On January 11 of this year, I injured myself during dance. I was practicing a step in my variation before I ran it. I was doing a piqué arabesque pas de bourree on pointe, then as I was going into the pas de bourree, my foot gave out and went to the side both ways. Before my foot fully gave out, I noticed it felt kind of weird in general. It was cold and then my pointe shoe was a bit twisted. I couldn’t get up and I was scared to stand. I felt really dizzy because I also felt like I was coming up with a cold.
When I got home, I iced my foot and kept it elevated. This was while I was taking my dry-run AP test, which I wrote another article about. A few hours later, I had someone look at it and she said that it was most likely sprained because I was still able to bear weight on it. Although, my foot was very swollen and my bones seemed to be squished.
The next day I went to the doctor even though I thought my foot wasn’t that bad. I only thought there was a bit of pain because I had barely drank any water until 4 that day. I got to the doctor and got an x-ray done. They also looked at my foot and saw what my range of motion was. Later, they came with the good news that I only had a sprained foot and I should be fully recovered in 3-4 weeks. I knew I would probably miss my ballet competition, which was a month away. It was okay because it was only a month. The doctor scheduled an appointment with the sports medicine doctor to follow up with. I got new crutches and then went home.
My next doctor’s appointment was on January 17th. The doctor looked at my foot again and this time he got an x-ray with me bearing weight on my foot. There was a bruise on the bottom of my foot, which is a common sign of a lisfranc injury. A lisfranc injury is an injury that involves the damage to the bones or/and ligaments in the middle of your foot. He discussed the possibility of surgery but we wouldn’t know until after the MRI. The doctor wanted me to get an MRI to check for that, so we scheduled one for the 20th.
Before the MRI, I had to make sure I didn’t have any metal or jewelry on me. I didn’t have to change into anything before it, I just had to take my boot off. I could leave my sock and bandage on. I got in the MRI machine and then the doctor gave me a blanket and some headphones. He played Taylor Swift while I was getting the MRI. It took about 20 minutes and it was pretty loud. Later I got partial results saying no weight on it, I thought that wasn’t a good sign. I then had another appointment, this time with a Doctor who specializes in foot injuries.
The appointment was on the 28th, I missed 8th period in school for it. I went with my mom and I first had to get some more x-rays done. I got some more of me putting weight on my foot. Then we waited in the doctor’s office for him to come. He explained to my mom and me that unfortunately the injury was surgical. I had a lisfranc injury and two of my ligaments dislocated and were grade 3. My bones had shifted a bit and were unsteady, so I needed to get them fused and screwed in. The doctor told me that I would be non weight bearing for 8 weeks after surgery and I would have my boot on for a bit. The full recovery is said to be a year, but I’m sure I’ll be a lot better in 6 months. We wanted to get the surgery as soon as possible, so we scheduled it for February 3rd.
Before the surgery, there were lots of medicines and drinks that I couldn’t have. For example, I couldn’t have green tea and my dad wanted me to stay away from all caffeine to stay safe. I also stayed away from heavily processed gluten and sugar before the surgery to reduce inflammation. I was getting pretty nervous before surgery and it was distracting me from school work, but I still managed to get everything done. I had one last stretch before the surgery. I wasn’t able to eat or drink anything after midnight before the surgery. I went to bed around midnight and woke up at 7:30 because I knew I would get a long nap.
I got to the surgery center around 9:00 am, which was pretty early considering my surgery was at 11:00am. After waiting in the waiting room, they took me back to get prepped for surgery. I got changed into a hospital gown and then they put an IV in. The IV took a while to get in because at first they put it in the bend of my arm. Then it started leaking blood. My arm is pretty sensitive in that area anyways so I told them it would be less painful if I got it in my hand. That is also where I have gotten it before. I did take a while to get my vein to pop out because my hands were really cold and I have bad blood circulation to my hands. Eventually it was in and then the anesthesiologist talked to me before surgery.
Then they put me on some drugs to sedate me and make me calm. They took me to the OR in the hospital bed. They got me on the table and started putting oxygen on my mouth. I asked if it was the anesthesia and they said it wasn’t, but that was the last thing I remember. When I woke up I tried to lean over to stay warm, but then the doctor stopped me. My teeth were chattering and I told her I was really cold. She got me a heater and an extra blanket. I got to have my first sip of water and then I took a nap because I was still very tired. My mom came and then I was more awake. We got a photo and then I changed out of the gown and got ready to go come.
My house has lots of stairs, so I crawled up them because I was too tired to use my crutches. I got in my bed and then took a nap. I had my dad pick up the painkillers. The painkillers made me really tired so I got lots of rest. I received a card and flowers from my dance teacher and friends. I watched Gossip Girl before while I had my dad make me a salad. My sleep schedule was pretty messed up, but I could easily fix it because I was always really tired.
The next day, on Tuesday the pain definitely was worse and it was harder to get my foot comfortable and just pass out and sleep. I would have people visit me and talk to my sister to help with the pain. It was pretty hard to go to sleep that night, but eventually I fell asleep. I woke up with a bit, but less pain. Over the next two days I was feeling a lot better and able to do more things easily.
On Thursday I had my dad get me a matcha from Starbucks because I had a giftcard and it gave me lots of energy so I deep cleaned my room even though it wasn’t very messy to begin with. I watched some ballet and then I had some people over. I stayed up until 1am and slept until about 12. It all worked out because the next day I went to sleep at 9:00pm and slept 12 hours. On Friday I was able to go downstairs and made a sandwich.
I have been feeling a lot better and today I even made soup and went downstairs multiple times. I have a lot of school work to catch up on, which I was doing some of today. The painkillers that I am on kind of make me doze off so I can’t do that much work. Today I was watching a ballet competition while doing some AP psychology note cards.
