The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsI can't walk.
Something going on with my ankle and foot. Sitting upstairs in my office in a recliner. Thought it was gout, but now I'm not sure. Injured this foot years ago. It's swollen but not red or hot.
My wife brought me up my departed mom's walker, and even with the walker, it takes me 10 minutes to get to the bathroom which is 15 feet away. Took half an Oxy a few hours ago, but it didn't touch the pain. Wife is begging to take me to the ER, but there's no way I can get down the stairs, and I'm not calling an ambulance.
I'm a juvenile diabetic. In the middle of all of this horseshit, my glucose dropped into the 30s because I overestimated my insulin. That's gave me the runs, and I barely made it to the bathroom and I greyed out for a moment while sitting on the toilet.
I woke up and burst into tears. I have trouble with accepting help from people, even my wife. I'm scared shitless. I'm an active guy, and if I ever get laid up permanently. I don't think I have the personality to survive that. If I can't move, I'm a goner.
Thanks for listening.
spooky3
(34,510 posts)debm55
(25,610 posts)nerve. But it's best to be seen by a doctor, Best of luck and let us know how it goes.
MerryHolidays
(7,715 posts)cayugafalls
(5,646 posts)GET HELP!
Please...I beg you. We love you, Lucky...Please
cilla4progress
(24,790 posts)soon as you can!
Good luck!
MLAA
(17,348 posts)If you dont take care of yourself who the heck is going to give us as many smiles, chuckles and belly laughs?
dweller
(23,685 posts)Get thee to a dr, pronto
✌🏻
no_hypocrisy
(46,251 posts)You need a thorough examination of your foot and ankle. And it could be treatable.
I have plantar fasciitis and it hurts to stand and to walk at the moment. I have to stretch the tendon on the sole of my foot. I get it.
Wishing you all the best.
JPPaverage
(513 posts)Please listen to your wife.
MaryMagdaline
(6,858 posts)I know you dont want the ambulance but if you go to the hospital, you can get pain medicine (real stuff). You will think better when pain subsides. You can plan your next step Come back here for your friends. Well throw in for the ambulance.
If Ive overreached, tell me to go away and I will delete.
Nictuku
(3,620 posts)**sending good vibes and healthy wishes ***
Eko
(7,389 posts)Go.
markie
(22,759 posts)if not for yourself... think about us here at DU... we want you well
rsdsharp
(9,223 posts)to the ER. Once with a temp of 105, and once with gangrene. Both times I was too weak to walk, both times I resisted, but eventually relented. The second time probably saved my life.
Please go, even if it means an ambulance.
unblock
(52,420 posts)get over the "trouble accepting help from people" thing. i'm sure you have reasons, and i'll assume they're good. maybe even very good. still. just get over them. don't let *anything* interfere with your health.
if not being laid up permanently is important to you, reasonably enough, then do whatever you need to do to minimize the chance of that happening.
if that means calling an ambulance, do it.
don't let some misplaced notion of pride or whatever get in the way of keeping your limbs.
if you're diabetic, you do not want to mess around with problems that could lead to permanent damage to you limbs.
two weeks ago i was embarrassed to ask my boss if i could take the rest of the day off for back pain. 45 minutes later i was begging my wife to take me to the e.r., i couldn't even drive at that point.
"just" a massive kidney stone, as it turned out.
you need help, get it. let people help you.
Irish_Dem
(47,587 posts)In your narrative you listed red flags.
Go get the help you need.
It may not be as bad as you think.
I had a serious fall and broke my spine in several places.
I had extensive surgery and thought I wouldn't walk again.
But silly me, I now walk at least 2 miles a day!
So don't imagine the worst. Get help asap.
highplainsdem
(49,065 posts)help you, before you fall and hurt yourself worse, or your wife, who has to be frantic, gets hurt or sick trying to help you.
All of us need help sometimes and should accept it.
Prayers and healing energy for you, and your wife.
2naSalit
(86,880 posts)You could do serious permanent damage if you don't get help now.
MFM008
(19,826 posts)For two MRIs because apparently I guess they can't get everything in the same picture on Wednesday. My left foot ( movie?) Has been hurting since June . It's changed the way I walk, it's making my knee hurt and my leg goes out... I've fallen twice.
You need a definite and distinct answer from a podiatrist or an orthopedic surgeon, Good luck to you.❤️
Ptah
(33,048 posts)I wish I could provide some comfort.
central scrutinizer
(11,665 posts)After my ankle surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon I wasnt allowed to put any weight on that foot for weeks. My bedroom is upstairs. I didnt trust myself on stairs with crutches. So I crawled up the stairs on hands and knees and went down stairs on my butt. If you can, crawl to your car and get to the ER.
LuckyCharms
(17,469 posts)electric_blue68
(14,978 posts)JudyM
(29,294 posts)Hoping everythings easily fixable.
