Light at the end of the tunnel

For a while now I’ve had a problem with my foot. More specifically I have plantar fasciitis and nothing that I do is helping me. I’ve taken Advil regularly, iced it almost nightly, had very painful cortisone injections, and went to physical therapy which ended up being a complete waste of my time and money. A few months ago I basically gave up and stopped seeing the doctor. I figured that eventually it would just go away.

Well I was wrong. Very wrong. The pain has increased exponentially and I am in pain 24/7. Even when I am sitting I am in pain. Trust me it’s not fun. Then last week I was in a lot of pain. My foot was so swollen that it was almost twice the size as my other foot. I got really scared because that wasn’t normal and then I really freaked myself out because I started thinking I had a blood clot.

Obviously I didn’t, but after crying all night I decided it was time to see another doctor. My mom recommended a doctor that comes to the nursing home she works out. Luckily he took my insurance and did appointments on Saturdays. However, I was very apprehensive about seeing him though. I am just feed up with doctors to begin with and he will be my third doctor for my foot. I just lost all hope in finding a solution to my problem.

When I got to the office I didn’t feel much better. The exam room had a lava lamp! Not only that but there was a radio in there playing Dave Mathews. At first I was confused, I thought I was going to see a doctor, not smoke up in a dorm room. I couldn’t wait to see the doctor himself. He was a tool. He was one of those doctors that are just so full of themselves and thinks they are god’s gift.

For example, he was talking about getting orthotics in my shoes, and when I told him I wasn’t crazy about them because they were usually uncomfortable he suggest that I call any one of his “thousands of patients” and they will tell me that HIS orthotics are the BEST. Ummm okay.

Even though he was such an ass. I actually really liked him. He came up with something that no other doctor has mentioned to me yet. It’s called a PRP injection. What it is basically is they take a sample of my blood, spin out all the plasma and proteins, and injects it into my heel. What’s supposed to happen is the protein will heal the tissue. That way instead of stopping the pain temporarily like most of the shots I’ve had, this takes it away forever. It’s a minimal procedure done in the office and afterwards I would be able to walk fine and go back to most of my daily activities.

Finally a doctor with an answer that wasn’t surgery! The only thing I’m worried about is that it is a relatively new procedure. He himself has only done it a few times. He told me that every one of his was a success. Of course because he’s the best. lol. I did do some research today and it’s actually really interesting. A couple of Steelers players had it done before the super bowl and they saw great results.

I will most likely have the procedure done as long as my insurance covers it. I will keep you posted on that!Oh funny story. While he was explaining the PRP injections he was telling me about how they would inject my foot with anesthesia and then inject the PRP. As he was telling me about it, tears sprang from my eyes and slowly started running down my cheeks! I was so embarrassed. He probably thought I was crazy! I think I just freaked myself out about the needles and stuff. I don’t do well with them and I remembered how painful they can really be.

Either way I gave him a preview of how I will be the day of the actual injections.