Foot Fate SAGA

Foot Fate SAGA

Rolling my foot on the reputedly special pool-side coral tile, indeed, changed the course of not only my next weeks, but equally those of Kirk’s. The night of the snapped 5th Metatarsal we went to two Urgent Care facilities in Columbus, GA to find their doors locked tight by 9:00 p.m. Guess nothing Urgent happens in Columbus after 9:00. So much for trying to discriminate between an Urgent need and an Emergency need thereby conserving our insurance dollars and allowing ER staff to care for those whose medical needs were life-threatening rather than just life-style threatening.

Yes, my 5th Metatarsal was broken, and yes I needed to see an orthopedist Monday. I had visions of wearing my carbon fiber-bottomed bike shoe until I saw the orthopedist on Monday and waiting till the next day to go to a medical supply thereby not incurring the expense of crutches dispensed by the ER. The ER staff had a different plan: applying a temporary cast until I could be seen Monday. Guess I won’t be wearing my bike shoe, won’t be riding the next day, and will be taking crutches home from the ER.

And, what would I do now about the 1,200 mile Circle Tour planned for a year with 6+/- other riders? What would I do now about missing riding in the unridden in states of DE and SC?

Monday came; orthopedist consulted: first recommendation was a non-weight bearing cast. Left his office with an aircast/boot with a promise to not weight bear and crutch 100%.

A flurry of back and forths with the Circle Tour Riders and the ride is ON, a slightly amended route with Kirk SAGGING and me being the SAG-Administrator or SAGA, for short.

One of the surprising ah-ha’s of returning to crutchdom 48 years after breaking my Left 5th Metatarsal playing basketball as a freshman in college, is that crutching takes a heck of a lot of upper body strength. A watershed moment for sure. I will be adding an upper body program to my wellness program when we finally get to Tucson.

The realities of being broken footed, and especially right broken footed began to emerge over the next few days. The upside: Kirk is retired, we’re together all day, every day, and we’re doing fun things day-after-day. Had we still been in Wilmette with Kirk still working FT, I would have been pretty much trapped in my four walls with 14 steps between my bed, bath, and beyond.

The downside: I depended upon Kirk to push me in a wheelchair all around Charlestown, SC, Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, and Chautauqua. He typically walks an average of 7 miles a day, documented at VirginHealthMiles via his trusty pedometer, but these first 2-1/2 crutch-dependent weeks he averaged 13 miles a day. My most significant contribution to our little team of two was to keep a cheerful attitude and join Beverly, my iPhone, in providing trouble-free navigation over the next 2,000 miles.