I think it’s time to sit back with my feet up, and reflect on the things that went well today. It really was a beautiful day at Smith Park West, even if it oughtn't be over 80 degrees in April in Colorado. I’ll blame the extremely warm temperature on the winds that blew through, and appreciate their effect on my flowers and trees. The nectarines are starting to open their dainty pink blossoms. The lilacs have big clusters of leaves bursting open. The choke cherry will be resplendent very soon. And my hyacinths and daffodils are prolific this year. It is spring all over. The lupines have healthy growth already, and they are going to go nuts very soon. I even dug around in last year’s dried out lavender (which smelled amazing) to find this season’s growth has begun.
I saw there was another one of those “national pet day” hashtags going around. How apropos that I took a few pictures of my kids out back, mostly of my boys—Alfred, Harvey, and Murray. They all have been spoiled rotten today, but then, they are most days. Elsa got lots of family time, which she appreciates. And so did I. We had the kids and some of our friends over for table top games. Normally this would be a D&D night, but our leader needed a week off from planning it. Instead we had a bigger group for dinner and Settlers of Cataan. I’m living my dream, I really am. I wanted this house to be a gathering spot where everyone knew they were welcome as one of the family. This group knows where to find everything in my kitchen, and they know to walk in without knocking. It’s exactly as I designed it.
It’s a good thing they are all so comfortable in my house. By the time I’d finished cleaning and cooking, I had to get off of my foot, and I let them all fetch and carry for me. I finally went to the new podiatrist (after feeling absolutely blown off by the last one the day after I injured my foot and knew it explicitly). This guy was down in Boulder, and he might as well have been from another planet he was so different than the one who was bored by my concerns. New doc took X-rays immediately, showed me the painfully obvious signs of years of plantar fasciitis, explained in a totally logical way how those signs (heel spurs) formed, and made sure I was able to see how badly my arches had fallen. (Rather than arches, the tops of my feet are straight lines, with a depression just below the ankle.) After testing and listening carefully to my descriptions, he has concluded that I have most likely torn the tendon that comes down from the posterior tibial muscle, but not severed it. An MRI will tell us whether it is a lateral or transverse tear, and how bad it is. My options range from a boot while we wait for it to heal (I find it unlikely this is my best course after 8 months of walking on it), injections of steroids (would not like), injections of my own platelets (also would not like), or surgery (really would not like). Not sure where it will go, but something has to change. I’ve been living with daily foot pain for 20 years. Before this, my average day was a five on the pain scale with both feet. This is easily a nine, and that is unchanged in any position, from standing to sitting, to lying in bed, to floating in the hot tub. But as I am focusing on the positive tonight, I will end on this: I really like this doctor. He cares. And he projects confidence and compassion. I made it. I’m good.
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