I've been promising this post for a while. Those of you who know me in person have probably noticed that I walked with a limp sometimes. It's not your imagination; my left foot is very messed up. I affectionately call it my lucky fin.
 |
| One of the many things I share in common with Nemo. |
The story is actually pretty fascinating. I was too young to remember a lot of it, but my mom takes copious notes* and saves everything, so I can reconstruct a lot of it.
When I was less than a year old, I was diagnosed with an arteriovenous malformation. More specifically, a peripheral limb AVM, so less serious than one in the brain, but still needing correction. Two surgeries later, it was taken care of.
 |
| I thought I had a better picture, but you can see the cast. |
Unfortunately, this left me with major scarring on my left calf (ask me to show you sometime). My whole leg developed wonky. The doctor's notes that I have say "Scarring in the gastrosoleus complex has left him with an extremely tight heel cord and a tendency to break at the midfoot and difficulty getting his heel down to the ground when he walks". Another diagnosis says: "He has an equinus contracture of his left foot due to a soft tissue muscle contracture that has caused him to have midfoot breakdown and a pes planovalgus position of his foot. He walks with an externally rotated gait."
Breaking this down:
- Gastrosoleus complex: calf muscles
- Equinus contracture: inability to bring foot up to a right angle with the leg
- Midfoot breakdown: not an exact link because this one is really interesting. Since my ankle did not have a full range of motion, the bones in my midfoot developed greatly increased movement. My foot acts as the hinge that the ankle could not!
- Planovalgus position: flat feet. I have absolutely no arch on my left foot. When I leave a wet footprint, it looks almost like a perfect oval.
- Rotated gait: aka "out-toeing"
Also, my left leg is a little shorter than the right.
So, this is what happened as I was growing up. In freshmen year of highschool, we started to get a little concerned about some pain. Doctors took a look at it and determined that without corrective surgery, I would probably need a cane by the time I was 30. The surgery decided upon was a heel cord lengthening. This was done the summer after my freshmen year. So I started sophomore year at a brand new school (Stony Point had just opened) with a cast and later a leg brace.
I still wear orthotic inserts and occasionally an ankle brace. I have to do stretches and some days my leg really hurts by the evening (that's when you may see me limping). No cane yet (but if I do get one, I'll get something cool).
 |
| One of the few things I think is cool about series. |
What's the point of this whole story? I'm not sure. I guess here's a few ways that it impacted my life:
- I was never much good at sports (that's probably not just due to the leg). So I did theatre and debate.
- Some kids made fun of my limp in school, but people can make fun of just about anything. So if I didn't limp, they'd have picked something else.
- I briefly considered joining the military after 9/11 (it was my senior year of high school). The recruiter made a face when he saw my limp, so I didn't end up going through with it and continued on my plan to study theatre lighting design (that didn't end up happening either).
- My favorite cardio machine is the elliptical since my foot can stay in position.
Comments
Post a Comment