A friend of mine broke her metatarsal bone in her foot and then got the run around from doctors saying it wasn't broken go home and rest, all the way to a doctor getting the cast wrong when she put a cast on her leg. Needless to say this bone has taken ages to heal and even after the cast came off she had a doctor massage the foot to bring circulation back and told her to walk around which resulted in a fracture or some such thing and she then had to wear a cam walker. She has been out of action for nearly 3 months now.

One doctor has told her that this bone heals without a problem, while another has told her that this bone heals with difficulty.

She thinks she has been unlucky due to getting very bad care from doctors who have dealt with her. The first lot of plaster she had on her leg, the doctor didn't even know how to plaster the leg and my friend had to help this doctor. My friend is 53 and would like to know what other people's experiences have been with breaking this particular bone.

Your friend is getting the business from the doctors.The metatarsals(5 in each foot) are the bones in the forefoot.The fracture should have been casted for about 6 weeks and then reevaluated.Is she in a lot of pain?If so,there may be a situation where the bones did not fuse adequately.Keep me informed..I am a podiatrist!

Thanks for your reply. Yes she is in pain, but also worries that her toes turn purple at times. She simply isn't comfortable and getting mixed messages from varying doctors doesn't help.

She was in the cast for 5 weeks and has been in a cam walker for 6 weeks. She is going back to the doctor for an evaluation next week.

Her main query was whether this bone should take quite this long to heal. I believe she said that she broke her 5th metatarsal.

I broke my 5th metatarsal last August. The orthopedic doctor was concerned that it would not heal because the 5th metatarsal does not get good blood supply and the chance that it would not heal was possible. If it did not heal, surgery was going to be the next step. I wore a cast for 4 weeks and then went back for x-rays. Mine was starting to heal and I could proceed with my recovery. However, if it did not, I was going to have surgery. So your orthopedic doctor does know what he is talking about, and I would listen to him.

I'm curious for the sake of a friend, and wonder if John The Bomb might have a thought? Several years ago, a girlfriend got her foot run over by a loaded pallet jack at work. Many small bones were literally crushed, so there was no effort to repair them. The company, BIG MONEY, paid for xrays in er, a walking cast, a handful of painkillers, and put her back on the line 3 days later, "There is no 'light duty' here." In order to reenter the workplace, she had to get a release, for which she signed off on the tx, as the Docs told her there was nothing they could do.
Nowadays she is better employed, has insurance, and suffers pain. Is it possible to repair some of the bigger bones at this late date? Or is she stuck with the way things are? Kim

Thanks for the info mar55.......for her it's difficult as one doctor says one thing and another says something else and after the run around she received with the cast alone, in my opinion, is enough to doubt any medical practitioner.

I'd say at this stage she could be looking at having the surgery.

After her foot fiasco i kind of tend to be more careful of what can happen with the feet. I was about to cancel my private health insurance as it's not compulsory here, thinking i'm still young enough and not much could happen to me, but after her incident, i decided to keep it!!

I also broke my 5th metatarsal & it was a really bad break, though all I did my turn my right foot in a parking lot (tripped, never fell). I needed to have surgery (it was non-union) & the surgeon put a screw, wire & putty as the break resulted in a shattered bone -- imagine, all this from wearing a wedgie shoe & turning your foot! I am missing a planned European cruise because of this :eek:

Anyway, I mostly use a wheelchair to get around the house (no weight allowed on foot at all). I occasionally use a walker -- the one with wheels caused me to lose control (remember, I have to hop on my left foot). I now have a walker without wheels & I have to lift it to move it, then hop & swing my right foot forward. I have to say I was in good shape (exercised 4x/week) before this mishap & for some reason while I'm using this 2nd walker I get out of breathe after about 7-8 hops & have to pause. My left leg starts to hurt (thigh) & even my hands hurt from gripping this walker after a day out. Is this normal? My husband (who is not the injured party! says he thinks he could use this walker without being out of breathe.) and claims I'm out of shape.

Would you recommend I do something different here? I hate using the walker on the outside because it seems to take so long to get inside a building & get to my destination.

