February in A Nutshell

I can't believe how fast this month has gone by! Since I last posted I have traveled, celebrated, and payed not one, but two visits to the doctor. I've been taking pictures along the way, which I am planning to post over the next few days. 

Today, we will start with why I had to go see the doctor, twice.

Sunday, February 5th, I awoke from a nap with a sore foot. It was similar to the feeling of sleeping through the night with your arm extended and hanging over the edge of the bed. 

I didn't think much of it until Monday morning when I got out of bed, stood up and quickly sat back down saying a few choice words as my brain struggled to comprehend what had happened. I couldn't put any weight on my right foot. I managed to hobble to the bathroom and then to the sofa. Once I got to the sofa I did what anyone would do, I took a picture and posted it to Facebook.

By Tuesday, I couldn't handle the pain anymore and went to the doctor. My doctor was not there, so I saw his partner who decided it was gout. He gave me 2 Prednisone tabs (because I am allergic to NSAIDs) and a prescription of Tramadol. Told me to ice it and elevate it and sent me home. I disagreed with his diagnosis and went against his advice. Because of the pain, I HAD to wrap it in an elastic bandage. The compression helped tremendously. (That is also one of the many reasons I disagree with his diagnosis.)

The next day, it was beginning to look a little better.

The swelling had gone down a bit and the Prednisone did wonders for the inflammation. The Tramadol was taking the edge off, but I was still in a lot of pain. I could put a little more weight on it, but not much.

By the third day, the inflammation was mostly gone. I figured everything was on the mend. I was in less pain, the swelling on the top of my foot was decreasing, and I was able to walk, with my running shoes on.

By the fifth day, the top of my foot looked much, much better. The swelling in my toes and the top of my foot had decreased. However, the swelling in my ankle was worse, as was the pain. In the beginning, my ankle didn't hurt at all, just the soft tissue along the top of my foot.

I decided to wait before returning to the doctor, thinking I just needed to let things heal. Then, on Wednesday night I was in tears from the pain. It was awful, a combination of soft tissue pain and the achey bone pain from arthritis. The Tramadol wasn't even touching it. I finally was able to relax enough to fall asleep, though I kept waking up from the pain. 

I went back to the doctor yesterdsay. This time I saw my doctor and I told him everything that had happened. He had no idea what it was. (gout is still a possibility, given my familial history). He sent me to have blood drawn, I'm not sure what all we drew, but I know there was a CBC, C-RP, ANA, and Thyroid Profile. I'm sure we got a Uric Acid, and probably a Chemistry (it was hard to read the paper backwards, in Danish, and while she was moving it). In total they drew 8 tubes. I got on Monday for an xray of the ankle. 

He did change my pain medication and put me on Lyrica. I am still in a lot of pain, but with the Lyrica it's like my brain is disconnected from it. Instead of focusing on how painful it actually is, my brain gets distracted and kinda spaces out. 

Today, even after wearing my socks and shoes for support and compression and camping on the sofa with my foot elevated, it's quite swollen. 

 The pain is under control, which is helping a lot, but it's beginning to swell in my leg.

Right now I am hoping it's just something stupidly simple, like a stress fracture. I am ready to be able top get up and run around, I don't function too well when I am confined to the sofa. 

P.S.  I've got another giveaway from Joanniel Creations coming up soon!