Hello, November.

Hello again, dear friends.

(All 337 of you throughout the world who read this blog! That is absolutely B I Z A R R E if I’m being entirely honest.)

I hope that everyone’s Halloween was good, or at the very least, I hope that you made it through the day with minimal hang-ups. I say that because, I myself, did not have the best Halloween. This year has been a tough one but, at least my brother Matt, and his awesome girlfriend Dana were nice around to drive me around and help me with the grocery shopping since I’m not supposed to do much walking or heavy lifting.

Let me just say, Costco is amazing.

I’d never tried Izze before, however, I saw that they had a holiday collection, and the second I saw the Cranberry Orange Spice flavor, I knew I needed it. There was also an Apple and a Pomegranate flavor, both of which are pretty good but, the pomegranate is very pungent, and I think I would need to mix it with Sprite or 7-UP so that I can drink that flavor. I also wound up with incredibly soft, comfortable navy blue slipper socks with grippies at the bottom, salt and vinegar “angry chips” as I like to call them, and from Aldi I got 3 pumpkin shaped pizzas with a pumpkin squash sauce!

I got one at the beginning of October, and I was so excited about it. It was SO good, and then of course, like a lot of the things I enjoy, I couldn’t find it again. So, knowing that it was a limited find, I got a few of them. Hopefully they’ll still have a couple the next time I go shopping again because, I would absolutely love to stock up on a couple more.

In other news, yesterday was November 1^st, and the start of NaNoWriMo2020. That is beyond T E R R I F Y I N G for me. I don’t know where October went, it came in like a wrecking ball, knocked me down, and knocked the air out of my lungs. Now it’s gone, almost like it was never here, and you know what? Good riddance.

Normally, I live for October. The pumpkins, haunted houses, fall spices, and all things turning the most beautiful shade of fall. But like the rest of 2020, October left nothing but pain and broken pieces in its wake. The things that I normally love doing have been held out of reach. There was no haunted house with my mom, who I miss endlessly. There were no pumpkins, save for the ones a good friend from work gave me, and my fall spice fix has had to be satiated at a Dunkin Donuts this year.

(Though to be fair their signature Pumpkin Spice Iced Latte and Iced Oatmilk Latte are phenomenal.)

Maybe I’m just upset because this should be the time of year that I come alive, and this year it isn’t. There are no boots, incredibly soft blanket scarves, or crunchy leaves anywhere in my foreseeable future. You know what is in my future though?  Physical therapy 2-3 times a week for 4-6 weeks, this awful Breg boot that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and fighting to get in and get an appointment with a neurologist.  Because today, I had the appointment that I’ve been waiting for, I met with the Weil Foot & Ankle Institute for the first time today, and I have nothing but amazing things to say about Dr. Klein.  I thought that Doctor Patel was advocating for me, and trying to make me better but, after my experience with Dr. Klein, I’m ashamed to say that I was wrong.

Since sustaining this injury, I’ve been to several doctors.

1. The doctor at the ER in NIMC who took my x-ray, didn’t actually touch or examine my foot at all, and told me that I had a sprain before giving me that stupid splint and a pair of crutches on August 21^st.
2. My GP, Dr. Saini that I saw on August 28^th, who tried to shove antidepressants down my throat, and told me that there was nothing wrong with me.
3. The doctor at the immediate care center/ER in Grayslake, on September 12^th, who did another x-ray, said that he saw nothing, and referred me to Patel. He didn’t examine or touch me either.
4. Dr. Patel, who I first met with on September 15^th, did a little bit of an examination and then ordered an MRI, and told me that if I thought it would help he would give me this awful Breg boot.  I got the MRI results via phone call and email, and then saw him on October 12th, at which time he informed me that I had a “Nondisplaced intra-articular fracture of the medial cuboid bone with additional avulsion fracture along the lateral aspect of the cuboid bone at the calcaneocuboid ligament attachment and a partial-thickness tear of the anterior talofibular ligament and the calcaneal fibular ligament.”  Dr. Patel couldn’t figure out why this wasn’t healed yet and then referred me to a podiatrist, who consequently, does not take my insurance.

Can you say fucking Y I K E S.

In between there, my grandma had brain surgery.

• After a lot of fighting, cold calling, and tears I found the Weil Foot & Ankle Institute.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t get me into the office until today, November 2^nd.  Which catches us right up to present day.

Dr. Klein was amazing.

At first, I was a little crabby, it was early, and kind of a long drive but, Matt was nice enough to take me.  After I got through with the initial onslaught of paperwork, I was brought into the room and told that I could take the Breg boot off.  To say that I was skeptical is an understatement. But, after answering a couple questions for the nurse, the doctor came in, and she was absolutely amazing.  I don’t know how else to say it.

This was the first doctor who made me take off whatever brace or splint I was wearing at the time, and actually took the time to examine me.  She moved my foot every which way, pressed on it, made me cry, and claw the absolute shit out of my brother Matt.  But you know what else?  She listened to me.  Seeing me in that much pain, she too teared up, and when she heard that no one was helping me, that these wounds have gone untreated for 74-days she was livid. That is exactly 10.5 weeks, and 2.43 M O N T H S.

That’s almost a quarter of the year, considering that there are 12 months in a year.

So, my next steps are simple; my doctor wants me to go to physical therapy 2-3 times a week for 4-6 weeks, she also needs me to see a neurologist because her findings suggest that I may have CRPS or complex regional pain syndrome type 1. Because the last thing I needed was chronic pain to add to my otherwise extensive list of reasons why I’m bad at life. So, I’m waiting on a call back from the neurologist’s office on when I can get in for an appointment to see him, and I start physical therapy on Wednesday.

For now, it’s 3a.m and my foot, leg, and ankle are still swollen and in pain from my hour-long torture session from the podiatrist yesterday.  So, I’m going to kick off my slippers, take a couple of Advil, and end this one right here.  There’s a sleepy dog snoring on my bed, and I think he needs some company.

Goodnight.

-Sky