Introduction and Background

This first post will provide background about my injury and the reason for my surgery. A lot of people have commented that they didn't even realize I was injured. It is true that I try to not let this injury affect my life but it really does and it really has for a long time.

I've always had what I considered to be "flat feet" but it turns out I actually have always had flexible flat feet. That means when my foot is not bearing weight, I have an arch but when I step it flattens. My right foot has always been worse than my left foot. I pronate when I walk.

About 17-18 years ago (1993, I think), I was running and, at one point, I went over on my right ankle but finished my run. The pain progressed throughout the day and got really bad through the night. I saw my doctor who referred me to a sports doctor who told me to always wear running shoes or Birkenstocks for support. Things didn't get better and I went to another sports doctor who recommended physiotherapy to fix the tendonitis in my posterior tibial tendon and orthotics to prevent it from coming back. Orthotics definitely helped and I always have to wear them and I always have to wear "good" shoes (running shoes with a lot of stability are best). The physiotherapy (which included ultrasound, acupuncture, anti-inflammatories, ...) helped a bit with the pain but my ankle was still swollen, the tendon was not healing and, by this point, I was no longer able to do any high impact activities. I could still skate, ski (tentatively), walk, cycle, yoga, and swim. Fortunately, my favourite physical activity is swimming.

In roughly 2004, one of my swim teammates (the incredible Dr. Jenn Turner) was attending Chiropractic college and she suggested I come to her and try active release therapy (at this point, I still thought I had tendonitis that wasn't getting better). Jenn was amazing! She read research papers, tried many different things with me. At one point, she suggested it was actually tendonosis (not tendonitis), and we did graston, some electrode stuff, active release therapy and I did feel better pain-wise but I wasn't improving overall (ie, my tendon was not healing). Finally, Jenn suggested there was more going on and I needed an MRI. The MRI revealed a longitudinal tear in my posterior tibial tendon.

New doctor, new physio, cortisone infusion, anti-inflammatories, exercises, ... all helped to a degree but the tendon doesn't (won't) heal so surgery is recommended. I avoided and delayed the surgery now for 4 years but things have gotten much worse. Walking to the TTC to get to work causes some discomfort. Walking or standing at events causes pain and discomfort. I can't stand around or walk barefoot for more than a few minutes. I can only do the balancing poses in yoga on my left foot and my stability is off making me a bit tippy at times. I can no longer skate or ski. I have pretty bad lower back pain and spasms because my pelvis is twisted from walking.

So, I finally admitted to myself that my quality of life is such that the surgery is necessary. The surgery involves transferring another tendon (the "baby toes" tendon) to replace the damaged part of the posterior tibial tendon, breaking of my heel and the use of screws to keep things in place. I should even be able to run after all is healed but I don't know if I will want to. I just want to be able to walk without pain, play a bit of road hockey with my kids, skate, ski a bit, maybe water ski again, and stand around at a party without having to lift my right foot and perch there like a bird on one foot for periods of time.

The surgery is scheduled for December 14 at 1pm.