Month 8 of Competition

UPDATE:  My brother-in-law has done a LOT of improving since my last post.  His accident was 46 days ago.  He talked the first time around August 22nd and has now begun to speak in complete sentences.  He basically knows everyone.  He does sit up and get out of his room during the day, but walking is still a long ways off.  Please continue to pray for him and his wife.   

 

http://www.gofundme.com/chrischristensen



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Another month of competition is in the books, and it was a good one.  Not only did I have the largest total so far for the year but....

I WON!!

Yup, victory was mine.  Thanks to a head cold (she is doing much better now) I was able to pull ahead and maintain my lead.  She did end up with a higher month end total that me, but the winner is the one who reaches the monthly goal first.

 August (goal of 60 miles):

Miles walked: 43.41

Minutes exercised: 1310 = 43.67 miles

Water intake 28/31 days = 6.25 miles

TOTAL: 93.33 miles

 

I was skeptical there for a little while as my foot was really beginning to pain me.  No, not the foot that had surgery in May, the other one.  The mornings were the worst.  I would wake up and sit on the edge of the bed and contemplate if I wanted to crawl to the bathroom or brave taking a step.  I knew that once I got going it would at least slightly improve, but the pain was excruciating.  I do my daily walks at 5am and it would take until about a half to three-quarters of a mile before the pain would mostly subside.  If you used the pain scale (10 is kill me now and 0 is pain free), the first step would be at about an 8-9 and by the time I completed the first mile I would be down to about a 4.  It would never get any better than that.  There are days that I really wish I could get new feet! 

 

I am a stubborn one and I figured I could just gut my way through this.  It would improve, right?  I felt like I was just being a wimp.  The thought of "what if it DOESN'T improve and you have to have surgery on it too?" crossed my mind quite often.  After that, and much pressure from loved ones, I made an appointment with my foot doctor.

 

I have seen Dr. Foot more in the last 6 months that I have my endo.  After some poking (why do they always find the most painful spot?) and stretching it was determined that plantar fasciitis was the culprit.  A cortisone shot and tape and I was good to go.  I had to take it easy for a day, preferably two (read: no 2 mile walks), but that it should get back to normal pretty quick.

 

It did.  The first step morning pain was gone and my walk pace had picked back up.  A week later I went back for the follow-up.  I got fresh tape and instructions to remove the tape in 3 days.  If my foot didn't continue to improve, or if the pain came back, I was to call them immediately.  Dr. Foot said that if it wasn't better we were not going to wait as long with this foot as we did on the previous one. 

 

Thankfully, it is basically back to normal.  No pain in the morning, and only a little soreness after my walks.  I call that success!

 

September's exercise goal is also 60 miles.  We were both so close to having a perfect water intake month in August.  September we will be perfect!  So far it means that we've had to watch the clock more closely and even skipped a nap or two, but we'll make it. 

 

September is also my birthday month. 

 

She won her birthday month, I'm doing my darndest to win mine.

 

Wish me luck!!

Adventures in foot surgery

It's been 39 days since I had my foot surgery.  It's time to write the update.

I am not a fan of surgery, but sometimes that is what it takes to fix an issue.  For me, it has been nearly a year since I first started having foot pains I couldn't alleviate.  I tried the exercises.  I tried the cortisone.  I tried ignoring it (that never works by the way).  I even tried a smaller, more confined surgery.  No matter what I tried, it wouldn't go away.

Almost a year.

I couldn't believe it myself, so I went back through my blog posts.  The first post I mentioned my heel pain was July 17, 2014.  In August I had a small surgery to hopefully fix the problem.  It did OK, but was never fully fixed.  I figured it was about 70-80% fixed.  Dr. Foot was wanting 100% and wasn't impressed that we didn't get that. 

I figured I could deal with it.  The random stabbing pains had decreased.  I'm a tough girl and don't complain too much about being uncomfortable.  I really didn't want another surgery.

However, the pains continued and even got worse.  I began to lose track of how often I would get those random stabbing pains.  The first 20-30 steps every morning were excruciating.  I'm sure I looked like I was walking on a floor of nails, because that's what it felt like.  The first steps I took after sitting for any length of time felt just as bad.  My Wednesday morning yoga class was something I looked forward to, but also dreaded because I knew the pain in my foot would effect the quality of my poses.  I kept up with my daily walks because, contrary to logic, it felt better to be moving.

