Two years, five months—

Hello fellow Lisfrancers and other readers of this almost defunct blog. It has been some time since my last update. I sometimes receive updates that my ‘stats are booming’ so I know there are still people out there (binge) reading this. That makes me very happy and I hope some of the information contained in these pages is helpful. There have been several times when I’ve wanted to write. Life gets in the way. As far as my injury goes, let’s recap quickly:

June 10, 2013 is when I suffered my Lisfranc injury. Three weeks of doctor’s appointments, MRI’s and surgery consultation led to surgery. I had ORIF (open reduction internal fixation) surgery on July 5, 2013. Three screws were inserted. I started physical therapy in late October. January 17, 2014 I had surgery to have the hardware removed. I went to physical therapy again through the end of April and met one last time with my surgeon in May. It has been two years and five months since that fateful day. So, how is my foot now?

They say no news is good news. That is not the case. I am the harbinger of bad news that I have not shared until now. I went for a much needed hike the weekend before last. It was a fairly basic hike; 6 miles and an elevation gain of just 600 feet. I knew my foot would be sore and I iced, elevated and took ibuprofen after the hike. The next day I was in a great deal of pain. I tried wearing my custom made orthotics that I used after I had my first stress fracture (2006) for part of the day. If anything, I think they made my foot worse. I have had a pronounced limp for the past week due to unrelenting pain. It has been so bad I got out my boot (air cast) to walk in, as I was afraid that I had a stress fracture. The fact is, since June 10, 2013 I have not had a day go by with out pain in my foot.

I will let you in on a secret; chronic pain is not good for your health—physical or mental. It reduces grey matter in the brain and is known to cause “depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, and decision making abnormalities”. Fun stuff, for sure! Not. That, combined with a great deal of other stress I was experiencing earlier this year sent me into a crisis. It was…calamitous. Luckily, I have extensive experience in this area so I was able to get the help I needed without much rigmarole. In the last few months I have been focusing on restoring my health and finding a solution for the chronic pain.

My first thought was that I was having problems with tight fascia. I first tried fascia-releasing techniques at Red Mountain when I was in Utah in January with a method called M.E.L.T. I was hiking every day and my foot was quite sore. After one session, it felt much better. It makes sense that the fascia would be tight since the surgery cut into it and there is scar tissue there now. The pain in my foot is accompanied by swelling and redness most of the time. When I returned home, I had more success loosening my fascia when I went to a yoga mobility class at Iron Root Studio. (Best studio ever, BTW!!) The mobility in my foot increased after working on it with a tennis ball. I have tried these techniques off and on at home for the last few months. Consistency, as always, is my biggest difficulty.

Due to financial constraints, I am no longer a member of Iron Root. I have been researching other free options and exercises to help strengthen my foot. I believe the problems are tight fascia, a lack of flexibility and mobility and lack of strength. I do not think I ever returned to the level of performance I was at before the accident. I will not be able to do simple things like go for a hike without pain if I do not do the rehabilitation needed to gain back strength, flexibility and mobility. I found a free video online at GMB that focuses on foot and ankle mobility.

My goal is to do this at least three times a week to start. Another program I have found is Katy Bowman’s plethora of videos. She has movement restoration for every part of the body. She is a biomechanist and really knows her stuff. If I had the money, I’d love to have a consultation with her as I believe my biomechanics are quite horked. (Yes, I believe that is the technical term.)

My goals for the rest of the year are to focus on eating clean and getting plenty of protein and vegetables in my diet; rehabilitating my foot with mobility exercises as well as the rest of my body with mobility, yoga, strength training and a sprint once a week. (On the bike, my foot is not ready for sprinting.) I want to return to daily walking once the swelling and pain in my foot has subsided. I really hope that I have not somehow reinjured myself. Going to the doctor is not an option. And I know that if I did sustain a stress fracture, the treatment is the boot for 6-8 weeks so I pretty much have myself covered. As I’ve stated before, my goal is to move freely throughout the world.

I have to take responsibility for healing myself if I want to reach my other goals in life. I cannot work as a CTRS in a wilderness setting if I cannot walk without extreme pain. Some good news is I am doing very well in my classes thus far. I am maintaining my A average and have about three weeks left in this semester. I am continuing my volunteer work at two places and am working on a couple more. Next semester will be my last of course work and next summer and fall I will complete my two internships. I am in the process of deciding where I want to apply for internships. It is an exciting time as I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I will graduate this time next year! It will be great to be able to work with people daily and free myself from the ivory tower I’ve been confined to while completing this online coursework. I have learned that if I ever decide to attend school again, it will definitely not be online. It is too much working in a vacuum and an isolated existence. I learn much more effectively in person, able to interact with the professor and have and the stimulation from other students. One of the biggest overarching themes that has run through all my classes this semester is that having human interaction and social support is essential to well being.

