How It Began

Posted on September 25th, 2009 by mentalplanet

I am a dog walker for pleasure, I have two Newfoundland Mix breed dogs of my own. Professionally, I manage a large dog walking company in Chicago.trio-of-devils_

I was walking 3 sweet little pups, LucyFur, Madison and Oscar. It was a beautiful day. I deposited a bag of poop to a City of Chicago receptacle a few doors from LucyFur’s house. Madison and Oscar were visiting. The lid closed and with my next step I stumbled, stumbled, stumbled and SNAP! A POTHOLE! SERIOUSLY! I thought I had broken my leg. The initial pain was horrific. That soon gave way to a numbing sensation.

The dogs added a little comic relief. They are all dear friends of mine. Each of their little personalities came through. Both Madison and Oscar came to my side. With as much concern as their petite canine hearts could muster, gave comfort. LucyFur, diva that she is, pretty much moved away as if I had just ruined the entire walk with my dramatics.

Fortunately LucyFur’s neighbor witnessed my plight while caring for her planters on their third floor deck. She came to my side ready with a cell phone in case EMS would be needed.

She was happy to help get the pups home. No way for me to climb to the third floor apartment. I was amazed that I was able to stand. Once certain that I could very deliberately, gingerly take a step, one by one I  managed to get to the rear door a few garages east. She tossed me the keys to my vehicle and I made my way back to my office.

I was thinking I had a pretty bad sprain. Nothing some rest, ice and elevation couldn’t take care of. It was almost the weekend. I could work from home on Friday and see how it goes.

Friday morning came and the swelling was getting worse and pain increasing. I decided that I would head to the ER and see if perhaps I was broken. It was the beginning of the Memorial Day Holiday and I wanted to get help before there would be a crowd of food poisonings and Swine Flu cases all huddled together sharing symptoms.

The ER doc referred me to a podiatrist on Tuesday. Wrapped me in an Ace and sent me home on crutches. The Ace compression gave a certain relief and stability. I took the Motrin and rested.

After an exam the podiatry specialist sent me for an MRI. All signs pointed to an ATR. An acronym I learned on this site when I Googled her suspected diagnosis.

The MRI confirmed it and I was quickly scheduled for surgery. My last surgery was my tonsils in 1980. SURGERY!

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  • Recent Comments

  • Katherine | October 8th, 2009 | 7:50 PM

    Also — your favorite barstool companions are missing you too!

  • eschao | October 4th, 2009 | 5:11 PM

    Most interesting way to get the ATR. What is a high protein diet?

  • smoley | October 3rd, 2009 | 9:51 AM

    Mentalplanet,
    So glad you are finally getting fixed. You are quite right, sometimes you have to just throw your toys out of the pram and pound your little fists until you get what you know you need. I also found the protein recommendation very interesting. My Dad has just had a knee replacement-replacement (long story) and I’ve told Mum to shovel the good quality protein down him. Makes sense - you can’t expect your body to fight infection and regenerate tendon/skin/muscle/bone etc out of thin air (and certainly not out of hospital food!) Hang on in there, you’ll be back in the Riverdance line-up before you know it!
    Smoley

  • mentalplanet | September 28th, 2009 | 8:23 PM

    You all may as well kick back for the first few weeks. Do exactly as the doctors tell you to and relax. Catch up on some reading, watch some TV, call some old friends. It is a process. For a few weeks it’s best to just remain calm and take it easy.
    It doesn’t get that much better. being in a cast while it gives you more mobility it has it’s own set of problems. Good luck.
    Use this blog. There’s a lot of BS but there is plenty of great information and inspiration.

  • Captbb<IMG style="DISPLAY: inline; FLOAT: left; BORDER-TOP-STYLE: none; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10px; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none; BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none" height=40 alt="No Gravatar" src="http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/287c8835448546d41a | September 26th, 2009 | 8:41 PM

    Two weeks after surgery, Im losing it. Thanks for this board. Sitting home as is the norm after injury.

  • jose | September 26th, 2009 | 9:11 AM

    Hey man, I’m glad to hear that this site helped you so much because I am two weeks into this process and I am losing my mind.

  • smoley | September 26th, 2009 | 7:04 AM

    Hey mentalplanet,
    Don’t feel like you have to just watch from the side of this site. Jump in! The water’s lovely! I would be having a much rougher time of it if it weren’t for this site because I don’t know anyone who has had a full ATR so if it weren’t for this I would have no-one to compare notes with. Quite aside from the boredom alleviation of being able to see what others are getting up to. So let us know how you are doing so we can encourage/sympathise accordingly. You are so not alone!
    Smoley