Fifth metatarsal bone broken

[Boga]

Hello everybody:

I would like a quick answer for my question, because I have to confirm if I am going to a trip to Indonesia in the next two days.

I am travelling next november, 10th to Sulawesi, for a week in a liveaboard, and travelling later for five days diving in Bali. I am travelling from Barcelona.

The problem is that, last friday, a broke my left fifth metatarsal bone, in the middle. Is a fracture with a bit of lateral movement.

My foot is now inmovilized. I can move my knee, but everything under is inmovilized.

The doctor has told me that in five weeks he will take out the vendages, and that in two more weeks (if everything goes allright) I should be in good condition.

My doubt is if my foot will be able (with almost 8 weeks for recovering) to make the strength of almost two diving weeks, with four dives by day. I know that the effort that I must do is nothing compared to walking or running, but moving fins is a very special movement, and I am not sure if I will cope with the effort.

The problem is that I cannot wait to see how I feel after I can recover the movement. I must assure now to the travel agency if I am going or not. If I say yes, and I see later that my foot is not strong enough, I will loose my money.

Can you give me a help to decide it, in base to your experience?.

Thank you very much for your help. Sorry for my mistakes in english.

 

[TSandM]

Nobody can assure you that you will have an uneventful healing, but assuming that things proceed as they ought, you should be healed and pretty comfortable at the end of six weeks post-injury. But you know yourself better than we can know you, and if you are a person who doesn't cope with any discomfort well, you might be better off postponing the trip. What I'm hearing in your post is that you don't want to risk the money, and in that case, you might be better off rescheduling for when you are absolutely certain you'll be fine.

 

[Boga]

Thank you for your quick answer. :yelclap:

Of course, we must suppose that my foot heals as it ought.
Do you mean with your sentence "you should be healed and pretty comfortable at the end of six weeks post-injury" that I could dive four times a day during 2 weeks? (assuming that I have no six, but eight weeks for healing).

I think I can cope with discomfort quite well, but I cannot assume how my foot will resist the effort of four dives a day during so many days, because I have never been inmovilized for so much time. I know that is better not to carry weight or walk too much, but the doctors cannot tell me about swimming with fins.

If everything goes all right, I will have three weeks to recover the strength in my foot. Some people say it's enough. Some other say it's too risky.

I want to go to this trip, but I don't want to arrive to Sulawesi and, after two or three dives, realize that I can't cope with it. :no I think now I could still cancel it, and try to reschedule it. But I don't know if I will recover the money I paid, and also do not know when I could make this trip again.

I have more than 800 logged dives, but never been to Indonesia. I want to go there, but I am afraid that these strong wishes to go there are blocking my mind.

And the question is that I don't know if the effort of swimming during some hours a day is something I can do, with three weeks for recovering after the bandages are taken off. Assuming again that everything goes all right, because some doctors say that this bone often requires more than four weeks for healing, and some orthopedic surgeons recommend surgical therapy. My doctor told me that, at the moment he thinks that the bandages are enough.

Sorry for insisting so much, but I must give an answer in two days to my travel agency, about if I'm travelling or not.:huh:

 

[NorthernMelody]

Medically after 6-8 weeks the area that was damaged will be even stronger than it was before you broke it. Assuming it has healed well. The discomfort would come from muscle weakness due to atrophy (a weakening) of the muscles in the area that has been immobalized. I would suggest that as soon as the cast is off, that you seek physiotheropy for the foot at assist in a more rapid healing, IF, you do decide to go on your trip. This information is general knowledge and though I am a paramedic, each and every person heals a different rates. If you are concerned, reschedule and enjoy your holiday when you know you'll be 100%

Hope this helps!

 

[fairybasslet]

I take it you didn't purchase travel insurance? If you did, then I would take a chance that you would be all good to go and if you had to cancel, you could possibly recoup some $. Sorry to hear about your injury at such a bad time. Come to think of it, is there ever a good time?

