Sun, sand and surf

My week in Key West around Nov. 1 was both good and bad for my feet. As usual, sun and water improved my psoriasis. But not as much as I would have liked. When I saw Dr. Dossetor in December, she changed my prescription, saying the Dovobet was too strong for my shins and was thinning the skin too much.
Besides swimming, I did some walking, lots of standing, and lots of bicycling in Key West. It might have been a little too soon for the biking (although the flat landscape was wonderful!), because Dr. Gartke said my foot bones had not healed as straight as they should have, or as they apparently had on the last x-ray.


I took my dermatologist's advice and went back to the land of sunny weather and salt water. This time, it was Mexico's west coast, where we visited our son and went diving. The sunshine did good work on my itchy shins and rough feet. Changing to the new cream had already made a difference to my shins in December.
As for the mechanical issues with my feet; here's the situation. The left foot, with its straightened toe bone, is getting more and more solid all the time. There are very few twinges anymore, and it seems to work well. I go back to see the orthopedist, Dr Gartke, in March. The right foot, however, is often sore and weak. I am looking forward to getting it straightened out, too, although I may have to keep the cast longer this time.

Less than a week...

I'm going for bunion surgery on August 7. Two or three days of bed rest, then 6 weeks in a cast, then 6 weeks of limited exercise. I hope it is worth it.
I got the shoes worked over by the shoe specialist: they make me taller by about a centimetre, and they are very heavy. They can be hot to wear, and rather dorky sometimes, when I'm a tourist, but they do help my feet and hip work better.
My psoriasis is pretty calm, since it's summer, and remains more pronounced on my shins than on my feet. 
Will report after surgery.

Upward creep...

It's not the feet so much anymore: it's the shins!
My shins have red, bubbly patches and are quite itchy at times. My feet, except around the ankle bones, are pretty much clear!
Since there has been some spring sunshine, and it's occasionally warm enough to sit outside, I have been trying to sun my shins. Sure hope real spring comes soon, as that will make it much easier to get that natural light on them.
In the meantime, I apply the Dovobet in the daytime and the salacylic + vaseline at night, and touch up with plain vaseline when the itch gets too bad.
Strangely enough, several years before my feet became a problem, my shins were often itchy, but any problems were completely invisible.

May: allergy month

So, my feet have been pretty well-behaved lately. I keep up the creams and socks, and they don't give me much trouble. But I have noticed that as the spring allergy season approaches, perhaps combined with the long nights at work of the spring Parliamentary season, little bumps are popping up here and there, and not always on feet!
Soles are pretty good, with a few callouses. But around the sides and heels, there are spots and there are flaky bits, like old blisters. Nothing sore, and not very itchy.
My shins look as though I had been walking in brambles. Rather red and bumpy, but not awfully itchy. It actually helps if I keep them clean-shaven, although I once thought that irritated the skin. At least it's less itchy that way.
The itchiest part of me is my back, between my shoulder blades. It's in a spot I can just barely reach and certainly can't see. Sometimes I get Neil to put some cream there, but it's hard to get his attention at the appropriate moment.
The itchiest thing this week has been blackfly bites! I got quite a reaction to the 8 or 10 I got on Sunday, but the itching was over by Tuesday, mostly. May have some scars, though.

Winter may be over

The skin on my feet is in good shape, but the bunions are becoming a bigger problem, especially as I move out of comfy, wide winter boots and into "real" shoes for spring.
I had quite a spell a couple of weeks ago when the tops of my feet broke out in typical, itchy psoriasis bubbles. The red, itchy problem went way up my shins, too, and both right and left. The soles of my feet weren't affected this time!
I applied my night and day creams assiduously and tried to refrain from scratching, and it eventually subsided. Still a few red spots on the shins, but not itchy.
I'm learning how to deal with it, but it's still a nuisance. It is a good excuse to wear socks to bed, tho!