IcyPeas
(21,928 posts)niyad
(113,701 posts)dislike our medical system as much as I do!).
You are loved and valued here, my friend. Please take the best possible care of yourself. Sending vibes for best possible outcome.
Laffy Kat
(16,391 posts)The diabetes scares me. Plus, blood clot needs to be ruled out. Listen to your wife, she loves you and so do we! We need you here.
LuckyCharms
(17,469 posts)Clean xray. No ultrasound done, no bloodwork.
Diagnosis: "I don't know, my friend".
Flexeril and Tylenol. Explained I have no idea how I'm going to get back in my house. No response, except to see a podiatrist.
Guess I'll be crawling through the snow to get inside after my wife picks me up.
True Dough
(17,354 posts)providing you temporary relief, at least?
Hang in there, LC, you're a treasure around here!
LuckyCharms
(17,469 posts)Drugs are not touching the pain. Can't walk. Stuck in the recliner.
Thanks for the kind words.
Marthe48
(17,076 posts)Sure will be good news if you are?
highplainsdem
(49,065 posts)ER doctor just assumed it's a bad sprain, since you were given a muscle relaxant as well as Tylenol. But you would have known if you'd sprained your ankle. And since you suspected gout at first, they should at least have done an ultrasound (which can show stress fractures as well as signs of gout) and bloodwork. And maybe a venous Doppler ultrasound to check for circulatory problems.
Just sending an older person who can't walk, and who has other health problems, home with painkiller and muscle relaxant strikes me as appalling.
LuckyCharms
(17,469 posts)Thanks for your kind words highplainsdem.
Didn't get a room at ER. All was done in the waiting room. I had one sock on. Other foot was bare.
Wife pulls up to door. Intake said "your ride's here". Wife had to come in and put my shoes on. Had another low blood sugar at the same time. Had to walk out with walker. Took me 10 minutes to get out the door. They didn't wheel me to the car.
Glucose is going spastic. Another "severe low" as I type this. Went high and over-corrected with insulin.
Have a feeling this may end up bad. No idea what to do. Wrote my primary care. No response yet. Ambulance crew was great though.
debm55
(25,610 posts)LuckyCharms
(17,469 posts)to do a foot x-ray, and then got sent back to the waiting room.
Doctor examine me in the waiting room.
2naSalit
(86,880 posts)I would be calling the admin of the hospital and complain about what you experienced in the ER.
They should have done a whole lot more. I would threaten to sue, go get a second opinion and if there is something seriously wrong, sue the bastards. A long time ago I was dying from a hemorrhage and was left to die in a maternity ward overnight. Only I didn't die and when I got out of the hospital, I sued the intern who tried to kill me because he assumed I was a parking lot whore and didn't require his help.
Get a second opinion, go to an urgent care or something but don't leave it at what those incompetent ER toads did.
It's your life, protect it!
highplainsdem
(49,065 posts)I was my mom's caregiver for more than 20 years and had to deal with multiple misdiagnoses by doctors, including in the ER.
I respect most doctors and nurses, but they aren't infallible, and they're often overworked and exhausted.
2naSalit
(86,880 posts)I ended up saving my own life by refusing medication - an IV that would have further constricted my organs thus killing me.
While the nurse was getting ready to insert the IV I had a "vision" (remember, I was in shock) where I saw a good friend of mine, an RN, telling me I could refuse medication at any time, so I did. I somehow knew the IV would kill me, when I explained to the nurse, she was wary of the intern. She testified in my defense. I did take the antibiotics, didn't see a real doctor, though I requested one upon arrival and spent 4 hrs bleeding in the ER before admission. I hemorrhaged all night long until a real doctor showed up, when he saw what was going on he got me into the OR so fast they forgot the Demerol shot.
I have been skeptical of doctors in many cases since then. Lesson learned.
LuckyCharms
(17,469 posts)So glad you made it through that.
I hear you...you have good intuition.
2naSalit
(86,880 posts)Thankfully I was totally buffed out and made a rapid recovery even though my entire lower abdomen innards were rearranged.
2naSalit
(86,880 posts)Not trying to raise fears but I have had to save my own life while in an ER so I am really concerned with this outcome.
GenThePerservering
(1,850 posts)it happens. I had it in one knee once and couldn't walk on it - it's like my leg didn't work at all. Never happened again but it was very, very strange. I was still bike racing then and could not figure out what happened. My knee swelled but didn't get red or hot, either.
The diabetes is more worrisome - I know that's a very tough condition and hope you're doing OK now!!
a kennedy
(29,740 posts)Evergreen Emerald
(13,071 posts)Get up and fight.
Niagara
(7,707 posts)Marthe48
(17,076 posts)Being a diabetic, you have special needs. And you are special to us on DU. Can you sit to go down the steps? Can you have a video appointment with your doctor or care provider?
