Bad Doctors

I had a terrible experience at the doctor yesterday, and I just had to rant about it.

Last Wednesday, I was watering the mums on the side of our house, and suddenly there was this shooting pain going into my foot. It was like I was stepping on a knife. I tend to get aches and pains fairly often, so I thought it would go away on its own. By Saturday, it was obvious that the pain wasn’t going anywhere.

The pain is really only present when I walk or stand. When I sit I might feel a little bit of pain but not much. After I’ve been sitting for a long time or when I wake up in the morning, the pain is gone for about an hour. So each morning I think, “OH! My foot is better!” and then it’s not. I seem to have swelling on the side of my foot. I tried wrapping it in an Ace bandage and it made it worse. Shoes hurt, too. I’ve been wearing flip-flops so I can slide them off when necessary.

I called first thing yesterday morning to make a doctor’s appointment. What a waste of time and a $20 copay!!!!

The doctor quickly diagnosed me with plantar fasciitis. When I got home, I decided to research it a bit, and learned:

When your first few steps out of bed in the morning cause severe pain in the heel of your foot, you may have plantar fasciitis (fashee-EYE-tiss). It’s an overuse injury affecting the sole or flexor surface (plantar) of the foot. A diagnosis of plantar fasciitis means you have inflamed the tough, fibrous band of tissue (fascia) connecting your heel bone to the base of your toes.

You’re more likely to get the condition if you’re a woman, if you’re overweight, or if you have a job that requires a lot of walking or standing on hard surfaces. You’re also at risk if you walk or run for exercise, especially if you have tight calf muscles that limit how far you can flex your ankles. People with very flat feet or very high arches are also more prone to plantar fasciitis.

The condition starts gradually with mild pain at the heel bone often referred to as a stone bruise. You’re more likely to feel it after (not during) exercise. The pain classically occurs again after arising from a midday lunch break.

* Sharp pain in the inside part of the bottom of your heel, which may feel like a knife sticking in the bottom of your foot
* Heel pain that tends to be worse with the first few steps after awakening, when climbing stairs or when standing on tiptoe
* Heel pain after long periods of standing or after getting up from a seated position
* Heel pain after, but not usually during, exercise
* Mild swelling in your heel

Wait…whaatt???

That’s NOTHING like my symptoms!!! My heel doesn’t hurt, standing up after sitting doesn’t hurt, morning is almost painless, and standing on tiptoe doesn’t hurt as much (I’ve been walking on tiptoe sometimes when the pain is really bad because it hurts less).

And then I was told to come back in 1-2 months if the pain doesn’t subside. I don’t think I can go on like this for that long!!!!

Was this doctor totally lacking knowledge? Or was he just in a rush to get me in and out so he could see another doctor?

Either way, he was incompetent. I’m waiting to hear back from a nurse practitioner. I saw this NP when I need immunizations for China, and she was very helpful, so I am hoping that she can help me.

I just don’t understand how someone like the doctor I saw can have a medical career. It’s really disappointing and frustrating to have continually bad luck with general practitioners. It seems like they are almost always bad. It’s very disheartening.

And meanwhile, my foot still hurts.

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