Injury 2022

The jellyfish is back~

Writing a memory about my injury at the end of 2022, maybe can laugh at it in the future. XD

So towards the end of Nov 2022, I fell down and landed on the side of my left root. With some amazing luck, it resulted in a hairline fracture. >< A hairline fracture is the least severe of all fractures, but it is still a tear in the bones and definitely painful. Thankfully at the present time of writing, the fracture has healed 70% and I can start walking slowly to various places (such as the office, public transport). :)

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23rd Nov [The beginning - UCC and clutches]

Visited the GP, to see if there is any chance where it could be just a small injury. The left foot shows a big patch of blue-black at the top of the foot too. The GP doctor immediately went: "Aiyo this one confirm fracture la. Please go take an X-ray." She wrote a reference letter and asked me to take it to the Urgent Care Center (UCC) at Kampung Admiralty.

I didn't even know about the existence of a UCC. Apparently this facility is setup to ease the load of the A&E in government hospitals. So it is a government medical facility, related to hospitals, but handles A&E cases that are not too urgent (Such as fractures). It's a quieter place, aircon is shiok. <3 It's also the 1st time I sat on a wheelchair~

The doctor in the UCC looked at the foot, immediately suspected it to be a fracture, and sent me to do an X-ray for confirmation. Indeed, hairline fracture. Sian. He then ordered me to be on a cast for approx 2 weeks, before going to the hospital to a follow up.

Was quite surprised that it would take so long to be on the cast (2 weeks), and was much more surprised when the doctor said that the hospital would most likely issue another 4 weeks of Hospitalization Leave (HL). This means a potential 6 weeks of HL. Was panicking slightly when he mentioned the duration, as Dec was actually a very busy work period. The doctor judged and reminded me that taking care of myself is the most important priority. =P

So yup, me on the cast. ><

The nurses in the UCC also recommended me to buy some clutches so that I can hop at home, while reminding me that moving with clutches is supposed to be a slow process. That advice was definitely easy to follow, because hopping with clutches is a very tiring process. I remembered hopping some distance from the carpark to the lift in front of my house, and that involved 2 breaks to catch up my breath. Who says u can't do cardio when u are injured? XP

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23rd Nov to 6th Dec [Clutch phase]

Movement: This is perhaps the worst part of being on the cast. According to the doctor orders, the injured foot must absolutely not touch the ground at all times to prevent any pressure on the foot. So even while standing, it's best to hold on to an object or a wall for more balance. During movement, navigating through steps (e.g. toilet) is simply a mini-challenge. Almost fell a few times, especially during the first day of clutches. Thankfully I got to use to them after a few days.

Resting position: As the cast was quite tight, blood circulation to the foot would be less effective. As such, the doctor recommended to place my left leg parallel to the ground at all times, including sitting. So I took a stool and placed my leg there. It is not exactly 90 degrees, but at least it helped the circulation slightly.

Cast protection: The biggest issue raised by anyone who has ever worn a cast before, the itch. XD A cast is not meant to be taken out easily, and hence if u feel an itch in the cast, it will be a big challenge and there is nothing u can do about it except enduring. I heard some people mentioning that applying some powder will help, but apparently it is not medically recommended?

To prevent such situations, it is important for the cast to be dry, including showering times. My family bought a huge stack of plastic bags to wrap around my cast before I showered, and thankfully it mostly worked. A bit of seep through the opening of the plastic bags, but it only affected the very top of the cast.

Medication: The doctor gave 2 types of medications: Light painkillers vs heavy painkillers + gastric. He recommended taking only the first set if the pain is bearable. The second set is for cases where the pain cannot be tolerated. Glad that I only took the 1st type. :D

Daily life: Support from the family is the most important, as they will be the ones making sure u don't fall, food reaches u conveniently, etc. Of course, one can still do it alone, but its more troublesome and dangerous. I mostly spent time in front of my WFH computer in the day and bed in the night. As some peeps: mention: If only your leg is injured, and your arms / brain are fine, u can still work.

My mother also recommended to wear a sandal on my right foot, as it will minimize the impact on my foot especially navigating through the toilet steps. That is actually quite nice.

