I went to the orthopaedist yesterday, full of hope. I know it takes 6-8 weeks for bones to heal; I know the accident happened only (only?) five weeks ago. But still– miracles happen.
A doctor I’ve never seen before came in first, and he pulled at my foot and asked if it hurt. Sometimes it did, and sometimes it didn’t, I told him. Then I had x-rays because- honestly!- who knows what’s really going on in there. And then My Doctor came in.
He put the x-ray up on the screen, and it looked to me as though my foot was completely fine. In fact, I asked a Really Stupid Question: “Is that my foot?” The answer I deserved: No, Idiot, that’s the picture of what your foot is supposed to look like; now we’ll show you the Mess that is Your Foot.
The answer I got: Yes. The realization I had: my foot is not broken where I thought it was broken. I thought the break was near the base of my toes. Turns out the break is almost at the middle of my foot, where the bones come together. When I looked more carefully- in the Right Place- at the x-ray, it was Abundantly Clear that My Foot Is Still Broken.
I am not of interest to my doctor. Mine is not an interesting case, not an interesting break. He wanted to do surgery; he wanted to put screws and bolts in my foot to hold ligaments in place. No Such Luck. So he told me as quickly as was politely possible that I have to start putting weight on my foot and wear a special wooden shoe and come back in four weeks.
That was That.
And so now I have a special wooden shoe that is Just Plain Ugly. Truly, the best description I can give you is that it looks like a giant orthopaedic band-aid with velcro straps. But at least it’s a neutral color, so it will go with my outfit. All of them.
And now I can put weight on my foot, and have actually done some walking Without Crutches, and the freedom is at once so new and so familiar that I vacillate between tears of gratitude and tears of annoyance because the cat threw up again and I have no excuse not to clean it up.
This means many things, among which is the beautiful fact that God has designed the human body to heal itself, and that my body is doing its job. Praise Him. And it also means that my left leg, which has become increasingly atrophied, can now begin to do a little work. And that my right leg, which has done all the work, can now begin to relax a little.
In honor of this new development and of the coming change, I give you the following measurements:
left thigh: 17.75 inches; right thigh: 19 inches
left calf: 11.75 inches; right calf: 12.5 inches
I have to admit I’m pleasantly surprised at the numbers. I thought the disparity would be a lot worse.
It looks Ridiculous.
