Welcome back! In this post, I'm going to talk about my favorite complication of a complication of diabetes. This one is so special that it gets a name that doesn't include the word "diabetic." Diabetic retinopathy? Diabetic neuropathy? Diabetic nephropathy? Amateurs compared to CHARCOT FOOT! "Charcot" is pronounced "shark-oh." Hence my punny title. Delving a wee bit deeper into medical technobabble, it's also called Charcot arthropathy.
This post is going to be a real treat, as you'll finally get to see what truly lurks inside me, your charming, humorous, and handsome author.
Charcot foot is a condition that's considered an advanced form of diabetic neuropathy. It's also another one of those diabetes complications that have theories about its cause, but no solid facts. (It's why doctors "practice medicine." When they finally get it all figured out, they'll probably stop practicing and go pro.) The way I describe it is thus: Because the brain has stopped talking to the soft tissues in your extremities, they stop doing their jobs, resulting in the bones of your foot starting to drift, suffering microfractures and dislocations.
Within two years of my diagnosis of Charcot foot, the arches of my right foot had completely collapsed, and my left foot was turning into a deformed mess that wouldn't support my weight without significant discomfort.
I endured Charcot reconstructive surgery on my left foot TWICE! The first time, four screws were put through the bones of my ankle to help them fuse together. Fused bones don't drift or experience those miniscule fractures... or so we could hope. This surgery took four hours. Basically, the doctor had to open up the entire ankle to see what he was doing, and then drill those screws into place. Post-op was three solid months of absolutely ZERO weight-bearing on my left foot, and another three months of only partial weight-bearing.
Oh! I forgot something about the surgery! Not sure how I managed to forget this aspect, seeing as how it was so impactful, but IT FREAKIN' HURT! Medical professionals like to ask, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain?" When asked during my post-op hospital stay, I wanted to scream back, "IT'S A THOUSAND! DON'T BRING MORPHINE! BRING CYANIDE!"
My doctor was impressed with how well I healed afterward, and the bones of my ankle were fusing nicely... until he noticed that the metacarpals - the long bones of the foot - in my left foot were starting to drift outward. He wanted to go back in, remove the screws, and install three long bolts in an effort to get my entire foot to fuse.
This, my friends, is where I uphold my promise from earlier. I present to you... the real me:
The nurse said something during a follow-up visit with the surgeon that I found a bit unnerving. "It's fascinating being able to see everything in a foot by using just a bright light." The way you can kind of see the bones of your fingers with a flashlight, she could see inside my entire foot.
My adventures with my left foot would continue, but that's yet another one of my stories that will have to wait. For now, we'll move on to my right foot. I lucked out. My surgeon had initially wanted to reconstruct it, too, but the bones eventually fused on their own and the foot was stable. I'll even show you!
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My right foot becoming deformed did two things. It caused my Achilles tendon to constrict, requiring surgery to lengthen it. While not making my right foot completely mobile, it did double my range of motion. Charcot foot also altered my shoe size from 10.5 down to 7.5.
More podiatric adventures await, dear reader! Thrills! Chills! Spills! No, really. I once took a messy fall when I kinda sorta forgot I was disabled. But those tales are for the future! For now, I leave you with the beautiful, scantily clad young woman!
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