Three week update: My foot is still broken and I’m still missing out on stuff

My doctor wanted to see me in three weeks, but for various scheduling reasons, I had to see him after about two weeks and two days. The news? My foot is still super broken.

In fact, the break looked even more separated in my follow-up X-Ray than it did in my initial one. That concerned me. My doctor said the angle of the X-Ray was probably slightly different and it showed the break more prominently. God, I hope so.

He wiggled my baby toe and asked me if it hurt. I felt nothing. He said that was good. He said when he wiggled it, my metatarsal was moving as one unit, which means although the bone hasn’t grown back yet, the healing process around the break to fuse it together is underway.

That appointment was almost a week ago. From my own observations, I feel like healing must be taking place. My foot has become significantly less swollen. Bruising is gone. And now, I can move my toes without any pain.

For two weeks after the break, my foot looked a bit like the foot of perhaps a dead person — I couldn’t move any of my toes. With my unbroken foot, anytime I lift it up or do anything with it, toes flex and curl naturally. But on my broken foot, nothing was happening at all. Now, about three weeks in, the foot has some life again and naturally my big toes flexes and moves on its own. That must be a good sign.

The bad news, of course, is that I still can’t walk. My doctor said in 2.5 weeks I can start to put “some weight” on my foot. I understand that to mean that with the assistance of crutches, in my boot, I can start to actually put my foot on the ground when I walk.

I probably won’t be walking-walking until the eight week mark, which means I could end up not being able to walk around NYC with my family over Thanksgiving. My brother lives there and we were all going to meet up, but what do you do in NYC other than walk a lot? We’ll see if I have to skip it or not. The thought of missing it would bum me out but what else have I missed already?

• My mom was going to visit me for 5 days and we were going to drive up to Seattle and check out sights like the Space Needle
• Several club and national team soccer matches I had been looking forward to attending, including important ones in terms of playoffs, etc.
• A meet up with colleagues and friends at the Nike headquarters

So, what’s adding Thanksgiving to the list?

My doctor seemed to think I shouldn’t feel confined to staying in my apartment. The problem is, using crutches is extremely slow and tiring to the point where it’s just more appealing to stay inside. I can go out in my wheelchair or knee scooter, but I still struggle to get in and out of doors.

It’s just slow, embarrassing and frustrating to try to do anything without bearing weight on my foot. Seriously, why does no one have automatic doors or those handicap door buttons around here? I guess because all these buildings are super old. I live right next to a post office, and even though it’s about five feet from the front door of my apartment complex, I still fumbled my way through getting in and out and I felt pathetic.

Maybe some non-weight bearing folks have been able to figure out ways to still live their lives the same way. Since I work from home, it’s just a lot easier to rest from here and get everything delivered. I am telling myself that by taking the non-weight bearing order seriously, I am helping ensure I don’t prolong the injury.

Hopefully once I can start to put some weight on my foot, I can do some basic stuff. I see the doctor again in about three weeks. Here’s hoping some bone union shows up on that X-ray!