Suite1
Discouraged...
Oct 16, 2010
I'm really in a funk this week and it's getting worse, but it has nothing to do with my weight. Well, it sort of does, let's say it's nothing to do with the scales. Part of the reason I had surgery is because my feet were always so sore, it was becoming more difficult to walk for exercise or pleasure. I've always had bad feet and am knocked kneed. Several years ago I asked a podiatrist if he could help with the knock kneed issue and I had custom orthodics made. They would cause some pain after wearing them, which I thought was because they were pushing my arch up where it needed to be, causing everything north of them to realign and readjust. They are the full sized ones so you have to take out the liner in a shoe and replace with the orthodic. They didn't fit well in all of my shoes thanks to my large, pudgy feet. So I normally keep them in my walking shoes.I've also blamed all of the tile in our home and the concrete patio around the pool - I typically take my shoes off as soon as I walk in the door so I go around barefoot. I have gel mats in the kitchen, but just cooking a meal will do my feet in and the arches cramp and become very stiff making it difficult to walk normally some days. My left foot is the worse and the pain almost causes it to curl inward and force me to walk on the outside of the foot. That in turn throws off my knees, hips & back. Thank God mydaughter is a talented & gifted massage therapist.
Well, during my PAT, the exercise therapist suggested I get out and walk more - just take more frequent, shorter trips. The two weeks of the pre-op diet also included 4 15-minute segments of exercise daily. By the time I went in for surgery, I couldn't walk normally and my feet were killing me. However, those compression pump things they put on my legs really seemed to help. It's as if they massaged and relaxed the calf & shin muscles and even walking down the halls I was painfree. I remained that way until two weeks ago Monday when I took my longest walk with a neighbor, I think about 2 miles and then it kicked in again.
Last weekend the hubby finally convinced me to go back and see a podiatrist, that maybe there was a way to relieve the pain. I agreed I would call when I woke up Monday morning. I woke up at 3am Sunday night in severe pain and limited mobility in my left foot. I was able to get into the podiatrist at 11:30 that morning and hobbled in to find out I have acute tendinitis and the sore point above my arch is the insertion point where the tendon meets the foot. Recommended treatment - anti inflammatories - which I can no longer take. So I'm in a brace for 3-4 weeks and they sent off a prescription for a steroidal topical cream to a compounding pharmacy in AL (I live in OH). They finally called Thursday and said it would be mailed snail mail Friday.
The cause? While it's the same podiatrist practice I went to five years ago, it's a different doctor. He said they no longer use the old manufacturer for the casted orthodics because they would only fill the arch 80% to save money. So the arch supports I got to straighten out my legs caused the problems with my arches and tendons. Because I assumed I wasn't wearing them enough to adjust and that they were readjusting my bones & muscles, I never went back to the doctor to complain. So once this is healed, I'll get new orthodics that they make in the office, they're heat molded and contour exactly to your feet. They are also half sized so you can put them into any shoe without removing its liner.
In the meantime, some days are really good and others, not so much. I tried compression socks thinking they'd help but they are tight on my calves. I rolled them down below my calf muscle and didn't reallize it was cutting off the circulation. It didn't help that we went to dinner at a friends house last night and sat on bar stool type chairs all night so my foot was never elevated. I came home and iced my foot for two hours, stood up and couldn't put any weight on it. It was pretty scary for a few minutes there when I realized I couldn't walk, but didn't want to call my hubby for help. Between furniture & walls I was able to hop or hobble into our bedroom and get ready for bed. I slept with it elevated all night and even took some of the pain meds from surgery. Woke up this morning and couldn't walk on it again so I asked Dave to get the crutches for me.
So it's a gorgeous fall day and I can't enjoy the pool at all - even though I'm limited to upper body exercises at this point. I can barely make it to the bathroom 15' away so I know I can't make it out to the deck, let alone down to the pool. It's so frustrating on so many levels. I had such an easy recovery from the surgery, but now I'm trapped in bed. The hubby went out to play golf but only after fixing me up with breakfast, Isopure, Iced tea, books and the laptop. Good thing we don't have plans tonight because I don't know if I can get out of the house, let alone out of bed. I'd love to try the hot tub for a bit and see if the jets would loosen things up any, but I can't get to it. I'm afraid to try to get in the tub since I'm home alone.
The whole purpose of the surgery was to be able to be more active again and now I'm anything but. This SUCKS! I'm not good at being held back from what I want to do. We're having a huge Halloween party on the 30th and I can't get around to decorate the inside of the house. Fortunately the exterior is mostly done, until the tent is set up a few days before. I'm fortunate to own my own business and not have any projects underway right now, but I really need to get some started. I renovate abandoned homes in the neighborhood I grew up in. I need to get drawings finalized, proposals & permits taken care of so I can start on the next three, but once the holidays hit, it's going to be tough to get anything done.
I know, I'm whining, but I have to get this out of my system. I keep trying to look at it as God is slowing me down for a reason. Maybe it's to get caught up with my reading. I just started one today called "The Body Image Workbook" which was recommended by the psychologist who did my psych eval. I'm going to try to focus on that, then maybe I'll have some good tips to share with everyone on the forum. I'm happiest when I'm helping others...but maybe the lesson to learn is I need to take care of myself first.
Sigh. I'll be back when I'm in a better mood. It might be a while!
1 Comment
About Me
Dayton, OH
Location
21.6
BMI
Surgery
09/14/2010
Surgery Date
Jul 02, 2010
Member Since
Before & After
rollover to see after photo
280lbs
150lbs
