I immediately asked for a change of therapy closer to my home. I was switched to Aquatic Rehab inside the Bally Fitness on Bundy. Jean was my new Therapist, a lovely young woman who is joyful, loves to do massage and talk about movies. I stretch my legs and feet, get ultrasound, ice and electrical stimulation and massage. It feels good but once I begin to walk, my legs and feet hurt more. So, during this two week period, my feet didn't get better, just progessively worse with some days better than others. At the two week marker, I visited the original doctor I had gone to who said in a rather boisterous tone, "What the heck are you doing here?" I said, "You scheduled an appointment with me." To which he said, "No, you should be seeing the podiatrist." To which I replied, "I called twice and this office said it had not been approved." To which he flipped through his files to see if I had called. There were notes to this affect and he said, "Go see the podiatrist now!" He yelled at the secretaries, stomped into his office and slammed the door. He then made a phone call and was yelling and screaming. All I could do was breathe and laugh. I was to see the podiatrist that afternoon. The podiatrist was a young guy, smart and quick. When I told him what happened, he squinted his eyes way back into his head and watched me. He held my two feet, tapped them in various places and said, "you don't have plantar fascitis. You have Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome and maybe something else. You need cortisone shots to reduce inflammation and stop the pain." I told him I was a hesitant about taking cortisone, I was not familiar with it. If it has side-effects, I will get them. I told him I would rather take an herbal equivelant. He laughed a short laugh and said, "Herbs have side-effects, too." I told him that I had not had any side-effects from any herb ever ingested. But that I had with western medication. He informed me that the cortisone would help me and it was in my best interest to take it. My feet, he said, would be painfree in two days. No one had ever gotten side-effects from the cortisone he had administered and, he also said he gave the best cortisone shots of any doctor. I got the impression and I don't know if this is true or not, that if I didn't take the cortisone, it would look like I was rejecting healing and my worker's compensation case would be denied. So, I accepted, laid down and took the cortisone shots, one in each foot at the calcaneal-cuboid (ankle) area. It hurt terribly. He said I'd be out of pain and back to work. Two hours later, while at work performing modified duties (folding towels, staring at the ceiling, cleaning bottles) my feet turned red, swelled two times their size and were in deep pain. Ice did not alleviate the problem, so I went home and massaged my feet. The following day, I could not walk at all and my ankles were swollen and deeply painful. I called the podiatrist who informed me that 1 in 50 patients have reactions and it's usually only for two days and then you'll be back to normal. He had me do contrast baths, 8 minutes in hot water, 8 in cold water, alternating 3 times for a total of 48 minutes. I did this and my feet just swelled even more. After soaking, I massaged with a special St. John's Wort salve made by my friend and licensed acupuncturist and herbalist, Debra Maghen (check out her link on the first page!). This calmed my feet. Three days and four and five days passed, and my feet were in excruciating pain. I bought some insoles, Power Step (Super feet are highly recommended!) My feet loved them and the pain lessened when I walked. The pain was now slowly moving up the insides of my legs and up to my knee. It was tender to the touch. I visited the Podiatrist again, he did not look at my feet and he said, "you will be fine, i will put in a perscription for more physical therapy and orthotics and a visit to a neurologist." He gave me the perscription and I made another appointment for three more weeks. As the days passed, I noticed my legs were getting worse, I found it hard to walk normally or at all. I had to run all my errands in the morning because by late afternoon, my feet would be swollen and deeply painful. I spent this time in deep depression, crying all the time wondering why this was happening to me and why was the medical care so slow? I didn't have the funds to see another doctor and with no insurance, I had to wait. I told this to myself like a mantra. A few days later, I rolled my pant legs up to massage them and noticed my lower legs were smaller, much smaller. Not much but noticeably smaller. I didn't think too much about it. Meanwhile, I felt my feet get worse, even though physical therapy felt good in the moment, if I walked at all, they would continue with new and more intense pain. The podiatrist had diagnosed me with Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome, Plantar Fascitis (of which he said I didn't have) and Peripheral Vascular Disorder (a thinning of the arteries which can indicate artheriorsclerosis or other problems with the heart of body) on the physical therapy perscription. I dropped to the floor and cried. Was I going to die? Was my heart giving out on me? What made him diagnose this? I didn't ask him any of these questions, nor did I ask him if he every looked at my x-rays (which I have found out, he didn't and neither did the first doctor I saw, as the x-rays lay between us, he never looked at one. I did, however.) I just took doctor's orders. Another week had passed and my pain was unbearable. That day I received a letter stating that there was a delay in my case, for 90 days. I contacted the number listed on the paper for questions to be answered. No one contacted me. I called the insurance adjuster four times in three days and it took the fifth call of threats to have her contact me in fifteen flat minutes. She said she felt sorry for my condition and she wished she could help me but her hands were tied behind her back. She had to wait for an answer from the appeals board. A long drawn out process that takes weeks from the first request to the answer. Meanwhile, if the patient is in pain or suffering, needs surgery or something, they are out of luck. Many people on worker's compensation don't have the money to pay for their bills, rent, families if left out of work for 30 days (the time where you MUST see your job's doctor to determine if your injury is work related). After this time, you can see any doctor you want. If your case is accepted, they will pay for the medical bills. So, worker's compensation, while helpful for some people, takes months before you could get the proper medical care, and compensated for your time off work. Some insurance carriers will not process an injury that happened on the job. This is true. So, instead of waiting for the mail to deliver a list of attorney's from the worker's compensation court, I drove there. Men in suits were standing outside the courtrooms. I approached one and asked if he was a lawyer. He said he was and I asked him if he would help me. He is now my attorney. Three days later, I received a letter from worker's compensation saying my claim was accepted, however, only my medical bills would be paid and milage to and from doctor appointments and physical therapy. This had been 30 days with only physical therapy and cortisone shots. The attorney sent me to his doctor, an orthopedic specialist. He checked my feet thoroughly, took a thorough case study of my injury. He was baffled at why the podiatrist had said I had tarsal tunnel syndrome without looking at any x-rays or ordering an MRI. He said I did not have Peripheral Vascular Disorder, as there was a good pulse in my feet (I had checked this, too from the internet and found I had a good strong pulse, but the podiatrist didn't touch my feet). The Orthopedic doctor said I had tendonitis and plantar fasicits. I took some x-rays and he found my 3rd metatarsal bone fused together with my tarsal bone. And some other perhaps congenital issues in the exact area where the podiatrist nabbed me with the cortisone shots. He also said some of my symptoms mimicked Sympathetic Reflex Dystrophy, a reaction to an injury where a nerve has been damaged (you can get it from other related health issues, but this is a common way). He then said, "I can't determine if you have any of these things, we need an MRI, CAT scan and EMG to check deeper. All these labels made my head spin. Do not be attached to a label, I heard myself saying. You are not a label, you have something that is being tested in your life, follow it and move through it. My test appointment is in one week. He perscribed more physical therapy and acupuncture. So, now, I could see my good friend Debra!
Stay tuned for updates as we find out what's unfolding.
