Ever had your own medical mystery?

Stephen Orr · 04-20-2008, 07:16 AM

I am currently in month four a weird situation with my left leg. Back in January, I developed a localized pain just above my left ankle that got worse the more I walked on it. I never hit it, or injured it in any other way.

I went to see my family doctor, who was baffled, but xrayed it and prescribed some anti-inflammatories for it. I took the xrays to an orthopedic doc, who said my ankle showed signs of a previous trauma (30 years ago, I was on a trampoline with six other people, and my foot ended up folded against my leg).

However, he would not explain the localized pain above my ankle. He put me in an air cast for about a month, then took an xray, hoping to find a stress fracture in my fibula. The xrays did not show any signs of a healing fracture, so he basically decided to send me to physical therapy for the old ankle injuries, and sent me on my way.

I went to physical therapy twice, and both times I walked out in more pain than when I went in, especially in the area of the original pain I complained about.

I finally went to a sports medicine doctor (mid-March) who, in 5 minutes, diagnosed that I had some serious tendon and ligament issues, and ordered an MRI.

The MRI revealed a translateral break of my fibula, described by the doctor as, "It looks like someone took a saw and cut straight across." He said he had never seen it before. He also said I had peroneal tendon dysfunction, tendonitus, and a chronically torn ligament in my left ankle.

He put me in a hard cast for four weeks. I went back to the doc last week to have it removed. He examined my leg and xrayed it again, and said that my fibula has a "non-union break", which means the edges of the broken bone are too far apart to heal.

So now I am back in a cast for six more weeks, while we wait out the required insurance time in order to perform an electro-stimulus therapy to encourage my bone to heal.

I think I was in an actual depression for part of February and March, when I didn't know what was happening, but snapped out of it once the MRI showed what was going on.

Right now, it's just kind of irritating and inconvenient to continue hobbling around with a cast and cane. We're sure that the fact I am not healing properly is due to my diabetes (in control), but I used to be on Avandia, which was reported to cause bone thinning, so I'm sure that has played a role, also.

So that's my medical mystery right now. Anyone else have a story?

JoeyR · 04-20-2008, 08:56 AM

Yeah I have one.

Woke up one night hurting really bad, right hand side of my abdomen right below the rib cage. I'm cheap and dont like going to the doctor so when I woke up my wife to take me to the emergency room, she knew I was hurting bad. Anyway they couldnt pin point anything. Sent me for the regular tests, etc., ultrasounds, and still couldnt find anything. Eventually I gave up waiting on the doctors to find something. I hurt like that every once in awhile but I got tired of throwing money at doctors for them to scratch their heads.

Jay H · 04-21-2008, 08:11 AM

..I have a two toned pinky! (the nail, that is). I have a dark pigmentation in my nail, had it since I was a baby AFAIK and it's been like that ever since. literally, half my nail is a natural color but the other half is a dark tan and its not round, it's straight up, following the contour of the nail.

Have never asked medically, but I guess it's like a birthmark but in my nail..

Jay

Mort Corey · 04-21-2008, 02:02 PM

Went to the eyehole doctors for some new specs last month and he had some kind of new (to him anyway) machine that looks deep into the retina (I guess) to look for scaring or other problems. The guy tells me there's a small spot back there (even showed me the pictures....pretty cool stuff) that isn't imperative to my vision. Then he asks me if I have any pet chickens or have ever worked on a chicken farm or ranch. I thought I'd showered pretty good that morning but I guess not....or maybe it was not taking Beano.

Mort

Zack Gibbs · 04-21-2008, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen Orr

(30 years ago, I was on a trampoline with six other people, and my foot ended up folded against my leg).

Kinky.

**HTF Ads**

Scott McGillivray · 06-02-2008, 01:56 PM

I had a short-lived mystery just this morning! I woke up and took the dog out for his business and my left-side lower back was a bit itchy. When I reached down there, I could feel some lumps...like maybe some really large bites or something. When I went back inside, I looked in the mirror to see a web of lumps under my skin in just one area of my lower back. It almost looked like a series of small snakes under my skin! My wife checked it out and was really worried. I had a shower and checked them again...still there and still a bit itchy and red. So...as I was driving to work and the morning coffee started to kick it, I relized what it was.
I had used a gel-filled ice pack the night before on my back and must have laid on it too long. The "snakes" were where the pack wrinkled and the itching was just frostbite. So stupid...but first thing in the morning I forgot I used the icepack and the sight of it was very creepy!

Jay H · 06-02-2008, 07:49 PM

I've had a minor case of frostnip before on the tips of my left middle finger, it always feels very slightly funny now.

Frostbite Symptoms Reasons Treatment and Prevention - OutdoorPlaces.Com

If you do actually get the worser frostbite, you will be more susceptible to it in the future...

Jay

JeremyErwin · 06-02-2008, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mort Corey

Went to the eyehole doctors for some new specs last month and he had some kind of new (to him anyway) machine that looks deep into the retina (I guess) to look for scaring or other problems. The guy tells me there's a small spot back there (even showed me the pictures....pretty cool stuff) that isn't imperative to my vision. Then he asks me if I have any pet chickens or have ever worked on a chicken farm or ranch. I thought I'd showered pretty good that morning but I guess not....or maybe it was not taking Beano.

Mort

Newcastle disease?

Bob McLaughlin · 06-03-2008, 08:15 AM

Four years ago I had a pain on the upper inside part of my left foot. It got a little worse each day until I could not bear for my foot to even be touched lightly (even my bedsheets touching my foot was painful). We went to the hospital and they could not figure out what was wrong with my foot. They checked for gout (I am not a likely candidate, but they considered it a possibility given my symptoms). They checked for fracture. They checked for a blood clot. They gave me anti-inflammatories and painkillers and crutches. In about 10 days the pain was gone. They never did find out what it was, and it has not happened since.