Life with Bilateral Stress Fractures
It’s been three weeks since I got the call from my sports medicine doctor
I was grabbing a coffee at my favorite spot in the neighborhood when the call came in. I anxiously answered after a single ring. “Do you have a few minutes to chat?” my doctor asked. I was waiting eagerly to hear the results of the bone scan I had a week prior and while I was excited to hear from my doctor to quell my anxiety, I was also kind of dreading it. I stepped outside and sat down on a bench, bracing myself for whatever news the doctor was going to relay.
“I just got the results of your bone scan.”
Silence…
“I know this isn’t the news you want to hear, but you have a stress fracture in the left calcaneus and in the right cuboid. Full recovery is 8–12 weeks. I highly recommend wearing walking boots for 6 weeks. Treatment is rest.”
Then I hung up. That was it. It was as short, (un)sweet, and abrupt as that.
The emotions I felt when my doctor delivered the news were confusing. Part of me was deeply relieved. I had been following my treatment plan for plantar fasciitis, optimally loading the tendons by increasing my walking distance and building strength in my legs and feet with a variety of different exercises. I did everything…