I went back to Dr. Foot a couple times.  He poked (how do they ALWAYS know right where to poke to make it hurt the worst?) and wasn't happy with what he was seeing.  He said I had tarsal tunnel.  The nerve had gotten fat and was trying to go through a slot that was no longer big enough for it.  He said it was like trying to put on a pair of jeans from high school.  It could be done, but it would hurt. 

The final straw was when he did an ultra sound of the bottom of my foot to see what the plantar fascia looked like.  Yup.  I had a really good (or bad, depending on your perspective) case of plantar fasciitis to add to my tarsal tunnel.  My fascia was swollen to 7mm.  That may not sound like much, but then consider that the barrel of a standard ballpoint pen is 8mm in diameter. 

Surgery was done May 14th to release both the nerve and the plantar fascia.  It was an uneventful day and the surgery went well.  Even though I had a later in the day surgery time (1:30pm!!) I survived.  I may have been a bit ornery about being hungry, but my blood sugars played nice.  I ran higher most of the morning (190-200) and didn't drop down into the low 100's until I was be wheeled back for surgery.

I did have a minor set back with an infection that set in at week 3.  An internal dissolving stitch didn't dissolve (there is always at least one that doesn't dissolve for me) and it began it irritate.  It festered and infected the lower part of the incision.  I was given a shot of antibiotics in the backside, a prescription for more antibiotics, and instructions to soak it twice a day.  It took the full 10 days, but the infection, redness, and draining went away.

The random stabbing pains are completely gone. *happy dance*  The excruciating pain with the first 20-30 steps in the morning has decreased to uncomfortable pain for the first 10-15 steps, and keeps improving.  It feels like I'm walking on a wad of sock that has been folded up under my foot, but I have been assured that that feeling will go away.  It is the longest part to heal and will take a couple months.

After all of this I feel confident in saying..

SUCCESS!!

It's been a process to get here.  I've done a few walks to try and recondition myself so I'll be ready for the competition once July starts.  I'm quite a bit slower and am more tired at the end.  I'll get there though.  In that fact, I have full confidence... and determination.

Pain in the foot

I try to get a walk in every work day (I take the weekends off from walking as we usually do much more yard work instead).  During the late winter - late spring, I was able to walk at about 2pm each day.  It was GREAT!  Not only did it help with my post lunch bgs, but it also made the afternoons seem to go faster at work.  Once the afternoons started getting too warm, I switched to walking at 10am each day.  That time wasn't so bad.  I was able to walk off my coffee but the rest of the day went so much slower.

Then full on summer hit.  Even 10 am was too warm.  If I tried to walk any earlier, after getting to work, I would be setting my stuff down and walking right back out the door.  Not only is that silly, but it was too hot then too, and we don't have a shower at work for me to use.  So I decided early morning walks would be better.  I set my alarm for 5:30 and vowed to not hit snooze. 

I've not been as consistent as I wish I was.  I know that the walk does me so much good.  Not only do my blood sugars behave more throughout the day, it really helps my mood too.  I've had a difficult time getting to bed before midnight lately, which of course makes 5:30 really REALLY early.  However, the last two days I've been able to do it.  I even got sprinkled on yesterday.  Real rain drops!!  We've not had any measurable rain since early May here, so every rain drop is sacred.  Anyways, my pace in the mornings isn't as fast as I was getting in the afternoons, but at least I'm walking, right?  But for how much longer, is the question.

The last few days my heel has been downright killing me!  I've dealt with plantar fasciitis before and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.  I fear that it may be setting in again.  Unfortunately, if I remember correctly, there isn't a whole lot that can be done.  Last time I had my heel and foot taped for a couple weeks, and that helped a lot.  Will they do that again?  Will he suggest it's time for a cortisone shot?  *cringe*  I have no problem with shots, but the thought of one in my heel gives me the heebie jeebies.  Or will there be a miracle cure that happens as I walk through the door?  I'm not holding my breath or anything, but THAT would be nice.

I will be calling my foot doctor later today to make that appointment.  In the meantime, please pass the ice pack.