My Achy-Breaky Ankle or A Tale of Two Machines

​Have you ever had an ache or pain for no reason?  I have one in my left ankle.   May 10th I noticed it was sore for no reason.  I thought it’d go away.  It didn’t!  I even babied it, walking a little, ​and sitting lots.

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When I got back from Tennessee on the 16th, I gave up and saw a doctor.  I expected an x-ray, a cast, maybe medicine for swelling.  SURPRISE!  My doctor wanted an ultra-sound.  Not a big deal…till she said blood clot.  If you have swelling in one leg, sat in a car or plane for hours, you might have a clot.  I googled and discovered blood clots can be ​deadly.  YIKES!

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I got permission for this photo.  It doesn’t look impressive, but it is!  It’s the latest in ultrasound machines.  When I got mine done, only two US hospitals had it.  My ultrasound was at Lima ​Memorial Hospital.  Wow!

According to the sales rep, the top’s the best part.  It’s glass, flat, and looks like a tablet.  All the other machines have roller balls for scanning, kind of like game machines.  It sounds cool, and it is, for germs.  They hide in the goop that slides down and around the roller, growing hundreds, maybe thousands of new germs.  With the flat glass top, germs can’t hide or grow.  They get cleaned away!  Lovely!

The sales rep guided my technician on how to move the scanner to look inside my leg.  They talked more about the new machine than me, but it was fascinating to listen and watch my technician learn how to operate a new machine, magnifying, changing color, or saving images.  I asked questions about the machine, the procedure, or anything that caught my eye. 

You’d think they’d look at my ankle first?  Nope!  They started with the top inside of my right leg.  I guessed, correctly, to look at the “good” leg.  Then they went to the top inside of my left leg.  This time I asked, "Why there, not my ankle?"  The answer, because blood clots show up first in deep veins.  You can’t find them in your ankle.  You follow the vein down the leg.  They followed mine and said,  “Pretty vein.”  I wasn’t sure what if "pretty" meant a clear picture, great colors, or super magnification.  Usually I ask, but technicians can’t explain what they see.  That’s the doctor’s job, and blood clots are serious.  I couldn’t leave until I got the diagnosis, just in case.  NO CLOTS!!! ​

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They did my x-ray while I waited.  I haven’t had one since 3rd grade.  ​This is my x-ray machine.  The scanner’s ​ in the ceiling.  

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This is where they put me.  It was like laying on a 
cafeteria table, except I put my ankle on a big black square (sorry, they moved it).  My technician ran to the hall, flipped a switch, and the ceiling machine moved back and forth, taking my picture.   I left without results, ​but within two hours…no broken bones.  YES!!!  ​

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 So…what was wrong?  I still don’t know.  My guess, a muscle pull or tear.  My doctor prescribed anti-inflammatory medicine.  A week later the swelling ​disappeared, but it still ached.  I asked my daughter’s physical therapist friend, Kayla for advice.  She showed me a runner’s stretch.  Yesterday it still ached.  My husband said balance on my left foot.  It worked!  Today, June 3rd, it’s better, but if I move wrong, or too much, it will ache, again.  Time to stretch, again.  ​

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I’m a retired teacher, and I love learning.  Here’s what I learned this time:  1.  Know when to go to the doctor.  Don’t wait too long!  2.  Ask questions so you know what’s happening, and why.  It works for all ages, like my daughter when she was in 4th grade.  She was scheduled for foot surgery.  She peppered me with questions I couldn’t answer.  I got her to write them down for the doctor, and Presto!  She wasn’t afraid of surgery anymore.