It was one of those weekends where I had planned out activities to occupy myself. I was supposedly to have met a friend for bouldering on Saturday, but it was cancelled due to covid, while Sunday was to be a day at the beach with friends, something I longed for.
The Friday, 25 Feb 2022, was typical. I went to the gym after work, did the usual routines for legs, nothing too heavy. Dinner was take away satay and I decided to go bouldering in the late evening. I was excited to spend my Friday like this even, a simple solo affair.
I reached the bouldering gym slightly past 9 pm. It was my second time there, so I could easily get into gear and start climbing. The first few climbs were simple warm ups and stretching, followed by some challenging ones. All went pretty well, with the usual failed attempts and falling.
At one of the routes, I held on to a jug hold and suddenly slipped. I landed oddly onto the mat and heard a pop sound. My right foot seemed to have landed toe first and took all the impact. It was painful and I stopped immediately to rest. The pain didn’t seem to go away and I decided to head home.
I managed to make it home. The pain was not subsiding and I felt that it needs to get checked. I packed my bag and took a cab to KTPH. At KTPH, I was seated in wheelchair and after registration, I was whisked away to the clinic. It was a wait, as expected, before the doctor came and ordered an X-ray first. After the X-ray and a wait, the doctor came back with bad news, there were a few fractures. The immediate treatment is to have the foot in a backslab and await a orthopedic review in a week. So, a backslab was done and a painkiller shot was given. I made my way home hopping as I had no crutches. It was difficult.
The next two days were a bit worrying as it had affected my daily life, activities that were once easy as a breeze became challenging and slow. The simplest of acts had to be thought through and planned to minimise any risk of injury and excess time allocated for completion of tasks. Work had to be put aside while I concentrated on getting by day by day. There was also a concern the impact of work and the future, but it wasn’t a priority.
On Sunday evening, I discovered discolourations on my toes, which was what I was told to look out for. I made another trip to the A&E for it to be checked out. Thankfully it was not of concern and the advice was to keep my foot elevated more.
I spent the next few days getting used to the crutches and wheeling myself on the chair at home to try keep my routine as independent as possible. When I was more confident with the crutches, I started to head to the nearby coffeeshop to get food. The trip down was very strenuous and I could cover short distances with breaks. Subsequently, I managed slightly longer distances with more practice.
Friends came over now and then to visit and to accompany, something I am grateful for. They brought food and comfort while I was stuck at home. I appreciate all the small things they have done, and even contributed to my medical needs with the air boots. That saved me some money. I was always looking forward to seeing my friends and it kept the days going.
The visits to the doctor for reviews have also been pleasant and assuring. The X-rays and CT scans showed good signs of recovery and the most important thing was time for the bones to heal. The backslab was redone on the first review on 7 Mar and on the second review on 21 Mar it was taken off. With each review, the hospitalisation leave was extended and it went all the way to 30 Apr. The 11 Apr review was promising as the signs of the fracture were disappearing.
Gradually, I was able to move more with the airboot, without the crutches. This gave me more mobility to head out. It is so much of a relief to be able to be out of the house to do some shopping and also to be able to head to the gym. I started to make trips to the supermarket to get supplies and to the gym for some workouts.
As my confidence grew, I started walking without the airboots at home. It was not easy as it felt awkward and the occasional strain make it uncomfortable. Sometimes I overstrained my foot and worry about aggravating the injury. Nevertheless, it is a balancing act of trying and pushing to get well.
The hospitalisation leave ended and I was back at work in May. The recovery has been good in the last week of April and I can do more without discomfort. It will be a lot of walking and stretching to get the full range of movement back and I am optimistic for things to get back to normal.
A review was done on 23 May, with the usual X-rays taken, and the consultation with the doctor was straightforward. The fracture had healed, there is no further reviews needed. All I needed to do was to gradually do the things I used to, but slowly to gain back the range of motion. It is good news that I can safely put my full load my foot and focus on moving proper.
There have been times where I felt discouraged and sad because of the injury. I learnt so much about being limited physically and how it affected my outlook to things. The impact was made and the damage irreversible. There is nothing to regret, but a health setback and scare like this will impact what I do in future.