A Phoenix Will Always Rise from the Ashes

 Hello all

It has been almost 2 months since I had posted anything.  A lot has happened since then.  This will not be a long post, gonna keep this short and sweet. 

On November 27th, I had to have a full foot reconstruction surgery with an achilleas tendon lengthening.  I had been suffering for a year with a foot injury, one that had gotten worse due to being misdiagnosed twice.  I had gone to urgent care when I noticed my foot was swelling and I was having a hard time walking.  They did x-rays and came back to tell me there was no fractures, no cracks or any indications that it was broken.  They put me on steroids, which should never be prescribed to diabetics, and told to just rest, ice, compress and elevate.  About 3 weeks after that I went to see my endocrinologist and she referred me to see a podiatrist, I went and they told me my arch had flattened, and the pain and swelling had developed from tendonitis.  He told me to get shoe inserts for an arch support and gave me another script for MORE steroids.  

The steroids caused me to go to one of the darkest places mentally and emotionally that I had ever gone.  I was depressed, exhausted, anxious and constantly not wanting to go another day dealing with this.  I reached out to the podiatrist for more help and he never returned my phone calls.  I called him at least 6 times reaching out and begging for help with no response.  Beginning of December I finally went to an orthopedic specialist and he told me that now I had developed a bump on the bottom of my foot due to how many broken bones were in the middle of my foot and a bump on the inner side of my foot due to bone rolling.  So he referred me to a surgeon. 

I met with the surgeon on December 16th and I was diagnosed with Charcot Foot.  It is a rare and disabling disorder.  Now I am not going to get into all the details but I was told that day that I could no longer put weight on my left foot and couldn't work.  I was a cashier at a grocery store and being on my foot was necessary.  I had to use a knee scooter to get around and wear a boot.  I had a achilleas lengthening surgery in March and then on July 1st I was finally able to walk again.  7+ months of no life and no walking.  I was only able to walk for about 6 weeks before my condition worsened and I was back to non-weight bearing and back on the scooter.  

I was supposed to go to Australia in December to get married, everything was planned and then it was all ripped out from under us.  I have now had the surgery, gone through weeks of no sleep due to a cast and never being able to be comfortable.  I am now able to be in a boot and take it off to sleep and rest and shower properly.  I will hopefully be up and walking again by mid February.  But this has not been an easy road.

But the phoenix will always rise from the ashes, and that is exactly what I am doing.