A not so good day

Well, I simply could not be more irritated with my body. And before you ask - Yes, this will be another post ranting about all of my ailments. About five days after the marathon while mom and I were walking all around Pyeongtaek, I noticed that my left foot was bothering me. We would set out across town and I would feel this twinge on the outside start building and building until I was almost limping. I can't remember if I even mentioned it to mom; I think I figured that it was a normal ache and pain and that I should just leave it alone and it would be fine.

...Dun, dun, DUN............

It did not just go away like I predicted. On Saturday when I walked across town, I started feeling it at the market, and by the end of my Easter journey across Seoul, I was flat-out hobbling home. Monday morning it was only a twinge, but by the end of the day I was in full blown pain and I asked Sarah to take me to the hospital - Sarah has led me to believe that Korea doesn't have a ton of individual doctors. Hospitals are private businesses and you go to them for whatever you need. So. Today I went back to the hospital. Once there, I pointed to a glass display case in the lobby. "hey look! Thats where I almost passed out!"

The nurse for the orthopedic wing told us to pay first, get xrays, and come back. I paid, get this, a little under 14 dollars for an xray and consultation. I LOVE Korea's Universal health care. The doctor told me that nothing showed up on the xray and insisted that I had a damaged ligament (i.e. sprain ) on the fifth metatarsal (the pinky toe bone area) and that there was nothing that I could do for it but rest. Okay. I was pretty skeptical. I know that there are boots and crutches and things to keep your weight off of it so that it can heal faster. "So how long will it take to heal" ......3 to 4 months. I started tearing up. Wait, what? I know that I never went to medical school, but it seems to me that there is no way that a ligament can heal faster by being used normally - ie without crutches or something. Also, from all that I have read, many times a stress fracture in the bone is misdiagnosed as a sprain and that the stress fracture doesn't even show up on an xray until the crack gets more serious....

"Stress fractures of the fifth metatarsal are also common within the athletic community (Figure 2). There are often low-grade symptoms with activity that can last weeks prior to the diagnosis of fracture, which usually presents as an acute increase in pain. Symptoms may include pain over the outer aspect of the foot particularly with activity and weight bearing. There may be swelling or bruising present. These symptoms may worsen over time before a fracture is evident on x-ray. These low-grade symptoms should not be ignored. There is usually evidence on plain x-rays of stress related changes in the bone. However, in suspected cases of a fifth metatarsal stress fracture without x-ray changes or with questionable changes, MRI has become the most sensitive tool for early diagnosis."

-Joshua Baumfeld, MD, David Diduch, MD, UVA Sports Medicine

Well, So anyways. I am terrified that this is something serious and that because the doctor did not give me a boot or crutches to make me feel better....I mean REALLY, this would soothe my nerves. I can understand taking time off of running. I hate that it is so long, but I would feel better if there was something that I could do. Not just "take a rest" I mean, for goodness sake, I work with small children. What am I supposed to do? I am just scared that this will not get any better, but rather, escalate until I have a broken bone.

Thoughts?