A Second Opinion
Today I went to see my physio (who's opinion I hold in very high esteem) to see if he might be able to shed some light on the recent diagnosis of arthritis in my foot.
My physio has been great over the past couple of weeks and I've been bouncing him emails each time I get test results. He hasn't had a chance to look at all my bone scan and x-ray results though, so today I took them all in. (He is the one who recommended that I need to see a specialist, but was happy to take a look meanwhile).
After looking through the results he told me that it is almost unheard of for someone my age to be diagnosed with osteoarthritis, which is why he thinks it needs further investigation. I asked him if the diagnosis/advice that the Dr had given me was possibly on the 'over-cautious' side and he said that arthritis is a very 'umbrella' term and that's why he recommends that I see a specialist to look into it further and work out what we can do.
He said looking at the bone scan there was definitely something going on in that foot. He also mentioned bone spurs from the x-ray and that they were something the specialist might look at (something about surgery options... I find it all hard to take in, so I just remember key words!). I think his main point was that we still don't have enough information, and it's going to have to be something that the specialist advises on.
He said that at this point (over 5 weeks since I stopped running) he would have hoped that the pain/discomfort would have eased off, so we're taking some measures to try and alleviate that:
1) a new built up orthotic for the left foot to elevate the heel and hopefully take a bit of pressure off the ankle temporarily
2) loosen the muscles in my foot and calve to try and correct some slight misalignment, which again might take some pressure off.
I go back to see him and pick up the new orthotic next Tuesday, and he's also going to get one of his colleagues (Mr Saunders himself) to check out all my x-rays and scans and see if he has any other ideas.
So unfortunately still no running until we know a bit more, BUT I know these guys are keen to look into this further and try and get to the bottom of it before writing off my running career off, so that is positive!
Will keep you posted...
Related articles:
25 Oct 2010: A Short Break from Running (previously posted article)
24 Nov 2010: Foot Injury Diagnosis (previously posted article)
09 Dec 2010: Trial Run
07 Jan 2011: The Specialist's Verdict
