Feet are complex organs, there are 26 x bones, 30 x joints and over 100 x muscles, tendons and ligaments in each foot. A stress fracture is most common in the 2nd or 3rd metatarsal as they are thinner and longer than the 1st metatarsal. They don't get a lot of blood flow which also means longer recovery time. My understanding is, as per normal practise, we tried the nonsurgical treatment, the usual RICE protocols (Rest, Ice, Compression & Elevation) plus anti-inflammatory medication and using crutches to keep weight off his foot until the pain subsides which can take up to 6 weeks. This wasn't successful, the fracture didn't heal and as a result I believe we resorted to surgical treatment, internal fixation, which involves supporting the bone/s by inserting a fastener/s, pins, screws, and/or plates. Recovery time is commonly 4 to 8 weeks, again this wasn't successful. So we resorted to an autogenous bone graft, commonly taken from the tibia, with a recovery time of around 10 weeks. This is not a "no risk" procedure, as the tibia can be weakened by the bone removal.
A quick add 6 + 8 + 10 = 24 weeks plus add in assessment time before and after each step and it's easy to see how long it has taken. Of course it would be easy, in hindsight, to say we should have gone for the bone graft straight away, but that's not the usual process, particularly if the patient shows no previous history of slow bone regeneration.
Always a Bulldog