Shake Those Shoes and Go Into Your Dance

To start out, I'd like to pay tribute to my shoes. Maybe you're wondering why. Well, as you may or may not have heard, my feet have been hurting me. Something fierce. In fact, it got so bad that when I got out of bed in the morning, I couldn't walk. I'd have to hold onto the bed just to get around the room. Not a fun thing. At the last Lifestyle Management class I attended, we had a guest speaker from a workout facility. After class, I asked her what I could do about my feet. My P.E. teacher had suggested new shoes, but I was concerned that I had pinched a nerve or something while taking a fall a few months ago. She told me it sounded like I had platerfagitis (sp) which is a swelling of the tendons in the feel. Runners get it often and it comes from wearing bad or old shoes, walking or running excessively and on hard pavement. Who knew so much exercise could have a downside?

She told me my 9 month-old shoes were too old to be walking in and that I needed to get a good pair of walking shoes. She gave me some exercises to do, which amounted to rolling my feet over a golf ball or a tennis ball to work out the muscles. I have this 8-lb. weight that has a pentagon on each end and I've been rolling my feet on that. It alternately hurts and feels really good, but it seems to be effective.

So, I go out to Sportsmart to buy walking shoes. If you've never done this before, it's a little mind-boggling. I've known for a while now that I've got odd sized feet. I usually wear size 8 wide, which are too long for my feet, but are the smallest size that fit my width. It's taken me a while to appreciate the differences between pumps, flats and tennis shoes, but I never knew that tennis shoes come in varieties too. You've got your running shoes, your walking shoes, your soccer shoes, golf shoes and even plain old tennis shoes. Shoes for every imaginable activity.

Shoes for men, women and kids - but no shoes for me. I had my foot sized to see what size I actually am. Turns out, I should be wearing size 6 ½ EEE. Try finding those at Payless. Sadly, women's sizes do run as small as 6 ½, but not in EEE. Apparently, small-footed women don't usually have wide feet. So then we tried girls sizes (an idea which really appealed to me, even if it is just shoes). No such luck there either. Next was the Men's dept. where a size EEE is normal, but a size 6-½ shoe would be laughed at and spat upon by its Olympian size brothers. So boy's shoes. Apparently the awkwardness of male puberty does include weird shaped feet and so we had success - to the tune of $102.83. I've never even looked at shoes that cost that much, let alone bought a pair! Fashionista I am not.

Now I have my new shoes and you better believe I'm getting my use out of them. They're a teensy bit tighter than I would like but beggars can't be choosers. Not for that price anyway. My feet have been feeling better recently, though not 100%. Anything is better than the pain I felt before though. I've also been feeling some pain in my left arm, starting in the wrist and ending around the elbow. Hearing the tromping feet of Carpel Tunnel, I made an appointment to see a doctor. Remember Dr. Kalkstein, the doctor whose name I changed to Dr. Doorknob to protect his privacy? He's the one who wanted to commit me because I was upset he wouldn't help me with my weight loss. Well, he was the only doctor available to see me at a convenient time, so I decided to go ahead and see him.

I had to practically beg him to take my seriously about the arm pain. He said that if it is Carpel Tunnel, it's not that bad. He wouldn't refer me for an X-ray, which is what my boss said was the procedure for this situation. He finally decided to give me a wrist brace but didn't tell me when to wear it, so I had to ask the nurse. Luckily, the nurse has Carpel Tunnel and was able to advise me. As far as my feet went, he felt my ankle, said they didn't feel swollen and that I just needed to walk it off. I never even took off my shoes. When I told him how bad the pain was when I woke up in the morning, he said he could send me to a podiatrist and, if it was necessary, they could make these shoe inserts that would work the muscles while I walk. The whole appointment was akin to pulling teeth, and I was getting a little peed off about the whole thing. Then, he says: "You seem a little upset, are you okay?" I'm thinking, 'do you want to commit me?' He couldn't even schedule me with the podiatrist because there's a waiting list or something. In the meantime, I'm just supposed to deal.

I've also been having trouble getting my therapist to call me back. I really like her, but it's been one long game of phone tag so far. She actually called while I'm writing this so I do have an appointment set for next week. That'll be nice. I feel like my little body's falling apart slowly. My back aches, my wrist hurts and my feet throb. I had to stop walking for a week and a half because the foot pain was so intense. I ended up gaining weight and that's the last thing I need right now. I was able to get it back down again, but I'm still at the last 3 pounds. Isn't it funny how when you've got 30 lbs. to lose, 3 lbs. is nothing, but when it's all you have left, you can't pry them off with a crowbar? Plus, I'd like to lose a few extra lbs. just to be safe. I'm pushing myself extra hard now that we're in the home stretch. Only seven more weeks to go till I'm on the table.

Mom and I went to my Mandatory Pre-Op conference at Valley Care Weight Loss Center. I'd heard a lot of the information before but Mom had only heard a little of it. I think it was a bit overwhelming for her. I have no doubts that she'll assimilate all the information, but I think that both of us now realized exactly how much work is still ahead of us. I have things to buy before surgery and lists to make. I have to do certain things in preparation two weeks and then one week before surgery that I cannot forget to do, not to mention the stuff to remember for the two days right before surgery. There's still a ways to go yet, but it's getting closer. The end of the road is in site, but I can't yet see the new road forming beyond it. I'm ready for the real work to begin because with it comes the greatest gift imaginable. Myself.