It's kind of funny reading my last two blog posts as I feel they kind of lead into what is plaguing me right now. I had posted at my last half about how bad my left leg hurt during the race. And then my last blog was about me resting since my body was aching in places that it hadn't before. Which all leads to my bum leg story...
On July 1, I woke up with horrible pain in my left hip. Horrible. I went to the chiro and he adjusted me and I felt slightly better but not much. The girls each had friends over on Saturday and we went bowling, but I sat out as my hip was in so much pain. I remember waking up that Saturday night in intense pain, hobbled down the hall and took a handful of Tylenol. I took it easy all day Sunday but was still in a lot of pain.
Monday was the 4th of July and I am on the town committee that puts on a big 4th celebration. I got there Monday morning to help decorate and realized my left big toe was now hurting in addition to my hip. It was a weird pain and I hobbled around setting up. The big event was Monday night and I was on my feet a lot. By the time fireworks started, I couldn't even hardly stand. I tried to help clean up/tear down, but at that point the pain was almost unbearable and they forced me to go home.
I woke up Tuesday and called the chiro immediately. He treated my hip pain but was at a loss about my foot pain. Wednesday morning my foot was throbbing and very swollen, so he told me to call my doctor. I couldn't even wear a shoe! I went to the doctor and she said it sounds like either gout or a hairline fracture. She treated it like gout to see if that would fix the problem. I got a painful steroid shot and was put on prednisone. The shot offered some relief and I felt better Thursday.
But by Friday, the pain was back. It was a long and painful weekend with a lot of throbbing foot pain and my knee was starting to feel numb as well. I called the doctor first thing Monday and they sent me in for a foot x-ray. I hobbled around all day Monday and Tuesday and the swelling came back and now both my foot and knee were aching. The x-ray came back negative, so they gave me another steroid shot and sent me in for an MRI on my foot. At this point, my knee is now the more painful joint. The MRI showed nothing (of course).
Friday was an okay day and I was looking forward to a weekend with friends at the lake. The girls were with my parents and we were with 3 other couples. Friday night my knee and calf started to swell and I was in a lot of pain again, but it was manageable.
But...I woke up Saturday morning around 4am in the worst pain yet. I could not get comfortable and moved around the cabin from sofa, to chair, to recliner and back to bed. I took a pain pill and was able to sleep from about 6-8. When I woke up at 8, the pain was horrible and I literally could not walk on that leg. I couldn't put any pressure on my foot at all. My knee was even more swollen than in the picture above.
Jeff and my friends insisted I go to the ER. We got there a little before 9. I should have ate, but didn't. They admit me and I wait for the doctor. I see him, he orders blood work, an IV and an entire leg x-ray. They start to take me to X-Ray and then realize they need a pregnancy test before they will x-ray my hip, so I had to pee in a cup and go back and wait for the results. And then the ER got busy. I had a young girl with seizures and a possible heart attack guy both get checked in and out while I was waiting (he didn't have a heart attack). They kind of forgot about me (I was low priority) but laying with my leg straight out on the hospital bed was horrible. I finally got a nurse and asked for a way to prop up my leg and to see if I could get pain meds. The pain meds helped a lot and I napped off and on for the next few hours. The x-ray, blood work and urine all came back fine- they said it definitely was not gout, blood clot, infection, etc. So the doctor wanted to get the joint fluid to test it. They stuck a huge needle in my leg and sucked out healthy joint fluid. Which is a good thing, but they cant figure out what the heck is wrong!!
The ER doc said I need to go see a rheumatologist but my regular doctor has to refer me. So Monday morning, I call the doctor and they don't freaking call me back with a referral until Thursday!! And I cant get in until August 10th.
So, where I am at right now- the swelling is staying down somewhat, but I am in a lot of pain. The mornings are the worst and I typically wake up every morning in bad pain and barely able to walk. However, the more I stay active, the better it seems to feel, at least for that day. They have no clue what is wrong but think it is something auto immune.
It's not a fun waiting game. I am itching to get back to running and working out. This sucks.
No comments:
Post a Comment