On Monday the 19th I went and saw Dr. Green, the podiatrist, and we talked about how to get me back on my feet so to speak. First and foremost I needed to stay off it as much as I could and if I had to walk I would have to use a walking cast or air cast.


Also, I couldn't do my job at the firehall to its full capacity so therefore had to go on light duties, mostly deskwork if possible. There's nothing worse as a firefighter than being stuck at a desk doing data entry all day. It's more tiring than I thought but I think it's the boredom. It's also a great motivator to get healthy again. When he finally got the actual pictures of the scan he sent me an email (which is cool because how many doctors actually send and receive emails from patients??) saying that the stress fracture is more "impressive" than he thought. I guess it REALLY lit up the film. It's located at the 3rd metatarsal and kind of radiates along the bone, making it "impressive".

So one problem solved. I've been in the cast for a week and a half and I think it's helping. The weird thing is that it actually feels better when I'm moving around and especially after water running or being on the eliptical trainer. Must be the increased circulation.
Dr. Green also told me about this ultrasound machine that I could get which supposedly heals stress fractures up to 33% faster. I said let's do it! He said they cost around $1500. I said, whoa, that's a little steep. He said that it's usually used on a person if a stress fracture is taking three or four months to heal and that insurance won't always pay for it unless this is the case. I said let's try anyways. So the next day I get a call from the company Smith & Nephew from back east asking for my medical insurance info. He calls Sunlife and then calls me back saying that Sunlife has given permission for me to use the Exogen Bone Healing Unit. Great I said. They'll only cover 80% of the costs he said. I'm thinking 20% of $1500 is still a little high for me to pay for something that'll eventually heal on its own. I'm not willing to pay $300 I said. Well the machine actually costs $3000 he said. Holy crap I said. I'm definitely not willing to pay $600 for this. Well then we'll cover the other 20% says the guy on the other line without skipping a beat. Sweet! So I've been using the bone healer for the past week which could also explain why it's feeling better.



I'm thinking Comrades may be a possibility!