Toes in the Sunshine

Okay, so not quite in the sunshine, but out on the front porch, enjoying the breezes and flowers from my new recliner.

And I can walk around barefoot a little bit! Gently, and using the walker when it's more than a few steps, but progress is being made. I am up to about 20 minutes walking/standing with the cast on, before it begins to ache.

By June 10, I should be good to go!

Double Trouble

This week has been mostly boring in the foot department.

Sunshine!

I did get out in the sunshine one day.

I have figured out that one croc flip flop is a good enough support for my hopping (left) foot. Of course, I get to wear socks and crocs (in my case, just sock and croc of course) because crocs, wonderful as they are, encourage the psoriasis on my soles.

The right foot is reasonably comfortable in its lighter cast, and is able to wiggle a bit. I am wiggling my toes often, as directed by Dr. Brunet. The whole foot moves around a tiny bit, too. Sometimes I feel rough or scratchy things inside, but the doctor warned me there were some long pins that might cause that.

My right little toe is still invisible from where I sit, but I can feel it when it wiggles or when someone checks for me. Trouble is, there is considerable flakiness under and around that toe. Psoriasis strikes again, or so I assume.  I put Dovobet on it or get someone else to (Laura the Fearless, for instance), and get some relief from scratching with a QTip, and removing some of the crud. Yuck.

I got out on Sunday with Rachel. We used the wheelchair and had a tour around an artisan's craft show. Tonight Neil and I are going to a play at the Gladstone and then out to dinner! Whee!

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.

January in Florida

I am in Florida, sunny Florida, and so my skin problems are greatly diminished. The bone problems (bunions, etc.) are no better.
Hooray for sunshine!

These are my feet after walking across Key West to Mallory Square.

December checkup

Checkup with Dr. D. the Dermatologist yesterday. Feet and elbows passed inspection. Ankles have been itchy and red lately, so Dovobet is the answer (as for all these problems). Renewed prescriptions for Dovobet and tar cream. Sunshine and salt water in Cozumel seem to have done good things, too. Had the moles on my back checked, too, and nothing to report. Good.
See her again in June!

November and Shoes!

Diving, resting, salt water and sunshine! Very good for the feet. Some walking around the resort; more than I do at home!
But all was well.
Back home, there are some callouses, but no skin problems.
Shoes are a problem, tho'; nothing is comfortable and my orthotics need repair.

Feet will be footloose next week

Going diving in Mexico--Cozumel!--next week. Lots of soaking in salt water, giong barefoot and sandalfoot, maybe some sandy beach time... wonder how my feet will like that?
They are really good at the moment: lots of creams and care, and socks all the time.

Sore feet (bunions)

I have been buying shoes and experimenting with socks.
Winter seems to have damaged my feet: there are strange red spots in some places, and callusses and blisters forming on my inner left heel and the bunions on both feet, but worse on the left.
I am heading to Bonaire next week, so hope to be barefoot, underwater, and/or exposed to sunshine.
I see Dr. Dossetor at the end of May.

The picture is from October 18, 2010.

Salt water and sunshine did my feet a lot of good. Even though I did more walking than usual while in the DR, the feet were very good. I managed to scrape my heel on a limestone rock when we went swimming in a cavern, though, so there is still something sore. And while there I had a big blister on my left big toe, and a smaller one on the end of my middle toe (also left), but they resolved themselves. I was careful to use my creams and socks, dorky as I felt some of the time. Towards the end, though, I was going barefoot in my sandals some of the time, and not suffering.

July 4 at the lake. My feet are improving, as long as I wear socks and use lots of vaseline and not too much of the stronger stuff.
The secondary effects of having bad feet, which include bad knees and extra weight gain and general indolence, are starting to subside.
Right now, though, Neil is working hard at raking leaves and I--though feeling guilty--do not wish to join him. I got a big blister on my hand afer an hour's raking yesterday and my feet were starting to react, too.
Swimming is great: I get off my feet and my backside; my legs, knees and arms get some exercise wthout too much strain; and the water is good for my skin. Win, win, win. And even the hike up and down the hill is not as bad as it could have been.