I had quite the interesting appointment today at the orthotics place. Little did I know it was actually a podiatrist who I was going to meet with and he helped me more than either doctor I have seen so far! He listened to my (now 4 month long) story and examined my feet. He got out an ultrasound machine and looked at my feet, which was fasinating and something no one else has done to me yet. He said if I had a neuroma it would show up. Nothing did. Then he took x-rays, my first set in 2 months. And lo and behold, something was there! It's a stress reaction (not quite a stress fracture) on my 5th metatarsel. He said it could have been a full stress fracture that healed with the crutches and boot but just not completely which is why it looked ok on the x-ray and MRI in January, but as I got back to running it flared up again. There is one distinct spot where the damage is worst, but the whole bone (and 4th and 3rd metatarsels too) is showing inflamation and calcium buildup all around it. He thinks because I have such high archs that all of the impact is being taken on the outside of my foot, causing the stress reaction. He says that with the custom orthotics it should get better as he will put a cushion under the 5th metatarsel and a channel to spread out the impact evenly across the foot. He scanned my foot and they will be ready in a week! I am going to hold off on running for a week or two to let the inflamation go down (and hopefully decrease the stress reaction) and then hopefully hopefully hopefully I will finally be back! I am feeling postive that this will work, though it should for $500 (and insurance doesn't cover any of it). That's my story

Shaunna, that is awesome news! I'm happy to hear that you finally got your answer. Orthotics are the type of things that I plan for because my company has a flexible medical spending account. That alone can save me 30%.