T's mom, candle party that we were too late to go to and a fantasy football draft (more about that later). The foot was hurting even more and I could barely put any weight on it. That Sunday we had a 50th anniversary party, OBVIOUSLY not ours! DUH! In the middle of it I started to feel like I was getting sick, the feeling when you feel like it's hitting you, tired, hurting and cold. I also got a bad headache and basically wasn't in any shape to be at a party but since we drove all the way there (2 hours north from us) and the party was only few hours long AND we didn't know how to get home, we stayed until the end. I think it was just too many people for me, too much noise and me panicking about my foot and it just got me. I got something for the headache and after we left we went for ice cream. It seamed to help a little.

The next morning I couldn't put any weight on my foot. It was hurting like hell and I was in serious pain. I went to the health center at school at 9am and they asked me to come back at 1pm. I asked for crutches just so that I could walk across campus and the not-so-nice receptionist told me no. If the nurse thought I needed crutches, she would give me crutches at 1pm. So I walked to work, which would usually take 5 min took me 30 min and I was in PAIN.

At 1pm I went to the health center and a nurse was taking care of me. The HC doesn't have doctors except on Thursdays. She was looking at my foot and thought it was some kind of infection for which she gave me naproxen. Told me to take them every 6 hours and come back on Thursday. Would have sent me away like that except I asked for crutches. They don't give away crutches, you need to BUY them! OK, I can do that. Beats crawling...

I took the naproxen as ordered and nothing changed. I was still in serious pain, the swelling wasn't going down and and I couldn't walk with my foot. I was going to work full time and since I don't have a car I take a bus to the train station and train to school. Bus stop is not far except when you are crippled. The 5 min walk takes about 15...and using crutches isn't as easy as you'd imagine. My arms are killing me (one more reason to go to the gym, like T keeps telling me) and it definitely takes its toll on your good foot. Since my foot has been like this my friends and co-workers have really stepped up. My friend Candace has taken me to school (and Dunkin Donuts ;-) ) as has Aditi from work. T is getting me from school now that classes have started since it would take me forever to get to the bus or train and it's just easier this way. Even after this she needs to pick me up on Wednesdays when classes end at 10:30pm. But as I was saying, the meds were not working and I went back to the HC on Thursday. T had told me all along she thought I had been bitten by something since we didn't remember anything happening. This time the nurse brought in another nurse to evaluate (and guess) my foot. The other nurse said she thought she saw a bite mark so they settled on that. The nurse also called a doctor and told him what was going on. The doctor recommended antibiotics and that's what I was given. The thing was, this was the labour Day weekend and we had been invited to T's cousins' place in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Was I in shape to go to the beach? Was I in shape to enjoy the the fun? And more importantly, was I in shape to SHOP?!?!

T told me if I thought I'd be OK, we would go, so I said yes and off we went. My foot was still hurting and stepping on it was still as painful as ever. Nothing had changed by Friday afternoon and we decided to seek medical attention. We went to a local doctor who also thought I was bitten by something. HE didn't think the antibiotics were working so he put me on steroids. for 6 days I was supposed to take them. " You might have the munchies...and you might act in a way you normally wouldn't act and say things that you would normally say" said the Doc. I was like "So basically you're giving me a free pass? Cool". He obviously didn't give me a free pass but It fun while it lasted.

The steroids helped a little, I was able to step on my foot for few hours a day but the pain was still there. During our weekend there we hanged out with some awesome gay men who were playing nurses and waiters for me. I told them my story and that I was on steroids and T told me I sounded like I was proud about that! I've never been sick in my life, seriously sick or hurt so this was new to me...now I can say though that I wish I never had this experience!

The doctor in Delaware told me not to bother with the antibiotics because they didn't seem to work so I stopped taking them. On Tuesday morning when I went back to seeing the nurse she wasn't happy about that. She also didn't know what to do about the foot since it wasn't getting better so we made an appointment for me to go back there on Thursday when the doctors were there. On Thursday I went back, once again, and the doctors couldn't figure it out so we tried antibiotics again. We made another appointment for the next Thursday, which was this week to follow up on the foot and if the antibiotics were working. There was a new doctor and he finally admitted they had no idea what was going on so I got a referral to see an orthopedic surgeon.

I spent Friday calling to local doctors trying to get an appointment and finally called T all frustrated and teary eyed. She suggested calling her mom, who is a nurse and seeing if she could get me an appointment with the doctor T saw when she was training for her marathon. So on Monday I will finally be seeing a doctor who hopefully will be able to help. We will see what happens...

It seems like the school HC is kinda similar to a Finnish arvauskeskus (guessing center...technically a health center but guessing center is more appropriate since they seem to be guessing what's wrong with you)...unless you have a simple fever or something close, don't go there. And what makes it even more difficult and frustrating is the health insurance system here. In Finland I have a kick ass health insurance which covers just about everything...in here I have a health insurance through school which covers very little and not to high amounts...so you really need to hope you don't get seriously ill! And it also seems like health services have been priced really high here...maybe too high. Few months ago T needed some blood work done and even though her insurance paid for it, the amounts were ridiculous! Health insurance and health services are one of the things I miss about Finland. You might get good care here but you also need to PAY for it!

I will have an update next week about my foot. Today was the last day of my antibiotics and it did nothing to help. I've been taking painkillers, first Motrin and when that didn't help, Tylenol. Tylenol seems to help every now and again. I don't really know how it works if it works because there are days when it's better and then days when it just hurts. Some days I'm able to walk and some I really need the crutches. And the nurses tell me the crutches won't work if I just carry them with me and don't use them..well, what do you know since you didn't even wanna give them to me in the first place?!?!?!

Anyway, that's the story of my foot so far. I am gonna go now, we have a football date with T's god daughter Carly tomorrow so I need to be well rested. Good night everyone.