Foot Injuries
Yes, I know about foot injuries. I have managed one every even year starting in 2004. So far, in 2012, no foot injuries for me . . . knock on wood. Bear in mind that it my 2010 injury didn't occur until the second weekend in December.
To the left is a picture of me at work with my broken foot (and possibly capsulitis, tailors bunion and bone bruise - which usually happens with a fracture anyway) in 2006.
This one isn't part of the even year curse, exactly - but in the fall of 1996, two night before a handbell concert at college (that I was - and did - to perform in), and the night before a paper for my Austen Seminar class was due - I fell off an upper bunk bed (which had no ladder) in attempt to reach down to my desk to get a book to read for the Austen class. I heard the bone snap. My Austen professor was great about the whole thing. . . since I didn't have a car, she would pick me up and give me a ride to class! It was my first broken bone ever.
In early June of 2004, I tripped down the curb outside of the library where I worked at that time. I was on my break. In an effort to stop myself from falling on my face, I planted my left foot in place while the rest of me went over. Not the smartest idea, apparently. It took eight weeks for the fracture to heal. Fortunately I didn't need surgery (it was fifth metatarsal, and almost in the "Jones" area, which usually requires surgery.) Unfortunately, it was during the Summer Reading Program I was running, and lots of related programs and events I was doing. It might have healed faster if I had some time to literally put my foot up.
Back to the summer of 2006: My husband (almost, at the time) had a large, heavy suitcase full to the brim with huge medical books. It was sitting in the middle of the living room floor in the apartment we'd just moved into together. I didn't realize it was there when I ran my foot into it. The pain was brilliant. However, once I iced it (with frozen peas, of course), it didn't seem too bad. I could walk on my foot, mostly, which some discomfort. (And when we went to visit Philadelphia soon after, it felt like something completely snapped. . . but I digress.) It kept feeling like something was moving around in there, though, and like I was being bitten, among other sensations. My husband is in the medical field, and he has a tuning fork (good for neurological exams, for instance). I found online that a fracture can be discovered through a tuning fork (the vibration causes pain._ My husband tried this method on me before I went to see a doctor, and wow! That was something I'd never experienced before. The pain made me scream. I had no idea the vibration of a tuning could cause such excruciating pain that would take hours to dull back down. This was my right foot.
Summer of 2008: We moved to Tucson. I ran my left foot into the metal frame of our small futon. I only broke my fourth toe. . . although the bruising went all the way down (up?) to my ankle and the doctor was sure that I'd broken another metatarsal.
December 2010: I wasn't holding onto the railing of the stairs in our apartment and was also not wearing shoes. I slid down the stairs, flew through the air, and landed very hard very steps later. My left foot felt numb for a few hours - basically fractured (with a nice large bone bruise, all of which showed up on the MRI they finally did a month later) my left medial sesamoid (that area under your big toe that bears 60% or more of your weight with each and every step you take). I also did something to one of the nerves, and had tarsel tunnel syndrome as well. The pain from all of this woke me up at night for weeks . . . even if the sheet touched that area of my foot. With a baby, it was hard to stay off of my foot like I was told to do.
I was also told that it (the bone bruise particularly) might take up to a year to heal, since I couldn't really stay off of it, with my son running around. It did, in fact, take 10 MONTHS to heal. I finally could get back to running just this past November. In 2011, I was in a boot for 14 weeks, and probably could have done more since it did take some of the pressure off of that area of my foot. I think my doctor took some pity on me. The physical therapist I saw used electrical stimulation (or some such thing) heal the tarsel tunnel syndrome.
By the way, the tuning fork came in handy again for this injury. The pain made me jump at first with the intensity. Now that it is healed, I feel nothing but vibrations.
I don't know that I have a true point to all of this, except that I am trying not to be superstitious about this year. It is going to be a good year, with no silly (and frustrating) injuries to mess it up.
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