Finale of the Ankle saga

I haven't updated yet because it ended up being much more complicated then anticipated so I thought I'd just wait till I knew what was wrong.
Last I wrote...I had my initial appointment. They took x-rays. Nothing was broken. She played with my ankle and discovered what I thought was swelling or just fat was a mass. She sent me to the MRI. Then came the post "MRI's suck".
From there, my doc read the MRI and it wasn't what she thought. There is some arthritis but that wouldn't explain the amount of pain I was feeling or the kind of pain. She thought I had a couple of tears in the ligament that went from the ankle to the foot, the radiologist did not. She was uncomfortable with a few things and wanted a third opinion. She had me see the main doc in their practice who specializes in feet and ankles. That appointment was Tuesday. He was super nice and cute. He looked at the x-rays, agreed with first doc. Then he played with my ankle. As soon as he touched the spot on my foot I've been complaining about he said he thought I might have a fracture in my pinky lesser metatarsal. Unfortunately, the x-rays focused on the ankle and stopped just short of being able to see where he thought it was. He said I need an x-ray but we'd focus first on the ankle. So, he is just as baffled. He said he is seeing things that he only sees in patients 50-70 years old. He asked if perhaps I had rheumatoid arthritis when I was young or it ran in my family. My sister was diagnosed when she was 12. He wasn't convinced that was my problem. He said maybe I had it for a short time and it went away. He says I have a ganglion cyst on the ligament closest to the ankle(which is the mass). He's 85% sure the problem lies not in my ankle but the something or other right underneath it. I believe he called it the calcaneofibular ligament which lies under the tendon as well and under the cyst. So both ligaments are affected with something different. He said it's not tendinitis. I'm glad he knows everything it's not. I'd like to know everything it is. Sooooo, he shot up my ankle with Cortisone as well as a numbing something or other in it. The numbing agent is a diagnostic tool. He shot it where he thinks most of the pain is coming from. If, within the next 6-12 hours , I am pain free, that means they numbed the spot where the pain was and we've pin pointed the problem. The cortisone will kick in a couple of days later and I'll be good to go for a while. Wellll....that shot hurt like hell and I wanted to kick him in the head. Then I could barely walk out of there. My foot (where he thinks there is a fracture) hurt so bad and my Achilles felt like it was going to snap. It made everything very tight! I don't really think I felt anything go numb. I was at a pain level 4 when I went in. It continually climbed for the rest of the night. I finally called them after 5 hours. I attempted to go to work only making it a half hour and then came home, woke KG, filled him in and CRIED! The nurse left a message that said all the fluid put in likely pushed up against everything else and aggravated it. So if something was actually numb in there, I didn't know about it due to the pain the fluid was causing. I laid in bed most of the night with ice and tears. The pain level was easily a 12 at best. Thankfully by the next morning it was back to a 4 and felt the same as when I 'd gone in. I put a phone call into the nurse to find out the next step. She didn't get back to me until last night, Thursday. We scheduled an appointment for this morning, Friday, and here's where it stands. I have issues with both ligaments. The one has the cyst. The cyst hurts, especially when pressure is applied. This limits the shoes I can wear. The ligament under that is arthritic. The cyst sits on it. Both have a tear. Here is the part that is crappy. The only thing that can be done is a fusion surgery. I would lose all movement side to side and some lateral. I would still have most up and down. We are all uncomfortable with that for obvious reasons. And he has rarely done that surgery on someone as young as me, again, only doing those on people in their 70's. If I had it this young, I would most certainly need another surgery in 20's and then one again. I just don't think I'm ready for that surgery so now it's a game of managing the pain until I can't take it any longer. However, the downside of that is it will likely cause further damage. Ughh.
The cortisone had finally kicked in and it seems to be helping with the throbbing which is a relief. It hurts the same if I step wrong, go up or down the stairs, or step on anything slightly uneven like a pebble. The throbbing and burning is a huge relief though so I'll take it.
Today was so frustrating because they attempted to fit me with a brace that they want worn as often as I can handle and definitely on hikes, camping, uneven ground. That was a disaster and I cried for at least an hour after. Don't want to talk about it.
So anyway, he threw out all kinds of words. Hell if I know what they mean. And I'm sure I've screwed up the translation somewhere! But that's where it stands from my understanding.
Basically nothing was accomplished other then I'm frustrated and feeling really down. :( I'm just trying to get myself motivated to finish an Etsy order, get my crap together to go camping AND be excited about it and go to work.
(Oh and because of the degree of damage for not having significant injuries, he's thinking possible degenerative issues which can be found through a blood test. That would also mean it could happen in other joints. Uggh. Not doing that yet.)