 

[Nay]

Hi,

I did almost the exact same thing but your break is worse than mine.
I had an avulsion fracture of the 5th metatarsal (basically a bone chip off the end). I did it on June 20th, and had plans to go to La Paz for a week on August 16th.

To be conservative and hopefully speed healing, I was on crutches for 5 weeks (sucked!!!) and in a walking boot for three.

The bone had healed by the week of the trip but the bone denisty wasn't totally there yet. I was instructed to wean myself out of the walking cast by wearing supportive tennis shoes (no flip flops at all) and going back to the boot if it hurt. I was told that swimming would be good excersice to re-build the muscle. I found some Tevas that are built like tennis shoes so that I wouldn't need to wear socks on vacation.

I did go on the trip and took the boot just in case. Thankfully I didn't need it. Instead of gearing up on the boat and giant striding off the side, I entered the boat off the stern with mask and fins and had the dive master place my gear in the water next to me. We did the same getting out by handing my gear up before getting out. You're going to really have to be careful climbing boat ladders as it will put pressure right on the break. Shore dives with rocky entries will probably be out of the questions for a while.

The diving was fine for me but I did find that I had no power in my kick. I did have to get towed at the surface once.

I'm sure that it's too late and that you've already had to make the call but you'll be cutting it really close on this one. I've known a number of people to hurt their feet this year and more than half have not healed like they thought that they would. It's been about 14 weeks for me and I'm not walking with a limp anymore but it gets sore after walking more than a mile or two.

Please let us know how your foot is and what you decided.

I totally understand your pain right now.

 

[Boga]

Thank you very much for all your answers.

I know it's quite close for healing completely, but I will give it a try. As fairybasslet said, I did contract a trip insurance, but the amount was not enough (it was the "automatic" model, only 600€). I talked to the travel agency, and accorded to contract a higher insurance level (3.000€). They told me that I would only need a medical certification that I broke my foot after this new insurance (what is not absolutely true, but possible to get), in case I need it, they said the insurance company doesn't ask too much.

For sure, I will contact my phisioterapist, trying to recover as fast as possible after they take off the cast (actually, I am not totally casted; only the down part of the foot and half-leg). I will try to find a swimming pool where they allow me to swim with fins (quite difficult here in Barcelona), trying to reproduce as best as possible the movement I will do most during two weeks. I've been told that, at the beginning, the discomfort can be hard, but I'll try to do the best I can.

In case I recover properly, and finally go to the trip, I am sure that I will must change my usual ways of gearing and getting in the water, but I expect to be at the same level of my buddy.

I'll let you know how everything goes on.

Thanks again.

 

[fairybasslet]

I find that most crews are very accomodating if you have a special problem. A woman I went to Thailand with on a livaboard hurt he knee before the trip. Most of us geared up and then got into the panga, but they brought her gear to her so she didn't have to get into the panga with it on. I went on a trip a few months after knee surgery and even though I could climb the ladder, the crew made sure to give me a little boost up at the end.
One thing I will say about Nay and his limp, after my knee surgery, my ortho didn't prescribe physical therapy (don't ask me why) and I wound up limping for months. It go so bad that I developed tendonitis in my Achilles tendon, and wound up going to PT for that. And it still hurts occasionally to this day.

 

[NorthernMelody]

My question..is don't you have D.A.N. insurance...if you did, you would...if I'm not mistaken, have coverage for trip cancellation....I never leave home with out
I wish you the best of luck and get well soon! I wanted to let you know that writing in English is not easy, and you should be proud that you have communicated to us very well...enough so that we understood what you needed...so kudos to you

 

[TSandM]

I don't know which operator you are going with in Sulawesi, but I will say that we had a woman with some mobility issues on our recent trip, and the dive staff of Eco Divers bent over backwards to do whatever she needed to be comfortable getting in and out of the water.

Having just gotten back from ten glorious days of diving Bunaken and Lembeh, I'll tell you I'd attempt the trip on crutches if I were in your place It was astounding diving, and the resorts (Tasik Ria and KBR) were fabulous.