First week back at work in the office. Makes life seem “normal” again, with the bonus of nice people making way for me, giving me lifts and carrying stuff, as well as sympathetic/pitying looks. The down side of course is not being able to use my right foot for standing or walking or driving or running or cycling or swimming or stair climbing or even pressing the sustain pedal for my electric piano… (There’s no denying the dim, self-pitying sadness of losing use of your foot even if it is temporary!)
Let me move on to some more Boot stories…
Though Dr said to leave the boot on, I simply had to clean it. Every day I carefully extricate my leg, clean it, wave it around for an hour or so, hoping some gentle ankle exercise will enhance the rehab process (perhaps?). The surgery wound is closed and I replaced the band-aid regularly. Last night I thought “enough fussing!” and had a standing shower, no boot! Ahhh….CLEAN! Needed plenty of exfoliation too!
This MC Walker boot seems to be collecting water in the foam especially in the bucket-like heel. It must be foot sweat, “ew!” even though I’ve been wearing a clean sock every day!? I took to it with a hair dryer!
Hopping, leaning, sitting and lying down with my right leg up has started to cause back pain in the lower left, spreading to my shoulders. I have found relief using a hard rubber knobbled physio device that you lie on, or lean on in a chair, which applies pressure to the muscles either side of your spine. For a cheap alternative, you can use a tennis ball.
Last story for today: I continue to wear the boot to sleep, and a few days ago woke up with a pain in the top of my booted foot. Lying there trying to doze off again, the pain varied from Intense to Excruciating, distinctly between the third and fourth metatarsals. Finally I sat up, undid the foot straps and rubbed the pain spot, which relieved it a little, and managed to sleep again. Next day, internet searches agreed with my thought that it was a pinched nerve. It is named “Morton’s Neuroma” and occurs when your shoes are too tight. So loosen your bootstraps if this happens to you! I haven’t experienced it since then.
