Thank you, Doctor Frederick Mechanik

On 4 August 2014 my 5k training run on a paved trail in my neighborhood, ended badly.  I heard a noise behind me, startled, I looked behind me and landed wrong. I fell to the ground.  A couple with a toddler on a bike came up from behind and asked if I was all right. "I'm Fine," I told them, more embarrassed than anything else. When I got up and started to walk, my foot hurt and I limped home about 500 meters.  I immediately practiced RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) and figured it would be fine by morning.

The next morning I was in pain!  My foot had swollen to the size of grapefruit and I knew this was bad.  I was registered with my team for RAGNAR that Saturday and I was concerned.  I figured it was just a sprain and that the hospital could give me some good drugs and wrap it and I would be on my way to running again.

The Giant Cast - Day 1

After my X-ray, the technician came in and said "Ma'am, could you please sit down. We are getting you a wheel chair."

I responded, "Is it broken?"

She said, "I'm just a technician and not allowed to diagnosis you.  Please sit down and I am getting you a wheel chair."

That Day, I left with my foot swaddled in the largest cast ever and an appointment to see the Doctor the next day.   I contacted my RAGNAR teammates and told them I broke my foot and was out.  It felt really bad to let down my team.  At this time I still had no real clue how bad things were going to get.

Dr. Frederick Mechanik

The next day, I met Dr. Frederick Mechanik.  He started to explain to me that the swelling needed to go down first and then he could schedule the surgery.
"Surgery," I said, "Are you sure? Nobody mentioned surgery yesterday."

Dr. Mechanik realized that I was obviously in some serious denial about my situation.  "Your bone is shattered," he informed me.  "I am going to have to rebuild it."

I am not a doctor, but I could figure out that shattered and bone were two words that aren't good when used together.

I went home and decided that I should research this Doctor.  Maybe he was a bad Doctor.  There as no way I needed surgery for a small fall on a paved trail. I was an experienced runner.

After searching all the basics on Dr. Frederick Mechanik, I realized that he didn't have a very large digital footprint, so I had to dig deeper.  The next time I saw him, I explained that I had cyber stalked him and that he needed a LinkedIn page and to get recognized on some basic podiatry websites.  After all, the average person just wants to know where their Doctor went to school and see what other people recommended about him, not have to go into a deep search.  As it turned out, he went to the Dr. Scholl School, his Dad is a podiatrist and his brother...unfortunately for me, he knew a lot and he was right.

Fashion cast

Dr. Mechanik was great about responding to my emails and phone calls during the entire process. He understood that I was not the most patient of patients and kept me calm and focused.  I really wanted the surgery scheduled soonest and hated waiting.  Dr. Mechanik was really wonderful about keeping me informed on when we would finally be able to get into the operating room and the surgery was finally scheduled. My friend Jackie Wilson there with me the day of the surgery, she waited impatiently while I was under the knife.  I had bedazzled my cast and I guess that the techs complained that it was hard to cut around, but it was one great looking cast.  They actually put it in a plastic bag and gave it to Jackie in case I wanted to keep it.

My foot rebuilt

It took longer than expected to rebuild my foot and a plate and five screws later, it was put back together again.  When he was inside my foot, Dr. Mechanik realized that he was more damaged than he had originally thought from the X-rays.  I had broken the same bone back in college when I was 19.  Fortunately, Dr. Mechanik had kept up with the latest techniques and my bone was put back together with a lot of parts for such a little bone.

A week post surgery

Healing at 19 and healing at over 40 are two completely different things. Dr Mechanik was constantly lecturing me on stupid things I was doing that could cause me to heal slower or get re-injured.  He seemed surprised at my lack of knowledge regarding things he considered basic, like not flying three days post surgery.  He also did not approve of any of my footwear for my one good foot.  It wasn't like I was wearing stilletos on crutches.  Who knew that ballet flats don't have support, really?!? I was also constantly being reminded to elevate my foot as much as possible and ice, ice, baby. 

Sugar guarding the cast

One day, he finally gave me permission to stop using crutches. He warned me to not push myself and to have the crutches handy for the first few weeks so that I could use them when I pushed too hard (which he knew I would do).  When I ended up having to prop my foot up at nights and put an ice pack on it, I could here Dr. Mechanik's voice in my head.

Ice after pushing too hard

After two years, I am finally fully recovered.  The road has been hard and long.  Doctor Mechanik gave a thumbs up, that I was healthy enough to run the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon.  I finished the race a week ago today and of course wrote a blog post about that already.  Today, I wanted to thank Dr. Frederick Mechanik for his patience, understanding and kindness.  Without him, I might not be running again or able to fit back into all of my most amazing shoes (which he still does not approve).

"Thank you, Dr. Mechanik! You are one of my heroes."