For the past two weeks I’ve been having pain in my right foot and heel. It felt kind of like the plantar fasciitis that I had back in 2017 that took a year to heal.
I suspected there were several causes:
- In an effort to improve my swimming times, I’ve been pushing hard off the wall for the last month or so.
- After drumming, my right calf, foot and achilles are often stiff and achy. Likely from overuse and repetitive motion.
- I was attempting to deepen my downward dog stretches during yoga. I likely overstretched the fascia in both feet.
So for the the past week, I switched things up.
I purchased and wore more supportive shoes with better arch support and cushioning. I took a break from drumming for several days. I stopped pushing off the wall with any intensity when swimming.
My left foot seemed to improve to 100%. My right foot was still tender, but getting better.
Until yesterday.
I was feeling great. My right foot was tender, but felt about 75%. When suddenly, I wobbled doing a one legged yoga pose and I heard (and felt) something pop in my right foot. I collapsed on the floor in pain.
Since then, I have had an extremely difficult time walking. The pain is intense. I can only put 50% of my weight on my foot and only when I keep it help at a rigid 90 degree angle.
Google searches indicate I have most likely torn my inferior extensor retinaculum tendon. If this is the case, I’m fucked.
The treatment is surgery, followed by casting for 6 weeks, then rehab for 6 weeks then recovery eventually. It looks like a 6 month process.
Right now, I can barely walk the dogs for 5 minutes. When I do, I’m shuffling slowly in pain. The multiple daily hour long dog walks that were my norm are impossible.
I’m seeing an orthopedic doctor next week for a consultation. I suspect he will do a quick assessment and then order an Xray, an ultrasound and an MRI to confirm the tear.
Then, I expect to have surgery scheduled.
At best, he might say I do not need surgery. If that’s the case, I expect to be in a walking boot for weeks, if not months.
I am so disappointed.
Since I settled down in Raleigh after my wife died I’ve had 2 hernia operations and 1 major root canal. Now this.
I still don’t have health insurance because it is not affordable and doesn’t make financial sense. But that doesn’t make it easier when I shell out tens of thousands of dollars each year for these surgeries.
Plus, up until this point, I felt I was reaching the best physical condition of my life. I was lean, strong and fit. My shoulder injury had healed after a year of pain. My elbow bursitis had gone away after more than 3 months.
And now this.
Fuck me.
Some days I wish I was already dead.
But I’m not. And I have no intention of killing myself over a torn tendon.
After all, it’s not like my wife has incurable, malignant and aggressive lung cancer spreading through her body – that she is suffering prolonged pain while the health system milks our insurance by scheduling ineffective surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation treatments and tests – only for her to die a horrible death after suffering needlessly. All the while I do my best to be her husband, caretaker and advocate as I witness her suffer and die.
Oh wait…that already happened.
So this isn’t the worst thing that can happen.
It is just a torn tendon – or if I’m really lucky, just a pulled tendon. I’m pretty sure it can be fixed.