Svadhyaya / self-study:  5th metatarsal fracture

Apparently putting on a walking boot and how to manage life in it is self-evident as I received no guidance. They did say you can weight-bear, we’ll send you the bill for the boot, have a good day. Off I went with my hiking poles and a boot that elevated my right leg about 2 inches.  Walking out of the emergency to grab the uber, I thought, this isn’t going to work. I’m so grateful for my yoga practice that helped me analyze, understand and overcome various hurdles. 

One day of walking in the boot and using the poles to go up and down three flights of stairs informed me that I should get crutches as the poles were not adequately stable to be able to help relieve the pressure put on the swollen fractured foot nor to stabilize my gait. At the end of the day, I could sense the unevenness in the leg length created by the boot starting to negatively affect my pelvis and my hips, knees and back. I turned to my yoga practice and found relief beyond physiology with asana and pranayama.

I researched and determined which variety of crutches would work best for my needs and ordered them. I cannot help but wonder why they were not offered to me at the hospital.  Perhaps they thought it was best for the orthopedic surgeon to assess the mobility support I needed. I am thankful they were not offered as I would not have had the opportunity to research before buying. The crutches made everything so much manageable.

The Tuesday after the Monday that I broke my foot, was an online class day making transit to work up three flights of stairs. Thankfully my son arrived home before I had to go up the stairs as Richard’s vision isn’t what it used to be and most often needs help going up and down the stairs. He doesn’t like being downstairs if I’m upstairs, so I had to get him upstairs. However over the weeks, I have had to get Richard up myself. It was a bit of a process, but doable. The dog carrier I was looking at last summer would have been handy, but we learn to make do with what we have.

The hall where I teach yoga is an eight minute walk from home. Once I walked there, taught for an hour and a half and walked back and realized it was too much. It seemed silly to take an uber 4 blocks, but I’ve learned to practice santosha and accept circumstances as they are and that I needed to accept walking there or back is fine, but not both ways. Students kindly offered to drive me home and sometimes I graciously accepted. But otherwise, I’ve gotten to know the Uber drivers in our neighborhood on the way to the hall and I walk home. Initially the walk was 25 to 30 minutes. Now at week 6, it’s 9 minutes.  

A week after the injury I had another x-ray and met with the orthopedic surgeon. She listened, explained and I did not feel rushed. She said I had to be in a boot for a full six weeks. Not because it takes that much time to heal, but because it takes that much time for the calcification to be visible on an x-ray. When the boot comes off, it’s another 6 weeks in a hard soled shoe.   

The boot restricts movement from the mid shin to the toes, and it’s height causes uneven leg length and uneven weight distribution. These changes alter my gait and travel up my body resulting in discomfort. Without my yoga practice mitigating these effects I could continue to have discomfort after I no longer need the boot.

To offset the indirect pains to come I wear shoes with elevated heels and heel lifts that minimize the height differential. The crutches distribute the weight more evenly and decrease pressure on the injured foot.

The first time I took Richard for a walk around the block, it was quite challenging managing the leash and the crutches and I was tired at the end. I did not want to deny him his walks, so I persisted, my tapas/self discipline carried me. Initially it took 60 minutes to complete our usual 25-30 minute neighborhood walk, but by week 5 in the boot, our neighborhood walk on crutches was down to 35 minutes.