#1 ·
Well, let’s look back a few years. I was attempting to chase down a kid who had swiped something from a local shop. The streets were paved with stone that had been polished smooth by decades of foot traffic, and the little thief moved like an arrow while I was stumbling along, quite out of shape, in my flip-flops. It didn't end well. The boy twisted away like an eel, and while I gave chase, my leg simply wasn't prepared for such a sudden maneuver. If anyone thinks I am joking, please don't. If it weren't for what happened next, the whole situation would actually be quite hilarious.
My left foot rolled inward, and the outer side—that bony part just above the heel—slammed against the pavement with full force. I felt the pain immediately. This wasn't even the first time something like this had happened to me; I suppose I just have clumsy joints. Usually, however, the pain would subside overnight, so I didn't make much of a fuss this time. The next morning, I headed off to work in shorts. It hurt, sure, but I figured it would pass, so I didn't give it a second thought. That is, until someone pointed at me and said, "Good heavens, look how swollen your leg is!" I looked down, quite carelessly, at my left leg, and it was twice the size of my right, all the way up to the knee!
I went to see a doctor, who suggested I might have partially or even totally torn tendons. Because it was summer, he ordered total rest and instructed me to keep my leg elevated as an alternative to surgery or a heavy cast. For about ten days, I stayed still. I kept my leg up, applied creams, used ice packs, and tried every old-fashioned remedy under the sun just to be certain I hadn't missed anything. I even tried those strange poultices made of oatmeal. The smell was indescribable; I felt like I was suffocating, applying egg whites and soap, allowing a specialist to massage my leg while following her instructions to the letter. I repeated after her like a parrot, "leaving... leaving..." about fifty times. I was actually a bit irritated afterward, though I was trying to stay relaxed! 🤣 It isn't funny. Well, maybe it is, but it really isn't. I even had two buckets ready—one with hot water and one with icy seawater—to soak my leg up to the knee.
After those ten days, I returned to the doctor for a follow-up. My leg was still twice its normal size. This time, I saw a different specialist—a sort of podiatrist 😠 who acted more like a chiropractor. His diagnosis was both shocking and deeply concerning. He told me it wasn't the tendons at all; my knee was dislocated! He claimed he could just pop it back into place, and then I should simply return to work and walk my usual miles every day, and it would all resolve itself. What a joke! I tried to explain that my knees have always been a bit knobby and asked him to look at my right knee, which looks identical to the left one... but the doctor was determined to "fix" this specific knee, and that was that. Once he finished the stretching, he pointed out that my right leg was actually thicker than the injured left one because my muscles had weakened from the inactivity. I was actually prepared to pull a tailor's measuring tape out of my pocket to prove him wrong, but he refused to measure it. As I walked out of the office, I caught sight of an elderly woman leaving the waiting room, saying she’d come back another time; perhaps my screaming was enough to convince her that her own pain wasn't that bad. 🤷 I went home with a purple leg, went back to work, and ended up getting kicked in the leg by a customer, which nearly caused me to faint. I eventually went home in tears.
Then, I headed to the hospital on the mainland. (I live on an island, so these doctors were just traveling specialists, whatever they call them! 😠) There, they just waved me off, saying, "Oh, those two are just imagining things!" and told me I simply needed to lose weight and everything would clear up. I even had a vascular exam, which also showed nothing. I won't even get into how I almost sued a nurse back then; I'll just say that after threatening to make a massive scene, I ended up chasing after a doctor who had already "called it a day." Was it relevant? Who knows if he was actually willing to give my leg a proper look!
Current status, several years later (six years later):
- I have gained weight; I certainly haven't lost it.
- My leg is just as swollen as it was before.
- My foot has remained swollen this entire time, along with those small, dark spots.
- I haven't been seeing any doctors lately
- To be honest, I still have absolutely no clue what is actually going on with my leg
- Now, on top of the swelling, something else has cropped up; over the last year or so, these red patches have appeared on the front of my shin, roughly 10cm by 15cm in size. A small vein has also started bulging out. That specific area always feels warm to the touch, whereas the back of my leg feels perfectly normal, and it itches quite frequently... plus, the skin on the front of my shin has become rather firm and hard.
- It isn't exactly excruciatingly painful, but there is this nagging discomfort if I happen to bump it or apply pressure (at which point an indentation appears, much like pressing your finger into bread dough)🙄
- When I had my bloodwork done last year, everything came back fine—no issues with blood sugar, thyroid, cholesterol, or anything like that
I AM AT A TOTAL LOSS AS TO WHAT THIS IS.
- My shoe size used to be a 5, but now I am buying a 7 or 8 just to get my left foot to fit comfortably inside the shoe
Summer is right around the corner, and I have a lot of work ahead of me. I'll be on my feet constantly. I am planning to finally follow up with my doctors after the summer is over, assuming my leg can hold up until then.
