Fourth Visit to TOC -- Cast

Today was a holiday so hubby was able to take me to TOC. We went in the Jetta. Tomorrow will be three weeks since the accident.

I got my cast so I'm elated that I won't have surgery and that I feel like I'm now in another phase of my recovery. Today he took another x-ray. The big toe metatarsal is what now has him concerned. It was more or less crushed where as the others were broken. It's all broken near a joint so he said I could have arthritis down the road, it may heal fine, it may bother me. He may recommend fusing it later which would decrease my range of motion in just that one joint but it's not that big of a deal (ie. that particular joint -- so he says). The 2nd metatarsal had him concerned after looking at the 1st x-ray 2 1/2 weeks ago. It's not aligned perfectly but he said it could heal up fine and the bone part sticking up is covered by lots of muscle and tissue so it may not be an issue. I actually have 5 breaks, 4 metatarsals, and my 3rd toe. My 4th toe was dislocated and it's looking fine on x-ray now. The 2nd & 3rd metatarsals were cleaner breaks, the 5th metatarsal more of a crack. The 1st one crushed. I think he overlooked all this on the first x-ay because the 2nd metatarsal became his focus. Anyway, I'm glad to not have surgery now. My foot is still swollen but it's getting better. It's just slow going. The cast is on for 3 weeks and that's my next doctor's visit. He'll remove the cast then and re-evaluate.

My foot was still too swollen today anyway for surgery but he said it would be fine in the cast. The swelling will just continue to go down.

He did get another opinion from another doctor in the office (his specialty is hand) and after they conferred, he said he felt like he was probably treating the x-ray and maybe not the patient. I could still have problems, even with the x-ray looking "pretty". The 1st metatarsal break sounds more disconcerting now rather than the little bone sticking up from my 2nd metatarsal.

He said there are 17 joints in my foot affected by this – another wards after my foot sits up for weeks, I'll have to rework those 17 joints. That includes the one joint possibly directly affected. Anyway, I've now experienced pain of the initial break so maybe I'll have the guts to get through it all once the time comes for therapy and weight on the foot.

My cast is orange for Grissom colors.