Thanks for your help -- Kira ;)

Hi Kira, how long do you have to stay off your foot and have you tried crutches? I can just imagine what you are going through as i've seen my friend suffer from the botched casts doctors put on her foot and then when things looked good and the cast finally came off she received a "professional" massage to get the circulation happening again in her foot from a friend who is "qualified", well the "friend" redamaged the foot which has set my friend back. Hers has only healed minutely and the bone is not knitting together. She is on a waiting list for surgery.

She used to zip about the house on one of those office chairs with wheels as she found it difficult getting about the house in a wheel chair. She wasn't able to use crutches due to upper body injury due to someone driving through an intersection without stopping and having a head on collision with her and the crutches cause her shoulder and neck pains.

Her foot however was injured when she twisted her foot while wearing an old pair of shoes, which she'd meant to throw out for ages, in her house while trying to syphon bath water to the outside garden b/c here we are on water restrictions due to the drought. Between this and the guy who hit her in the car accident she isn't having any luck.

I hope your foot gets better soon :)

Kira,
I was in good shape before my surgery, and I find crutches to be very difficult, painful, and damaging to other body parts. Initially, I used them almost exclusively. My hands, even after building some callouses, are so tender and sore, and then I read somewhere that their use can bring on or exacerbate carpal tunnel syndrome. :confused: I've also put a lot of stress on my good foot, and it remains sore. I can see how a walker might contribute to the same issues, and definitely, after working with geriatrics patients with broken bones because they were trusting them, feel they present a false sense of safety.
I still use my crutches to get outside, and in the bathroom, but am really frightened of them after a number of uncontrolled falls have caused me to hurt the foot I'm supposed to be protecting. :eek:
The position I'd have to be in to use a walker would present even more balance issues for me, so I won't even try one.
I use the wheelchair almost exclusively now, and if I'm going back indoors briefly, leaving it in the car, I use an office chair.
You can get out of shape very quickly when you're in our shoes, but I don't feel (As I did pre-op) that hauling our weight around on crutches is an exercise that gives as much benefit as it does risk. I do leg lifts, in the chair or in bed, sometimes adding ankle weights to my good foot, the bad one having a heavy cast. I do many upper body exercises seated with handweights. I sit in front of the sink, set the brakes, and, using my hands on the sink only to ensure balance, rise on my good leg repeatedly until I'm tired. Brakes set, I grab the wc arms, extend my legs, and do pushups. I find an open space, and wheel as fast as I can. Just because I "sit around on my hiney all day", I refuse to let myself go totally, but challenge myself. :bouncing:
Regardless of how you navigate in your home, I think a wheelchair provides the most freedom when you're out shopping and running errands. With a lightweight, folding chair, you can go alone if you can drive. It takes some maneuvering, but it can be done. (I can't drive, but I did try getting in the van and dragging the chair in and back out again just to prove I could. I feel I've lost enough dignity and hate asking people to do for me.)
I have no clue how long a healthy, untraumatised body would be able to handle crutches, but I doubt it would do well for long. Literally lifting one's body weight on one's arms and hands repeatedly (Maybe hubby can do several sets of 250# bench presses, and unfairly compares the two actions, but the muscles used are different, center of gravity is altered, there's no support, and if your crutches are not properly adjusted to your height, your ribcage is compressed!) simply isn't what they were made for, and it is bound to be tiring. If your husband tried them for a quick walk, he might do well, but I'd wager if he confined himself to them for a couple of days, he'd wear down as well. :D Regardless, a healthy body judging the shape of an injured one is a little unfair. Do what you feel you can do to stay in shape, but don't endanger your well-being. :wave: Kim

Kim, thank you for all your input. It is so good to hear from someone who can relate. I'd tried crutches years ago with a sprained ankle (same right foot, would you believe? I think there is some weakness in that ankle, as I've "turned" in my shoe many times before this trauma happened.) Anyway, the crutches were a disaster. My underarms were killing me, and I kept losing control of the crutches (went to Bloomingdales one day & knocked over the display items on those little tables in Cosmetics :rolleyes: I was like a bull in a china shop!) Thus, my Dr. thinks I could fall off them & cause more damage to the foot & the rest of my body.

