The Hard Cast

Today, I got a hard cast.  I could tell that my ankle wasn't going to heal with just an ace bandage and a boot.  I could still walk on it, so it was hard not to.

Right away this morning, my Mom and I went to the doctor's office to get a hard cast on.  I could of gotten a hard cast right away when I found out that it was a stress fracture, or I could just stay off it and use the wrapping and boot.  I thought the wrapping and boot would be easier, because then I could take it off for showering and sleeping.  But, I ended up being on it more than I should.  As time went on, I could tell that it was starting to hurt more.  I decided that I really need a hard cast, even though I really don't want one, so that it can heal.

The doctor said that the stress fracture is going across my tibia.  A stress fracture in the tibia really requires a hard cast to heal.  So, it is probably best that I got the cast.  I really don't want to end up in surgery for a broken bone that needs pins and screws.

This is my first time ever getting a cast.  The cast is actually heavier than I thought it would be.  I really need to do leg lifts with my leg with the cast.  That way that leg won't atrophy.  I think the cast my act as a weight for doing leg lifts!

The doctor was the first to write on it.  He said that he is always the first to write on the casts he puts on.  He drew a little, very simple diagram, showing me where the stress fracture and sprain were.

We are pretty sure that the stress fracture (which occur over time) came from a combination of the sprain that I had and running.

It is relatively hard dealing with not being able to move around normally.  I love running, and I love just getting things on my own.  Going to school is harder too, especially when you really don't want to be there is in the first place.  Crutches are very uncomfortable.  It is actually hard to deal with a lot of things.

I can tell that my coach isn't too thrilled about me getting a hard cast.  He doesn't really care about my will being, it seems.  It seems that he just wants me to run on the team, so we can win.  It seems all he wants is to win.  He asked me if the doctor said that I would be all ready to go after I go back in October to get the cast off.  Of course not!  The doctor isn't ever going to guarantee anything like I am for sure going to be all better by a certain day, especially it being 4 weeks away.  Actually, the doctor said that if my ankle is not better after they take the cast off (and take another x-ray to double check it), he is just going to slap me in another one.  So, dealing with coaches is sort of stressful too.