Foot Update

OK, I had my follow-up for my foot yesterday. There was some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I did not re-injure my Jones fracture! The healed fracture is solid (the Dr. was very surprised by this, it is apparently very uncommon) and was not what was causing the pain and swelling in my foot. The bad news is the real cause. There is a joint just next to my old fracture that was likely distressed by the fracture and has become inflamed. So I don't need surgery, but I have a bad joint in my foot that cannot be permanently fixed. I can do preventative things (much like taking it easy on a bad knee) as well as take anti-inflammation medication when it flares. If it gets really bad I can receive cortizone shots to relieve it.

The Dr.'s surprise over the Jones fracture reminded me of the story surrounding it. In July after I graduated (1997) I stepped on someone's foot during a volleyball game (I wasn't running or jumping, I just stepped on the edge of the other person's foot). I felt a snap and could not continue playing. The next morning I was x-rayed and the break was significant. Five weeks later I was in Pendleton at my required physical to play collegiate volleyball. The orthopedic surgeon who saw me x-rayed my foot again, and from that x-ray compared to my first he determined that the break had not healed in any significant way (which is common for a Jones fracture). He said to come back in 3 weeks for another x-ray, if there was still no healing going on he would recommend surgery.

So here I am 500 miles away from home for only 2 weeks. I had only a few friends (none of them close), and no life outside of volleyball (school was still a month away). So I turned to our branch president for our little young adult branch (for those of you unfamiliar with these terms, a branch is a small congregation--we only had maybe 30 active members of our branch because it was only for young adults). I set up a meeting for the following Sunday after church. I told him what was going on, and I asked him for a priesthood blessing. He then told me a story that I didn't expect. He referred to a story in the New Testament (John 9) about Christ healing a blind man. He focused on how the blind man had faith to be healed, and how afterward his faith was tested and he was healed spiritually as a result of his physical healing. I had read this story before, but had never seen it in this light. He gave me a blessing that I would be healed, and although I had some doubt I did my best to have some faith.

At my follow-up appointment the new x-rays showed "substantial healing" which was a big surprise, and was enough healing that he cleared me to play the same day. This recent experience brought back a lot of memories, and the results of my x-ray yesterday was a big reminder of how I changed as a result of that event in September 1997.

Sorry to get so sentimental, but I had to share. I think that the months during and just after my broken foot changed and shaped my life. I met Chris, and by December I was convinced that he was the reason I randomly decided to go to Pendleton for college--the experience with my foot prepared me to be able to listen to the promptings that lead me to where I am today. Its strange to say, but I am so thankful for that broken foot.