I feel like you do, losing dignity when I have to ask people for help (you must be as independent as me.) I cannot drive at all, though I wish I could (who wouldn't?) to get me to the grocery store at least. Hate relying on my husband, who is stressed out from this (just him & I here; son is in grad. school in Orlando.) We missed a European cruise with friends because of this and yes, I understand we can go at another time (got refunds, thank God), hubby is a bit ticked off. Women seem to handle disappointment better than men :cool:

As for exercise recommendations, thank you so very much :D This will give me something else to do besides the computer & knitting. I will admit I feel like a "person" again everytime I stand up on even one foot to do the laundry or wash dishes.

I've got at the maximum 8 weeks of this -- or a minimum of 4 weeks (I'm in Week 2) so anyway to cope will help 'speed' the time. I've got an extreme break as the Dr. tells it (She put in my 5th metaltaral a screw, wire & putty; as she had to remove bone fragments; the bone shattered in one place) so I don't think I'm coming out of this cast and into a walking boot too soon.

Thank you again for your help.
KIRA

Audrey,
Thanks for your reply. I'm in Week 2 and I have between 4-8 Weeks before I get a walking boot. :mad: Since its such a severe break (and such a freak simple accident, can you believe?) it may take the full 8 weeks, says the Dr. I'm trying not to go out of mind being at home. I wonder why these things happen to such active people?

I wish you friend a lot of luck, as this has been no picnic. Life isn't fair or as my friend Mindy says (who is on that European cruise that we had to miss) S**T HAPPENS. I hope her luck turns for the better. By now she may know more about her predictament than some of those doctors!

Keep in touch & let me know how things are going...

Kira~
I grew up avoiding gymnastics & skating, saying, "I have weak ankles." I, too, sprained repeatedly, so "weak" I could get an evil sprain just swimming! Folks took me to ED in the beginning, then we just started self-treating, justifying that it was silly to go pay some Doc to tell us it was sprained and what to do.
Now, I have considered all my current problems to be result of the fracture, and that I walked around on it like an idiot for so long, but reading this forum has taught me much, and I hope you'll find some of the threads and read them.
Our ankles aren't simply "weak". They are, but there is a reason, and the reason can be corrected! If your ligaments are strained or torn in an injury, it sets up a vicious cycle, fall, add scar tissue, heal, fall... All that scar tissue now rubbing, clicking, hurting.
Your OS will treat your fracture and send you on, unless you let him know your history, so make sure he knows. He can tailor your PT program to tightening/strengthening those ligaments, and perhaps keep you from yet another.
I love the Bloomingdale's story!!! If I'd had the nerve to try shopping on crutches, I would have broken everything, I'm sure! Take care, and keep posting! Kim

:) Kim, thanks for the info. again. When I get to PT (I live for that day, who wouldn't?) I will tell them about the weak ankle (only the right). This started when I learned to ride a bike (got the scars to prove in on my right leg). I never really on great on high heels and tended to wear low shoes or flats. I stopped wearing flats about 4 years ago (in S. Florida they are so fashion-conscious!), obviously now I'm going back to flats!

Wow, you ladies are amazing at coping with the difficulties which have been presented to you. You also sound as though you carry a positive streak, my friend on the other hand is very negative about most situations in life, so the dramas with her foot aren't helping. She is unable to drive at this stage and also has to rely on people to take her to appointments, buy groceries and take her to visit her mother in a nursing home. Her mother has alzheimers (sp?) and isn't expected to live long, but the nursing staff often ignore basic hygiene necessities as well as not taking the time to feed her mother properly, so not being able to drive and not being mobile is truly getting her down.

Kimann, Thanks for the tips regarding scar tissue and torn ligaments etc. I will tell my friend of the tips and info and hopefully it will make her feel better knowing that a lot of what she is going through is likely considered "normal". She had an unfortunate incident approx one and a half years ago with her feet where a friend invited her to some type of aerobic exercise class, but neglected to inform her that it was an "advanced" class and the instructor, seeing a new face, didn't think to check and my friend i guess didn't think to ask. She amazingly kept up with the class for the entire length of time and the next day onwards had the most amazing pains in her feet to the point she had to have her feet bound and she was unable to walk properly and was told she had damaged ligaments and the muscle at her heels was damaged so badly that the bone at her heel wasn't being cushioned by muscle. This event and then the fall has upset her badly as her one love in life was dancing, but right now she'd settle for being able to walk and drive again.

Take care ladies and all the best :)