The Foot, Part II

After seven weeks and one day after the injury to the foot, C declared she was healing and turning a corner.  I almost cancelled the appointment with pediatric orthopedics, but decided not too. It was the following week and just shy of eight weeks from injury date.  I am so glad I kept that appointment.  The orthopedist looked at the x-ray and saw a small hairline fracture in the lateral metatarsal of her foot.  Along with some severe tendonitites of the small tendon from that bone to the growth plate of the foot.  A common area of injury in active kids.  She was indeed set back by lack of treatment in her foot for the first two weeks.  Perhaps the tendonities might not have developed if she'd been diagnosed appropriately and put in a boot.  It also didn't help that, if I didn't misunderstand, the original pediatritian
who read the x-ray didn't have radiology read it.  I'll address that later since I don't really care for that pediatrician at all anyways (a whole other separate story).

C was told to listen to her body.  If she has pain in her foot she needs to back off and rest it.  Protect the foot.  Where the boot when around a lot of people to prevent it from getting stepped on.  Continue with rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE).  The doctor assured her that she did not suffer any long term damage to her foot by not being put in a cast right away, it just delayed the healing process.  So it's just really important to not re-injure and to continue to allow it to heal.  She can still swim, but no high impact activities like running, jumping, etc.

I thought C was just being dramatic.  Now I feel horrible, but relieved to know that she really did have an explainable injury to her foot.  I'm also really ticked at the doctor who originally blew off her injury as a sprain and said she'd be better by Monday.  Ticked at myself for not asking him more questions.  Of course, I thought it was like all other injuries that she'd bounce back from in a couple of weeks.

The long course (LC) swim season in USA swimming is April to August.  There are few swim meets during this season.  I think there were four meets prior to the Junior Olympic meet in mid-July.  C had already scratched met two.  I signed her up for an additional meet to make up for it, but she had been swimming a lot with a bouey, not swimming breaststroke, or fly, backstroke minimal, not practicing starts etc.  She started shaving time off here and there.  I think she's only been swimming without a bouey four weeks ago and she starts resting the foot cause it gets tired and achey.  Anyways, she has wanted to qualify for the JO meet in July so badly.  She did today in the 100 free by 0.04 of a second.

C's looking forward to our travel meet and continuing to mend her foot!