Ankle Update

On Monday February 22, I had a physiotherapy appointment and we talked again about the lump just above my ankle bone along the tendon. This spot has been where my ankle starts to ache after I work it too much. I asked if she thought it was scar tissue, fluid or something else. She told me that it felt too hard for fluid and too soft for bone and she really didn't know what it was. I stated that I thought I should go back to my doctor and see about getting some kind of scan done so we would know exactly what we were dealing with since I hadn't had any type of internal scan performed on my ankle up to this point. At first I thought this might be futile because whatever scan I went for would likely not be for about a month. I figured it wouldn't hurt to call the doctor again anyway and the sooner the better. So the next day I called and got an appoinment to see the doctor the following day. That night I ran the indoor track with the group and felt pretty good. I pushed it a little harder and felt the soreness creep back a little quicker as I suspected it would do. However, I felt I had done more than the week before and that I was still getting progressive improvement.


The next day the doctor felt the lump on my ankle and said he would send me for a x-ray. I said I thought he was going to send me for an ultra-sound or MRI so that the soft tissue could be looked at. He told me he didn't care about the soft tissue, it was the bone he was more concerned about. When I asked him how long it would be before I could get in for the x-ray I was surprised when he said “right now”. I went into the x-ray office and there were no other patients so they took me right away. The technician took 4 images of my ankle at various angles. As she was taking the last one I asked her how much soft tissue the x-ray would be able to show since it was a tendon injury. She told me it wouldn’t show much soft tissue and then she paused and said “Well you definitely have more than a soft tissue injury.” She then motioned me over to look at the image and I could see even before I got close that there was a fracture across the fibula about 6cm above the ankle joint. I was shocked and felt a little sick in disbelief. She said it was pretty much healed and it looked pretty straight to her. I thanked her and still in some shock I left the office.

On Thursday, the doctor’s office called and referred me to an orthopaedic surgeon. So now I am waiting to set up an appointment with him. It was again another shock that I now have to see an orthopaedic surgeon, after all this time and it not feeling what I imagined a bone fracture would feel like. With my brain now unable to concentrate on anything else, I have been searching online for more information on my situation.

Here are a couple of sites I found interesting.

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2399885

http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/front/lowerleg/fibula_stress_fracture.htm

http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8129189/physioadvisor-ankle-pain-ankle-injury-treatmen.htm