It was the week of March 14th, 2020 and I had just lost at a theatre competition and was packing up the show before spring break. 

The competition meant I was on my feet in my show black Keds standing all day and occasionally lifting set pieces and boxes that were way too heavy for me. In the evening we had an award ceremony that everyone had to dress up for so I changed from my black Keds into my gold lace up block heels (which are featured in many of my website photos). They are super comfortable and a low heel height so I would usually wear them to school to add a kick to my outfit. 

After I got into my heels we had to load our truck with the set pieces from the show. So, there I was on the slippery tile pushing a costume rack as I slid along the tile to the truck. I then proceeded to hop onto the truck and help load things in. Later when I got home that evening, I remember wanting to be careful with my feet for the next couple days since they were pretty swollen by the time I got home. I had even gone to bed wearing arch supports since I’ve had foot cramps in the past due to the lack of shoe arch support.

The next 3 days I wore my memory foam sneakers to try and calm any potential foot cramps or injury (-little did I know what the future had in store). 

It was the Saturday beginning spring break (March 14th, 2020) and the world had just been announced it was shutting down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I woke up and sat on the edge of my bed to stand up. As soon as I did, I immediately lifted my foot up and said “ouch”- it was as if I had stepped on a thumbtack right underneath my big toe. After close examination of the floor, I found there was nothing there. 

Step-ouch-step-ouch.

What the heck?

I sat on the floor and looked at the bottom of my foot and pressed my finger under my big toe- OUCH! Weird….

So, in true Emma fashion, I waited a week before doing anything or telling anyone. Not recommended. I guess I wanted to be sure something was wrong and that it remained for a significant period of time before looking further into it.

So, what did I do that whole week before telling anyone? I limped and walked on the outside edge of my foot that whole week. This also is what began my daily notetaking of my symptoms and what changes were happening. 

As I continued through the week to walk on it to see if the pain was increasing each day, I began hearing my joint click every time I walked. The clicking didn’t hurt-just bearing weight. 

When I didn’t bear weight, I didn’t have pain so I spent lots of time sitting or just being off my feet in general. 

It was a few days into the week when I noticed some light bruising and swelling around my interphalangeal joint (IPJ) which is the joint that allows your big toe to bend. 

On day 5, the foot pain began keeping me up at night. Because I had been moving my foot unusually for almost a week, I had lots of pain at night with my foot feeling as if it was being crunched into a ball even though I’d look and see it completely normal. I also had times where it felt like it was being electrocuted or like it was on fire. 

Throughout the week swelling increased.

It wasn’t until March 24th that I went to see a podiatrist. They took some x-rays and diagnosed me with subhallacal interphalangeal sesamoiditis. It basically meant they thought I had an extra sesamoid in the IPJ of my left big toe and that’s what was causing my pain. I was put in a CAM boot for a week and told to try not to walk too much and to ice with any swelling.

The foot continued to keep me up at night in pain and even in the walking boot if I stepped incorrectly, I’d feel that “thumbtack”. 

The end of the week had come, and I went back to the podiatrist and mentioned things hadn’t improved. I was then told to wrap my big toe with self-adhering wrap in a specific way for a week to see if that would help.

If only I had known at this point that my foot injury journey was just beginning…

This isn’t the end of the story, but it is for this chapter. See more on the next story titled, “The Double Kidney Infection?”