Broken foot

I broke my foot very badly back in May -- I was hit by a truck and knocked backwards, and the truck rolled over my foot. My first two metatarsals were crushed, and I have a "Lisfranc" fracture of the midfoot -- a particularly nasty dislocation. I was in Geneva, Switzerland when this happened (I live in Arizona), which added to the whole adventure, but I eventually had surgery here in AZ. After the surgery I had about 6 weeks non-weight bearing where I did not swim, and then about 6 weeks in a walking boot. During the walking boot phase I was able to swim with a pull buoy, doing one-footed turns. I had some scars and skin grafts on my foot that I thought would freak people out, so while I swam I wore a neoprene booty that I got at a dive shop. It turned out that this also helped me remember not to push off on turns, and served as something of a caution flag for other swimmers in my workouts. I did get bumped once inadvertantly while treading water between sets, but no significant damage done; the incident did scare me, though. It's really just now, five months later, that I feel I'm swimming pretty normally (i.e., I can push off pretty well on turns, dive in from the side if I want to, kick with fins). My foot still hurts when I walk, and the jury is still out on whether I'll be able to run again (I had run a marathon earlier in the year, and had been more serious about running than swimming for the past several years). I'm glad I have swimming to fall back on. A fun swimming-related anecdote in connection with all of this: I sat in a hospital bed in Geneva with my mangled foot, thumbtyping messages on my Blackberry trying to figure out how to get back to AZ and what doctor to see. I eventually learned of a particular doctor who is considered the best foot surgeon in Phoenix (he does the high-profile pro athletes, etc.) and managed the logistics of getting home and getting to see him. I showed up in his office, and discovered that I knew him from masters swimming: we had swum regularly in the same noon workout at Brophy East (then Phoenix Swim Club) years ago, but only knew each other by sight. He's still an avid masters swimmer, so he certainly "got it" concerning my interest in getting back in the pool. --Brad

I broke my foot very badly back in May -- I was hit by a truck and knocked backwards, and the truck rolled over my foot. My first two metatarsals were crushed, and I have a "Lisfranc" fracture of the midfoot -- a particularly nasty dislocation. I was in Geneva, Switzerland when this happened (I live in Arizona), which added to the whole adventure, but I eventually had surgery here in AZ. After the surgery I had about 6 weeks non-weight bearing where I did not swim, and then about 6 weeks in a walking boot. During the walking boot phase I was able to swim with a pull buoy, doing one-footed turns. I had some scars and skin grafts on my foot that I thought would freak people out, so while I swam I wore a neoprene booty that I got at a dive shop. It turned out that this also helped me remember not to push off on turns, and served as something of a caution flag for other swimmers in my workouts. I did get bumped once inadvertantly while treading water between sets, but no significant damage done; the incident did scare me, though. It's really just now, five months later, that I feel I'm swimming pretty normally (i.e., I can push off pretty well on turns, dive in from the side if I want to, kick with fins). My foot still hurts when I walk, and the jury is still out on whether I'll be able to run again (I had run a marathon earlier in the year, and had been more serious about running than swimming for the past several years). I'm glad I have swimming to fall back on. A fun swimming-related anecdote in connection with all of this: I sat in a hospital bed in Geneva with my mangled foot, thumbtyping messages on my Blackberry trying to figure out how to get back to AZ and what doctor to see. I eventually learned of a particular doctor who is considered the best foot surgeon in Phoenix (he does the high-profile pro athletes, etc.) and managed the logistics of getting home and getting to see him. I showed up in his office, and discovered that I knew him from masters swimming: we had swum regularly in the same noon workout at Brophy East (then Phoenix Swim Club) years ago, but only knew each other by sight. He's still an avid masters swimmer, so he certainly "got it" concerning my interest in getting back in the pool. --Brad