Oxy doesn't touch pain, it distracts you. If you are allowed to take Tylenol or ibuprofen, try that. And try ice or heat, even alternate. I use an icepack on my back often, and it really helps minimize pain I have, or makes it go away.
Feel better!
Harker
(14,067 posts)It's a difficult challenge, but you'll see the end of it.
You might we'll need some help to let you heal up. Sometimes you give help, sometimes you have to welcome it.
ificandream
(9,410 posts)happybird
(4,647 posts)Ive been thinking of you and hoping you are feeling better.
LuckyCharms
(17,469 posts)Doing poor right now. Primary care prescribed steroids. Just took the first 2 pills now. Can't get out of this stupid chair.
happybird
(4,647 posts)and provide some relief and mobility.
Hang in there! You are loved by many and your posts often brighten my day.
Response to LuckyCharms (Reply #40)
Name removed Message auto-removed
LuckyCharms
(17,469 posts)"The jab" is telling on you.
Response to LuckyCharms (Reply #43)
Name removed Message auto-removed
debm55
(25,610 posts)the ER late at night or week ends they don't do a very good job. They should have kept you overnight or told you to return to your doctor and get more tests done. Wishing you all the best, Lucky.
LuckyCharms
(17,469 posts)Please see post 55.
hlthe2b
(102,468 posts)Are there red streaks? If yes, immediately call EMTs. Is your foot numb so that you can't feel a pin stick? If yes, call EMTs. Are you having other symptoms: dizziness, difficulty speaking, difficulty breathing or chest pain? Call EMTs.
Has your blood sugar normalized? Is your pain worsening? You really need to seek help.
If no to all the above, you may be okay to call your physician, rather than go to the ER, but don't let this go on untreated.
On edit, all my above comments were in reference to your OP. It seems you may have seen someone in the meantime, but I'm unclear. Still if your symptoms are not improving you may need a second opinion.
Donkees
(31,504 posts)on the car twice, ended up picking up glass shards, plus dealing with shoveling all that snow. The weakened tendon might have torn even further or ruptured. (?) In any case, whatever is going on now, is probably related to all that exertion recently.
Acute ruptures often present with sudden onset of pain associated with a "snapping" or audible "pop" heard at the site of injury. Patients may describe a sensation similar to being kicked in the lower leg. Achilles tendon rupture causes significant pain and disability.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430844/#:~:text=Acute%20ruptures%20often%20present%20with,causes%20significant%20pain%20and%20disability.
panader0
(25,816 posts)Skittles
(153,254 posts)WE ARE HERE FOR YOU!!!
LuckyCharms
(17,469 posts)ER the other night, primary care contact the next day and she put me on prednisone. Probably 50% better now, I can sort of walk without a walker.
Just made foot Dr. appointment for next Wednesday.
This was a bad one.
Thanks for your words!
Skittles
(153,254 posts)you perk up so many people, and we are here to return the favor......someone is ALWAYS here on DU - I know that, because I am awake all night every night!
LuckyCharms
(17,469 posts)I'm a fighter. I battle through everything. We all go through things, and I try to remember that when I feel down.
Thanks for your kind words.
But I prefer your posts where you're kickin' ass!
Niagara
(7,707 posts)Please keep us posted.
LuckyCharms
(17,469 posts)So I hope this reply comes through.
I'm doing a little better, Niagara. I'm able to walk now, sort of. I can hobble around without the walker. Primary care put me on Prednisone for one week. I'm in the second day now. That's making my foot feel better, but Prednisone drives your glucose levels into the stratosphere.
Hope you have a good day.
Niagara
(7,707 posts)I'm pleased to hear that I you're a little better, LC.
We're all concerned about your well-being, so I'm happy that you checked in with us.
Hang in there. We're all rooting for you!
highplainsdem
(49,065 posts)problems.
See this thread
https://www.democraticunderground.com/125621245
and EarlG's reply there, linking to my thread about this in GD yesterday.
They might have fixed the problem now. I was still having trouble with it earlier today, around the time you posted this message, but it hasn't happened the last couple of hours.
LuckyCharms
(17,469 posts)Thought my PC was finally giving up the ghost.
highplainsdem
(49,065 posts)Glad I could alleviate that one.
panader0
(25,816 posts)LudwigPastorius
(9,210 posts)It could be a blood clot.
Maraya1969
(22,509 posts)You can weather anything. Try to replace the insecure thoughts with secure ones.
diva77
(7,671 posts)(American Diabetes Association) -- but just in case you aren't, they have a page where you input your zip and they link to resources in your area for diabetes. Apologies in advance if this is way off course for you...
https://diabetes.org/diabetes
True Dough
(17,354 posts)And that sexy little hobble of yours...
LuckyCharms
(17,469 posts)Sexayyyyyy gif
Good morning!