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2nd Dec [Checkup 1]

At this point, I felt no pain in my left foot at all. :) Honestly thought that this visit would be to take off the cast.

Reality turns out very differently. The doctor mentioned that he observed a hairline fracture, and something that was more worrying that was not at the fractured area. He did not mention what it was, and recommended me for an urgent CT scan. I thought it was quite unusual, as there was no pain anywhere else. And a CT scan for a simple fracture seems to be overkill.

The doctor mentioned that there was a possibility of surgery too. That was really scary to hear.

So yup, instead of removing the cast, they did a recast which felt heavier. A really awful day.

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6th Dec [CT scan]

The urgent CT scan was held 4 days after the diagnosis, at 8am. The brochure which the hospital gave provided info of what to do before the scan, such as fasting for hours, mentally preparing for a long scan, another mental preparation to ingest a dye, etc.

I asked the CT scan operator if it was really going to take 30 minutes. The operator gave a puzzled look and replied that a simple scan on the left foot should not take more than 5 minutes. That is a relief. :P

The CT scan machine looked really scary, like a MRI machine. But since it is only my foot, most of my body did not go into the machine. To help relieve some anxiety for the patient, the ceiling even had pictures of flowers.

The scan was done after about 2 minutes or so. So that was it, an elaborated version of an X-ray which cost really expensive. A scan on the left foot easily costs >$500. At that point, I am much more anxious about the findings than the cost.

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7th Dec [Checkup 2]

Doctor: Hello Jeff, how are u feeling today?

Jeff: I am extremely nervous about the CT scan results.

Doctor: Ah I see. Anyway I believe your mother is outside, it will be nice if she comes in and listen too.

That simple dialogue definitely scared me. If things were going well, why would u want the whole family to come and listen? So the doctor introduced himself as a bone specialist, shared the findings of the X-ray and mentioned that the CT scan confirmed their observations. He also said that surgery is definitely possible.

After that, he removed the cast from my left leg. First, he confirmed that the hairline fracture part was indeed not as painful anymore and mentioned it was expected. Then, he went to the "worrying" area of the foot, stared at it for awhile, and pressed different parts of the area.

Doctor: Is it painful when I press?

Jeff: Absolutely not. That part is not even injured.

Doctor: Hmm. Yeah indeed it does not look injured, no blue-black, and it is totally not painful?

Jeff: 0% pain.

Doctor: How interesting.

I will not share the exact details here [only shared to the people I am really close to]. But in short, the whole CT scan was not meant for the fractured area, but for the "worrying" area. Initially, they had thought that the fracture had caused something serious in the "worrying" area, and wanted to propose a surgery to fix it. But after seeing that the "worrying" area was perfectly fine, the conclusion was that it had nothing to do with the injury, there was no pain and I was adapting well, there was nothing that needed to be done.

[The girl beside the doctor (really cute) also shown a happy expression after the doctor announced there was no need for surgery. Apparently she had done joined some DSO activity before. Hope she is happier in the healthcare industry!]

Though I was very relieved that a surgery was not needed, my heart still sank a bit. I can roughly guessed why that area was "worrying", and it meant the stopping of really strenuous physical activities such as long runs for life. :/ Not a fan of cardio, but still the exclusion of such activities could be a bit sian mentally.

Before leaving, the doctor thanked me for taking the CT scan. Hopefully my data point can add some insights to their research.

(Sigh)

On a happier note, I am off the cast! XD The doctor advised me to wear a boot that allows patients to start extremely slow walking, while giving additional protection and support to the injured foot. [Warren mentioned this is called a moon-boot]

A senior nurse (who remembered me during the re-casting) started off the boots fitting session with these really nice words: "Finally, boots". Damn dude, u are the man. <3

Moon-boot ftw

Similar to the cast, rules such as placing the leg parallel to the ground is still advised. Unlike the cast, the boot can be taken off while resting and showering. Wearing the boot is not simply wearing + adjust shoelaces, but rather a 4-step process that involves an air tightening mechanism. It is slightly heavy, but feels comfortable with the cushions inside them. :D

Oh yes, the single moon boot costs $140. Worth it luh.

