I was working in a job I enjoyed in 2011. I worked at Lancing College, a boarding school in West Sussex. I worked with my best friend running the student cafe in the evenings. The students could come in after Prep and enjoy Pizza and Burgers etc in a relaxing atmosphere. Most of the time there wasn't any teachers around and the kids were well behaved and enjoyed the facilities. I was looking forward to a busy summertime doing extra hours and weekends as all as enjoying the school holidays with my own three kids and the foreign students we hosted from France and Spain.
In May 2011 all this changed. I was walking my dog Dexter one sunny morning when I suddenly found myself flying through the air. The dog was alarmed as his lead fall out of my hand, luckily he didn't bolt off but came back to me as I lay in the road. I was so embarrassed that I quickly tried to get up before anybody saw me. I couldn't put any weight on my right foot. I hobbled to the other side of the road I was crossing and sat on the wall for a few minutes. I tried to stand up again but couldn't bear any weight still. My phone was still working after its sudden smash to the ground and I phoned my Dad, who came and picked me up and took me to hospital.
After a long weight and a nurse practitioner who thought I was lying about not being able to weight bear! A broken 5th Metatarsal was diagnosed and a back slab applied with an appointment to attend the fracture clinic a couple of days later.
Six weeks later I was back at the fracture clinic to take the plaster off. But my story does not end there!
Once the plaster was off, I still couldn't put any weight on my foot. The doctor told me this was normal and to go home and practise walking. Two weeks later I was still hobbling about so I went to my doctor, who immediately sent me to X-ray, where they discovered my foot was still broken! The fracture hadn't healed properly so I was back in plaster for another six weeks.
This was not the end but the beginning of many visits to the hospital to get my foot sorted out. Even after the second plaster came off, I still found walking a problem and had to use a crutch for balance for a further few weeks. It has remained swollen to this day. I have visited many departments to get to the bottom of my foot problems.
Finally I managed to get a GP to take my problems with mobility seriously and he sent me to the rheumatologist. After a few months wait I was finally seen and finally had a diagnosis.
I had Hyper mobility Joint Syndrome and Poly arthritis. A mixture of rheumatoid and osteoarthritis.
This has since caused further problems such as Cellulites which is an infection in the vein. Mine was in my leg but it can be anywhere. I ended up in hospital and had to have IV antibiotics. I have also had phlebitis recently as well which is a blood infection in the main vein in your leg which runs from your groin down to your ankle. As well as the everyday occurrences of ankles, fingers etc going out of joint.
So that's where I am today. Out of work as everything I have tried recently has made me ill. Looking now for a more admin based job or something I can do mainly sitting down. Trouble is I don't have either experience or qualifications. I'll just keep trying.
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