In the meantime... perhaps someone here might recognize a symptom or... something??????
Does ANYONE have an inkling of what on earth is happening with my leg??????? Because I am starting to get a little bit scared.
PS—I really should have listened to that kid! Good grief!!!!!!!!!!!
My left foot rolled inward, and the outer side—that bony part just above the heel—slammed against the pavement with full force. I felt the pain immediately. This wasn't even the first time something like this had happened to me; I suppose I just have clumsy joints. Usually, however, the pain would subside overnight, so I didn't make much of a fuss this time. The next morning, I headed off to work in shorts. It hurt, sure, but I figured it would pass, so I didn't give it a second thought. That is, until someone pointed at me and said, "Good heavens, look how swollen your leg is!" I looked down, quite carelessly, at my left leg, and it was twice the size of my right, all the way up to the knee!
I went to see a doctor, who suggested I might have partially or even totally torn tendons. Because it was summer, he ordered total rest and instructed me to keep my leg elevated as an alternative to surgery or a heavy cast. For about ten days, I stayed still. I kept my leg up, applied creams, used ice packs, and tried every old-fashioned remedy under the sun just to be certain I hadn't missed anything. I even tried those strange poultices made of oatmeal. The smell was indescribable; I felt like I was suffocating, applying egg whites and soap, allowing a specialist to massage my leg while following her instructions to the letter. I repeated after her like a parrot, "leaving... leaving..." about fifty times. I was actually a bit irritated afterward, though I was trying to stay relaxed! 🤣 It isn't funny. Well, maybe it is, but it really isn't. I even had two buckets ready—one with hot water and one with icy seawater—to soak my leg up to the knee.
After those ten days, I returned to the doctor for a follow-up. My leg was still twice its normal size. This time, I saw a different specialist—a sort of podiatrist 😠 who acted more like a chiropractor. His diagnosis was both shocking and deeply concerning. He told me it wasn't the tendons at all; my knee was dislocated! He claimed he could just pop it back into place, and then I should simply return to work and walk my usual miles every day, and it would all resolve itself. What a joke! I tried to explain that my knees have always been a bit knobby and asked him to look at my right knee, which looks identical to the left one... but the doctor was determined to "fix" this specific knee, and that was that. Once he finished the stretching, he pointed out that my right leg was actually thicker than the injured left one because my muscles had weakened from the inactivity. I was actually prepared to pull a tailor's measuring tape out of my pocket to prove him wrong, but he refused to measure it. As I walked out of the office, I caught sight of an elderly woman leaving the waiting room, saying she’d come back another time; perhaps my screaming was enough to convince her that her own pain wasn't that bad. 🤷 I went home with a purple leg, went back to work, and ended up getting kicked in the leg by a customer, which nearly caused me to faint. I eventually went home in tears.
Then, I headed to the hospital on the mainland. (I live on an island, so these doctors were just traveling specialists, whatever they call them! 😠) There, they just waved me off, saying, "Oh, those two are just imagining things!" and told me I simply needed to lose weight and everything would clear up. I even had a vascular exam, which also showed nothing. I won't even get into how I almost sued a nurse back then; I'll just say that after threatening to make a massive scene, I ended up chasing after a doctor who had already "called it a day." Was it relevant? Who knows if he was actually willing to give my leg a proper look!
Current status, several years later (six years later):
- I have gained weight; I certainly haven't lost it.
- My leg is just as swollen as it was before.
- My foot has remained swollen this entire time, along with those small, dark spots.
- I haven't been seeing any doctors lately
- To be honest, I still have absolutely no clue what is actually going on with my leg
- Now, on top of the swelling, something else has cropped up; over the last year or so, these red patches have appeared on the front of my shin, roughly 10cm by 15cm in size. A small vein has also started bulging out. That specific area always feels warm to the touch, whereas the back of my leg feels perfectly normal, and it itches quite frequently... plus, the skin on the front of my shin has become rather firm and hard.
- It isn't exactly excruciatingly painful, but there is this nagging discomfort if I happen to bump it or apply pressure (at which point an indentation appears, much like pressing your finger into bread dough)🙄
- When I had my bloodwork done last year, everything came back fine—no issues with blood sugar, thyroid, cholesterol, or anything like that
I AM AT A TOTAL LOSS AS TO WHAT THIS IS.
- My shoe size used to be a 5, but now I am buying a 7 or 8 just to get my left foot to fit comfortably inside the shoe
Summer is right around the corner, and I have a lot of work ahead of me. I'll be on my feet constantly. I am planning to finally follow up with my doctors after the summer is over, assuming my leg can hold up until then.
In the meantime... perhaps someone here might recognize a symptom or... something??????
Does ANYONE have an inkling of what on earth is happening with my leg??????? Because I am starting to get a little bit scared.
PS—I really should have listened to that kid! Good grief!!!!!!!!!!!