Busted up my foot, dammit. Docs? Got pics....

BlueSkyJaunte · 08-12-2012, 08:47 PM

Came down wrong on my foot during some horseplay a few hours ago. Felt like it folded upwards moments before it would no longer support my weight (on the big toe side) and I did a beautiful faceplant--fortunately into something soft.

Went to the doc-in-the-box (Urgent Care) immediately (it was obvious I'd broken something from the way my foot would bend!) and they photo'd and splinted it, then advised I get to an ortho ASAP. I heard the words "tarsal fracture". I'll be calling around to find an ortho tomorrow. Of course I do this on a Sunday.

Can any of you medico types make sense of these images? Personally I can see one obvious "break" but there's a lot of other stuff in there that may (or may not) be going on. Thoughts? Obviously I hold none of you responsible for what amounts to advice (professional or otherwise) given over Teh Interwebz.

Anyway, this doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would, as long as I keep my weight off it. So I have that going for me, which is nice. I wonder how much the crutches are going to cost me (high deductible health insurance

).

slodave · slodave's Garage

Not a doc, but it's not the end of the world that it happened on a Sunday. Plenty of time to go see a proper doc this week.

Buy the crutches from a medical supply store or Amazon. Amazon was selling a pair for around $25.

Good luck! Feel better.

speeder · 08-13-2012, 12:06 AM

I have a pair of crutches and maybe even brand new sheepskin cover things for the top, (if I can find them quickly), PM me you address and I'll UPS them to you tomorrow.

masraum · 08-13-2012, 02:09 AM

Most drug stores, like Walgreens and CVS also carry crutches.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

You can get crutches at Goodwill for cheap, inch or two of space between armpit and crutch, handle hits you about wrist level, weight goes on hands, not armpit.

Looks like broken medial cuneiform, gap between the medial one and the intermediate one does not look right either. Put an ace bandage on it for compression and don't put any weight on it until you go see someone. Maybe you get a cast, maybe more, driving will be awkward for a while. Where in AZ, maybe I know a local guy.

BlueSkyJaunte · 08-13-2012, 08:15 AM

Hey guys, thanks for the good wishes and offers. I should have been clearer, I actually left the urgent care with a pair of crutches. They fitted them to me and told me how to use them. They also splinted me up with three bandages and some sort of plaster thing. l'm just wondering what that "service" is gonna cost me.

Tobra, many thanks for the pro bono consult.

I'm in the Chandler area and have an appt with a guy named Freestone. I'm hoping for an aggressive approach to this since I just spent the past two weeks training daily at the dojo to pass my 3rd dan test last Saturday. When the folks from Japan come to town we all bust our asses to make sure their trip isn't a waste of time! Well, at least I did this after they left...

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

More than likely a ligament tear or stretch but Tobra is the expert on feet. From what you described it sounded like soft tissue. I don't see any fx's either...

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

If you look closely at the bottom two films, you can see the bone at the base of the first metatarsal is cracked, gap at the base mets 1+2 is too wide, maybe a little avulsion fracture, ligament avulsed a little piece off the bone.

On second look, that is into the joint. They have these conical shaped headless screws that would be just the ticket for that thing. How the he!! did you do that?

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

That is the area I thought didn't look quite right but I'm not used to human films...I still can't see the fx though. The gap of 4+5 is wide too. You're the foot Doc so I go with what you think

There is a small triangular 'defect' in the tarsal bone above the large toe met 1 but I dunno if that's anything ? On another look, that's what you saw I guess... should heal w/o invasion if kept stable...eg.. a boot. ? Were it a dog I'd cast it for 4 to six weeks.

BlueSkyJaunte · 08-13-2012, 11:02 AM

As for how, pure talent.

Let's just say I missed my dismount...badly. And that I will be staying off trampolines in the future.

Doc (pod) took new films and says medial cuneiform fracture with possible Lisfranc tear. Ordered an MRI to get more detail on the ligament and see if a screw is in order. He took films of my left foot too so he could compare cuneiform spacing. He says the spacing on the right doesn't look too bad (compared to my intact left) but wants the MRI to make certain. Now we play the waiting game on my insurance to see if they authorize the MRI. They put me in a boot (which feels like it is made of concrete) and sent me home. Definitely going to do whatever is necessary to get this healed 100%.

Thanks for the info, Tobra...it's always good to have an ace in your pocket even if you don't need to use it.

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

Well at least you got a good solid diagnosis... Yes, the boots are a PIA...been there myself. Hope you get it fixed soon... Stupid Human tricks are my specialty too

BlueSkyJaunte · 08-13-2012, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drdogface

Stupid Human tricks are my specialty too

Yeah, I'm old enough to know better but not old enough to control my moronic impulses.

rfuerst911sc · 08-13-2012, 02:50 PM

What was your score from the judges on the dismount ?

BlueSkyJaunte · 08-14-2012, 07:47 AM

8.95. On the Richter scale!

vash · vash's Garage

feeling better?

my neighbor got stomped by a farm pig and she did the same damage..she said she had to crawl to the bathroom the first time, which drove her to the doc.

she was surprised to find her foot not broken.

BlueSkyJaunte · 08-15-2012, 02:25 PM

Pain was pretty bad on Monday, took some Percocet and that pretty much wiped me out for 48 hours.

The pain is tolerable but annoying today. I've switched from crutches to rolling around on this cart like scooter thing that I rest my right knee on. It's humiliating but the crutches just weren't working out. I have to travel over 100 yards just to get to the restroom from my desk--to say nothing of getting to the cafeteria or meetings in various conference rooms.

Tomorrow I have an MRI for a better look at the Lisfranc ligament, then a follow-up with the doc on Monday. I have this sneaking suspicion I'll be "borderline" for surgery (screws) to hold the whole thing together. I'll let you folks know as soon as I know.

6 weeks of this....I may lose what little I have left of my mind.

Drdogface · Drdogface's Garage

Feel for you Bro. When I was still in practice in SF in a house call practice I had one of those boots I had to wear cuz of a broken sesamoid bone in my left foot. Small bone but it hurt and at times I had to climb up to the fourth floor in some of these old Victorian apt bldgs. My car was an auto so I could still drive. Hope you can get a handle on the pain.. No sick leave at work ?

BlueSkyJaunte · 08-15-2012, 02:42 PM

Appreciate the sympathy. And I have a new-found appreciation for Tobra.

Well, I took Mon and Tues off. If I really wanted to press the issue, I could work from home, but then my wife translates that as being available for babysitting while she goes out to run errands.

In the end I'm as comfortable at my desk as I am anywhere else. The big problem is that I have to keep all weight off this foot for 6 weeks. That's "easy" enough now - it hurts like blazes when I so much as bump it lightly - but it'll be really hard to remember once it stops hurting.

Superman · 08-15-2012, 07:46 PM

Looks fine to me. But then "I'm a labor relations consultant Jim, not a doctor."

Quote:

Originally Posted by masraum

Most drug stores, like Walgreens and CVS also carry crutches.

Thrift stores do too.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

Those roll-a-bout scooters are pretty cool.

DO NOT put that foot on the floor for a month and a half, even when it feels better next week. Use compression, ice and elevate it, at least you can undo that boot and scratch your itches. You want it elevated enough that if you were wearing a pair of those rubber boots, that for some reason I picture OJU as wearing often, and they were full of water, the water runs up your leg. Had a lady that a horse stepped on her foot, giving her a very similar injury, except the 2nd metatarsal was a bit displaced at its base, so kind of worse, and she healed up just fine without surgery. She was a barrel racer though, so no doubt tougher than anyone that comes around here, except maybe Angela.