Blisters are no joke and Cellulitis is not Cellulite

What a week. I arrived home Sunday evening from 5 days at Disney for the Dopey Challenge. I survived with what I thought was very minimal damage to my body. I was able to drive myself home from Orlando to Tampa, hobble upstairs, pour a glass of Perrier Jouet Grand Brut and pass out with my medals close by.

Around 4am Monday morning, I woke up with intense pain in the foot that was bothering me the last two days of the Dopey Challenge. When I got out of bed and stepped on my foot, I screamed, knowing for sure I broke something. I cannot explain the pain I was in other than someone putting a 2,000lb 500 degree weight on my foot. When I saw my foot in light, I Knew something was very wrong.

I'm about to share some ugly feet photo with you. I have very bony feet - you always can see my veins and bones sticking out. This was from the waiting room of urgent care and the photo doesn't show the true redness of my foot, which actually went up past my ankle. You can see how the right foot is swollen vs. the left one.

After the X-Rays showed there were not major breaks, the Physicians Assistant came in to talk with me. Within minutes, she diagnosed me with Cellulitis. I instantly thought she told me I had cellulite in my foot. Cellulitis is a bacterial infection which is inflammation of subcutaneous connective tissue. In english: Cellulitis is a bacterial infection of the skin and tissues beneath the skin including the deeper layers. When red areas begin to enlarge, the affected person may develop a fever, sometimes with chills and sweats, tenderness, and swollen lymph nodes near the area of infected skin. The affected area is also very hot and tight due to skin stretching.

She drew a line around my foot and if the red spread past that area, I was to go to the ER instantly for a IV antibiotic and to be monitored overnight. Oh and the blister on my toe......she's pretty huh? Just wait, it gets better.

My foot still hurts to the touch today. I went for my follow up this morning and the Cellulitis is much better than it was on Monday. I was put on another medicine but thankfully cleared for runDisney Princess weekend. This was my blister last night......

And today, it has a marking on it just like my foot. Meaning, if that red layer continues to spread, I have to call my Dr. instantly. Just from the photo, you can see how much it improved from the night before. AND you can see my bony feet again!

I never heard of Cellulitis prior to this and certain cases, if not caught, it can be fatal. I realize my case wasn't that severe but when you go in thinking you broke something, to be told you have a severe bacterial infection, you start to panic.

I also have stress fractures and posterior tendinitis but he said I can wait on both of those until after Princess weekend. I have a book worth of exercises I have to do for strength training and recovery. Princess is my last race on the books for the rest of the year. With the wedding coming in September, I wanted to take some time off of distance running. I will most likely only do 5K, 10K & 15K events for the remainder of the year so I can let my body heal from the torture I put it through over the past two months.

My Dr. even warned me - he told me they shoot horses like me :)