Ankle (again)

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 08 June 2009 21:23:31

So over our two week holiday, which included a trek across Hadrian's Wall, my ankle calmed down. Probably more during the week after, but still. Then last Tuesday I went back to work, did a 12 hour shift, and it was back to being really swollen and sore again. Sigh. After another shift and more pain, I got a bit upset about it all, and ended up re-visiting the GP, phoning work to change my shifts to short shifts again and getting an occupational health referral. At the moment I'm still doing 12 hour night shifts, because we don't do short nights and I can't stop doing nights without occupational health's recommendation.

Last Monday, before it all flarred up again, I saw the physio. After an hour and a half meeting, she didn't know what was definitely wrong, just that it was an inflamatory process which had affected the nerve, but this was likely to be secondary to the initial swelling which was probably from the tendon. She said I had v.good movement in the ankle, and the joint itself was fine. I am though, balancing more on one side of my foot than the other. So she made an heel thing to go inside my shoes, which makes my foot go towards the outside, where it seems to be reluctant to go naturally. She also recommended an exercise which stretches the tendon this way too.

I also complained that my leg, coming up from the sore area, was often stiff, so she recommended gently massaging it to get out any knots. Mr B was massaging it earlier, as he had done several times, and he noticed there was a ridge on the tendon, as it rose above my ankle. It was v.sore when he rubbed it, and having established that this wasn't normal, we decided to stop massaging it, until I've met with the physio again.

It's been 6 weeks since it initially flared up. And I'm fed up with it. I'm fed up with having to limit the amount that I can stand / walk each day. I'm fed up with having to kick up a fuss at work in order to get the shifts that mean it only swells up a little, instead of lots. I'm fed up with the fact that with short shifts, my days off are rare. I'm fed up with knowing that the more I rest it, the quicker it will get better, but that I simply can't stop working and stop my life.