Okay, I really don't feel well physically but emotionally I feel much better because I finally have a diagnosis on my foot! At the crack of dawn this morning I went to see the BEST podiatrist and she figured out what was wrong with my foot. I have pain on the top of my foot by my toes and on the ball of my foot by my toes. I got some x-rays and she poked around (almost made me cry!) to try and figure it all out. She spent a long time explaining things to me. I had no idea that folks with RA are more prone to these types of issues; I was destined to have these problems. She used the old medical adage, "when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras." What that means is that if you’re in an area where horses are more common, when you hear hoofbeats outside, it's much more likely to be the sound of horses, not zebras. The idea is that when a patient presents with symptoms that are consistent with a common disease, but are also consistent with a much less common disease, you work under the assumption that it is the more common disease until you can confirm it. What she said about me is that I am a zebra. I told her "welcome to my world." I have always been a zebra since I was diagnosed.
I presented with either a stress fracture or Morton's Naroma. I went for x-rays and I had no stress fracture. I also saw that I have very little deterioration in my toe joints which is good. That meant
Morton's Naroma. She gave me a shot of lidocaine and steroids. It hurt a bit but not as much as I suspected it would. Then we waited while we talked. Then the pain got worse. Tears were in my eyes. She started poking around again and said that because the pain was also in the ball of my foot, I also have
capsulitis. That means wearing a boot for
4 weeks. Yippee! How did she know that was what I wanted for Christmas?
If I add up how many weeks I have worn a boot this year, I think it comes to more than 20 weeks. That would be 5 months, almost half the year. At least it is not surgery which was my fear. I didn't want to have surgery over the holidays, well, I didn't want surgery at all. There is still a chance I could have surgery if it won't go away or if it keeps coming back. But we will have happy thoughts that the boot will work!
There you go, the latest diagnosis. No more walking barefoot around the house.