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7th Nov to 4th Jan [Boot phase]

Before being able to walk

The senior nurse recommended me to use both the clutches and boots for the first 4 to 5 days, before attempting to walk without the clutches. Stepping on 2 feet with clutches is definitely easier than hopping on 1 leg. There is more stability and less tendency to fall. The first few days went by easily, since the clutches are still there.

After 5 days, my parents started to wonder why am I still using the clutches. So I tried experimenting with walking without the clutches. That proved to be very difficult for a number of reasons.

(1): After not walking for close to 3 weeks, the left leg did not experience any pressure or muscle strain in the walking process. It is definitely weaker.

(2): While walking, the left leg has to bear the body weight when the right leg is momentarily lifted. If the left leg is weak, there will be no strength to hold the entire weight.

(3): Psychological fear of falling again.

So the following few days were quite bad, I was still on clutches, while my parents were slightly frustrated on why I looked like I did not put effort to try to walk. I tried walking short distances from the toilet to the bed with their support, but that proved to be really painful.

Leg exercises

After slightly more than a week, I decided to try solving the leg strength problem with a few approaches.

(1): Do some leg strength exercises by following this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsMrL_U7Hsk

(2): Try enduring my bodyweight with the help of clutches.

The three reasons above all pointed to a similarity: The left leg is too weak to support the body weight. So if I tackle this issue, it would be ok right?

For the 1st approach: I did the exercises once to twice per day. But instead of lying on the floor, I sat on a chair instead. Most exercises could still be done, while some needed modification. Quite fun, and some exercises were very similar to what I have done at the gym anyway. :P

For the 2nd approach: The aim is to try to stand on just the left leg, as this will mean placing the whole body weight on the left leg. First, I will place both feet on the ground while holding the clutches. Second, I will start to lift up my right leg (still easy). Third, I will try to put less body weight support on the clutches and stand even straighter (this is the difficult part). If I feel tired, I will terminate the rep and get the let and clutch support immediately. This is done for multiple reps, once a day.

Similar to doing heavy reps exercises, one may feel muscle cramp during the recovery process. For about a week or so, I feel cramps on my left leg throughout the day / night. Can only endure and try to do a bit of stretching to alleviate that. ><

Finally being able to walk

After 12 days of wearing the boots, I did the clutch exercise and realised that I was comfortable with standing on one leg. So I ditched the clutch, and tried walking without any support to the kitchen. Hoseh bo, can wor. XD

Parents were naturally happy, and life was easier for everyone thereafter on the way till the next checkup. Though it took much longer than the suggested time by the senior nurse, glad that I was able to walk slowly. My mother was commenting that "see I told u walking is easy". For a moment I felt she will fit in the management perfectly. :)

Though I was able to walk with the boots, I continued to stay at home throughout the HL, while sacrificing a few activities (such as NY even countdown with SY and WJ). Stay safe first.

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4th Jan [Checkup 3]

Just for the sheer fun of it, I decided to go to the hospital just wearing sandals, while carrying the boot in my bag. Ok, I was able to walk without the boots! Not surprising though.

Did a simple X-ray before the doctor's appointment. After the doctor inspected my left foot, he felt it was ok for me to stop wearing the boot. I was already not wearing it anyway. :P

Off the boot!

Guess all is good then! The doctor mentioned that the current recovery rate is at 70%, as there was a very faint trace of the hairline fracture in the X-ray. Nevertheless, it is much better than the first day of injury. Oh, and X-rays are unable to be printed.

I also asked if I would need to be exempted from IPPT due to the injury, to which the doctor said that he could excuse me for 6 months to let my injury heal, and after that I should resume full normal activities. Sounds awesome!

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5th Jan onwards [Adapting phase]

At the point of writing, it's 3 days into the adapting phase. I am still walking with a slight limp, but at least can walk at ~70% walking speed too. :)

Based on the doctor's advice:

[First 6 weeks]: No cardio allowed (run,cycle,swim,hikes). Only light upper body exercises allowed in the gym.

[Next 6 weeks]: Can start light cardio (e.g. light jogs).

There is another checkup a few months later, and I will be able to resume normal activities if all goes well. Fingers crossed for that!

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Visits

Being at home can sometimes be a bit boring, but thanks to these guys, it was a bit less dull! Really appreciate all the time taken to come and visit me. ><