Marching on!

Yes, it's been nearly a month since the dismal last post about the foot. Turns out it was not just bruising, it was a compound fracture. Yep, snapped my 5th metatarsal into three parts. Let me just walk you thru the two weeks following that last post...

Monday, Feb. 3rd: 
12:00pm: Visited orthopedist late morning, barely limping in to his office. Btw, it was a miserably wet, snowy day & I couldn't even fit a shoe over my foot. Called a car to take me in because I couldn't walk on it and used an old prop cane to get to and from the building.

You know it's a bad thing when everyone at the doctor's office says 'oh' and breathes in deep when they look at your foot. So comforting. X-rays revealed a very broken bone, so worrisome that this orthopedist referred me to a podiatrist cause I may need surgery. As soon as he left the room to get his card, I cried.

3:00pm: Caught a cab back home and as soon as I walked through the door, my roommate asked how it went. Again, I cried. The utter defeat and fear of loss consumed me for a good 10 minutes. Then I hopped online to find a podiatrist on my insurance. Luckily one could see me later that afternoon before rehearsal. Great!

5:30pm: Upon entering, again gasps from the staff as they take x-rays. Not good. Within minutes the doctor is walking in to my room with my x-rays in hand. Now, by this time I've built up a little resolve. I can walk if I turn all the weight on the inside of my foot. I can move on it. Phew.

However, the doctor says he came in right away because we've got to take care of this as soon as possible. I shouldn't be walking on this, we need to do surgery, I should be on crutches and in a walking boot. I sat. Dumbfounded, speechless. An uncomfortable smile crept on to my face and said that simply is not possible right now. Thus began the standoff...

I explained why I could not go under the knife. There are too many other people that this would affect. It's not just my foot, but it's month of hard work, hundreds of dollars that aren't mine invested into this show, a dozen of the most wonderful cast/crew I've had the pleasure of working with relying on everyone to show up and play their part. I cannot be the one to bring that to an end. Had a near meltdown in the office (at least internally).

The doctor gave me fair warning on the potential risk I was taking and explained surgery was an absolute as soon as the play was over. For the first time ever, I was relieved we only had a 5 show run. I scheduled a pre-operation appointment for later that week & headed out the door to rehearsal.

6:30pm: The whole cab ride over to the rehearsal studio I plotted out when/how I would reveal the extent of my injury and to whom. Heartbroken.

Bit by bit the whole story became known and only by the grace of God was I able to complete the run.