Alas, I must return to my schoolwork. I hope you have found this update interesting. If anyone with a Lisfranc injury has any advice on chronic pain or would like to share their after-surgery experience, I would be delighted—especially if you are two years or more post injury. I think a certain amount of pain is expected. I wonder how others cope and if there is a solution I am missing. I ice and use ibuprofen but that doesn’t seem to help all that much. I am fairly convinced orthotics just support weak feet instead of making them stronger. In 2006, I wore the orthotics everyday for over a year and I always had pain in my foot. It was only after I quit wearing them the pain finally subsided. I am going to follow my instinct to loosen my fascia, strengthen my foot and focus on mobility and flexibility. I will report back. Until then: May you be well. May you be happy. May you be free from suffering.

Run, Run, Run!

Another update is in order as I’ve made great strides with the rehabilitation of my foot in the past few weeks. (Yes, pun intended—always!) The big news is: I’ve started running! This is something I doubted I would be able to do. In fact, a year ago at this time, I was still going to physical therapy after getting my screws removed and feeling pretty frustrated. I was at the point where I thought I would always be in pain and never able to run again. I will admit I do have daily discomfort with my foot. It is mostly sore or stiff rather than the pain I used to have. It has become the norm and I have learned to live with it. I have found that when I am inactive, it gets just as sore as when I am active so why not be active and enjoy the things I love to do? Which brings us back to running.

Rehab a New Way: How to Rebuild Your Life

This update has been rolling around in my head and it is high time to publish it! I want to get this information out there as I have started a new, busy time in my life. First, let us revisit the foot, the reason I started this blog. As I have written before, I am able to do much of what I sought to do after my surgery. I still cannot run nor can I bend my foot completely into a lunge without a little help first. I can lunge; I just can’t yet step back into a full lunge. I also can run, make that jog, sort of. At the end of the year I began experimenting with adding short intervals of jogging on the treadmill so I could control the surface and speed. I only got up to about 5 minutes of running and not consecutively. I would run one minute and then walk 30 seconds. This is progress! Ultimately, I’d like to be able to sprint. I’ve been more focused on walking, and strength and mobility training than running. (Or jogging, I should really say!) I believe I could build up to jog a 5k later this year. I may work that in to my longer-term goals.

The Anniversary Post

It’s my one year anniversary today. Last year at this time I was driving myself home crying and hoping I hadn’t just done something horrible to my foot. I knew I had.

I’ve learned in the last year to pay attention to my intuition. It is right most–if not all–of the time.

This is my first post written right in WordPress–no editing, just writing right in the ‘Add New Post’ section. I thought I might have something prolific to say today. Currently, I am too exhausted to write prolifically. It’s raining outside now. Hard. Wind. Thunder. Lightning. A storm is passing over literally and metaphorically. It has for a long time now. I am weathering it. Metamorphosis is happening. There is more to say, now is not the time to write it.

So, that’s my anniversary post. The shortest and least thought out ever. Thank you for reading, whomever you are. I am amazed that I have over 3,100 views from 43 different countries. I would never have imagined my words reaching so many people so far and wide. It’s really amazing. I’m ready for more.

Happy Anniversary, Lisfranc.

Pain, Lamentations and the Phoenix…

Hi ho, friends, it’s been a long time and I’m here with an update on the foot and whatnot: I’ve just arrived home and Vlad is out on the back porch caterwauling and I am feeling the same inside. I had a wonderful afternoon with unexpected graciousness from co-workers and friends; followed by a delicious dinner with other wonderful friends. So, why would I feel like caterwauling? My foot. Let me start at the beginning—well, at least the beginning of today.

What the hell?

I woke somewhat sleepily but early enough to know that I could fit my HIIT session in today even though I didn’t really want to do it. I got up anyway, put my workout clothes on and walked up to the clubhouse. I saw my neighbor that let me borrow the knee

Some Perspective on This Week

It has been a tough week this week. Don’t get me wrong; many things have gone absolutely wonderfully. There are opportunities popping up that are quite amazing and unexpected. I am thankful for them even if they do give me the willies and I will have to make some big decisions in the next few months. Most of the difficulty this week comes from my foot.

