Freedom - relatively speaking

I broke my foot on September 19. It was the fifth metatarsal (the one longish-bone in the middle of the foot linked to the smallest toe on the outside) of my right foot, to be accurate.  I wasn’t aware it was broken when it happened.  All I knew was that I lost balance, my right foot twisted under me, and I fell.  It hurt badly.  I dared not take off the shoe to check, afraid that I might not be able to put it back on. 

I limped to the nearest MTR station, stopping to ease the pain many times, and got home.  When I took off the shoe, the top of my foot was blue and swollen.  I knew it was bad, but not how bad it really was.  My wife put my foot in ice, elevated. 

On Monday X-ray confirmed that it was broken.  There was a deep V where the fifth metatarsal was cracked almost completely into two pieces, almost at the end closer to the ankle.  The doctor put my foot in an air cast, and I had to use a cane when I walk. I was thankful that I could take the cast off when I was not walking.  

The pain eased quite a bit as soon as my foot was put in the air cast.  And it gradually went away in the following weeks.  Two weeks after the break, a second X-ray confirmed that the broken bones did not shift.  There wasn’t much pain by that point.  

At 6 weeks, the pain had completely gone.  The deep V crack was still there in another X-ray, however.  So I was worried.  I started walking a little without the cast, but very carefully, and only for short distances.  

Sometimes I retain the cane with me, to remind myself not to walk too fast, and to warn people against bumping into me.  (It actually happened more than once.)

At 3 months, another X-ray indicated that the two broken pieces had fused into one.  The bottom of the deep V had filled in, leaving a fuzzy, smaller U at the top.  I can walk normally, even briskly, now.  But still no running.  I am thankful and, in fact, overjoyed for the relative freedom already!

Thank you for all the prayers!