
A couple weeks ago I woke up and my foot started hurting. I thought maybe I just overused it, or pulled a tendon or something. But I finally went to the doctor and she did some x-rays. Come to find out I have a stress fracture in my calcaneus (heel bone) of my foot. A stress fracture is an overuse injury. It occurs when muscles become fatigued and are unable to absorb added shock. Eventually, the fatigued muscle transfers the overload of stress to the bone causing a tiny crack (or cracks). Basically, I have over-exercised. Between walking at home, working the farm, my work experience job at the school, going to school, and walking for my new tree job, my muscles and bones just can't keep up with the demand I was placing on them. I'm trying to do too much. One person can't do it all. I need to realize this and work smarter, not harder! Fortunately, my new job let me have a couple weeks off and I get to sit at home and rest it. It's been one week and it's already feeling much better. I have this special boot I have to wear that keeps weight off my heel and that has been helping a lot. It's nice being back at home, but frustrating as I am not making money, and doubly frustrating as I see tons of stuff that needs to be done here, but I can't do it! Thank goodness for our intern who has been helping us out big-time!