I had surgery to get my hardware removed—three screws—last Friday 1/17/13. If you read that blog, you know that my surgeon told me that I could walk out of the hospital after surgery. It’s been a week and I’ve had pain every day. Not just a little pain, quite a lot of pain. Enough pain that I am still taking Percocet or Vicodin because

Musings After Surgery, I am Not a Noun, Resolutions

01/17/2014: FRIDAY PM: I get home from surgery and gingerly hop and shuffle to the back room to retrieve my old friends, the CRUTCHES! Fortunately, since I changed out the handles, I will not be reunited with the messy offspring of crutch dust. I had a strong suspicion that I would not be walking out of surgery and around the house like I normally do despite what my surgeon predicted. As soon as I came out of anesthesia, my foot hurt. I was visited by a few of the wicked electric jolts before sweet Glenda gave me the Fentanyl. Thank goodness for painkillers!

In general, I would say I have a pretty high pain threshold. I’ve been in pain everyday for the past 8 months, ranging, on a scale

Hardware Removal Surgery Update Part 1

So here I am, back on the couch, foot elevated. And what better thing to do than to update my blog? I had surgery yesterday to take my hardware out. I arrived at 9:45AM, fifteen minutes before my 10AM appointment and checked in and had a seat in one of the comfortable club chairs in the lobby. I had brought a magazine and had my cell phone so figured I would amuse myself with those while I waited. A half an hour went by and nothing. I was freezing so my mom said I could use her coat. I curled up underneath it and read. After an hour, I went back up to reception and asked what was going on. They said they knew I was there, things must be taking longer than usual. I said, ok and sat back down.

I caught up on Facebook since I hadn’t been on it most of the week and read some of my magazine. By the second hour,

Standing On My Own Two Feet

I met with my surgeon yesterday. He completely blew my mind. He came in smiling and said, I want to show you your xrays you just had. I said, ok and looked at them. To me, they didn’t look all that different. I guess I do not have a future in radiology. He was beaming and told me they looked great! Do you see how the bones

What I Want: Part Two

Hope I didn’t leave you hanging there for too long. Hahaha! I also hope you enjoyed the bungee jump.
On with the list! Here’s 51-100 of What I Want!

51. I want to spelunk.
52. I want to jump for joy.
53. I want to cook for hours.
54. I want to put on my boogie shoes and boogie with you.
55. I want to kickbox.
56. I want to jog a 5k.
57. I want to carry a package inside.
58. I want to skip.
59. I want to play hopscotch.
60. I want to stand and deliver! Preferably with a saucy Englishman dressed in leather trousers and makeup. Hmm, kind of like this:

61. I want to go on safari.
62. I want to ride my bike around town.
63. I want to do warrior poses.
64. I want to sprint.
65. I want to hula-hoop.
66. I want to spread my toes.
67. I want to boogie board.
68. I want to jump in the waves.
69. I want to do a cannonball.
70. I want to do it all standing on two feet.
71. I want to walk across a fallen log.
72. I want to jump on a trampoline.
73. I want to walk up and down stairs.
74. I want to skeet shoot.
75. I want to do a full plank.
76. I want to do push ups on my toes.
77. I want to pick up a pencil with my toes.
78. I want to walk down the up escalator.
79. I want to wheel my bag through the airport to somewhere fabulous.
80. I want to climb mountains.
81. I want to snorkel in the ocean.
82. I want to get a foot massage.
83. I want to do sun salutations.
84. I want to do the crab walk.
85. I want to do the bear walk.
86. I want to mountain bike.
87. I want to play leap frog.
88. I want to tumble.
89. I want to balance on a curb.
90. I want to take a shower.
91. I want to play frisbee.
92. I want to play charades.
93. I want to do my Indoboard exercises.
94. I want to climb on a jungle gym.
95. I want to walk through a festival.
96. I want to do whatever I please with the greatest of ease.
97. I want to get a pedicure.
98. I want to complete field training from institutions like IWLS, and NOLS.
99. I want to be fully functional.
100. I want to move freely in the world I inhabit.

Yes, I want all that and to pronk evermore. Unfortunately, I have to Wait. For. It. Sorry, no funny Barney Stinson line on that one. My patience is running thin. I feel a little like Pete Shelley when he asks:

What Do I Get?

Fear not, dear readers, for there is plenty that I can do and will get! I’ve been a busy bee and haven’t had too much time for lamentations. I will keep updating you on all the irons in the fire and what I’m creating. Plenty of hope, excitement and inspiration going on in this part of the blogosphere! The next post should be another good time…