Saturday, 30 September 2017
After my exuberant Thursday, I’ve been coasting, to recover energy for a nice outing tomorrow, when the high temps are predicted to reach only 74°F here in ATL, so we’re going to venture out…somewhere. I can report that I stood a bit, in The Boot, in between two chairs so I could hold onto the backs. I didn’t really try to walk…too scary!…don’t feel steady enough.
Friday, 29 September 2017
I had another medical adventure today. I saw a podiatrist to get personalized arch supports/shoe inserts made. The surgeon wants my arch properly supported so his fine work inside my foot is never compromised.
The step today was a special scan of my sole. The scanner produced a photo, and a graduated-color map like some topographic maps, with the “elevation” displayed in colors ranging from deep blue (low) to rusty red (high). We weren’t fast enough to get a shot of the latter.
This latter 3D data will be used by what was described as a 3D printer to make the arch support. The arch part will be incorporated into an heel-to-toe innersole that I will use instead of the one that comes in the shoe. I’m told closed shoes only, not dress shoes, so just athletic shoes. Stylish!
They are giving me a pair, so I stay balanced. Well, actually, we bought them (mediocre insurance is better than none). And I’ll begin using them in the boot…lovely. Be a couple of weeks before I have them underfoot. haha
Thursday, 28 September 2017
Errand day! I haven’t participated in errands, other than medical ones, since mid-July. Today I did!
And I’m also going to Book Club tonight! Busy day! Two out-of-the-house adventures! [I’d better go get ready!]
Right at home, I stopped Steed to photograph this lovely white ginger blossom cluster. Thanks for the flowers, Diane!
Wednesday, 27 September 2017
Astounding?! Thirty years ago, “The Princess Bride” was released. My favorite movie…clever entertainment with lots of laughs. And some of it was shot in Ireland.
I’m trying not to be anxious or impatient about my foot recovery. So, are they trying to tell me something in the Doc’s parking lot?
We watch the turtles in the orthopedic waiting room. But not for long. A benefit of a 7:15am appointment is that they have not begun to run late.
This morning the Doc was quite happy with my progress. I am released to begin weight-bearing and PT. Earliest appointment for PT is next Wednesday, so I get to try out my front-of-foot a teeny bit by myself. So far, I’m not even hardly standing on it. And so far, the foot/arch feels okay. I still keep it up a lot, but increased use/exercise will help it be less swollen, the professionals reiterate. Go, grrrrrll!
Tuesday, 26 September 2017
I took this during a rest-pause between sets of toe exercises. Never thought of there being such a thing, and now they’re my thing. The hardest one isn’t the up or down or splay, but to concentrate on moving one toe at a time. Of course, the whole set comes along, but it’s important and productive to concentrate on one toe at a time in sequence. By thinking it, the part of the brain that controls the action is stimulated, and this hastens the recovery.
You can also see the wrinkles I have accumulated. If I hang the foot down or put it on the floor for five minutes, they won’t be wrinkles any more as the blood re-inhabits the foot. It also gets flushed a vague rosy purple.
Monday, 25 September 2017
Here’s most of a day’s worth of effort, measured in steps by my Fitbit. Not much, eh? I think my Fitbit must suspect it’s on vacation (if it could do such things). I’m pretty sure I got five mysterious steps for plugging the device in to charge. The other day it gave me a flight of stairs for going up on my butt. It hasn’t done that before that I’ve noticed.
Sunday, 24 September 2017
Against the odds, I came across this autumn “broccoli forest”…in WashDC. There can’t have been a long time window for this satellite pass.
Saturday, 23 September 2017
May this year.
This Great Southern and Western Railway bridge is on the northwestern arc of the Ring of Kerry, west of Dooks (not Doors, auto-correct). Love the contrasting wedges of shadow and light on the uprights.
Friday, 22 September 2017
I awakened early the other morning and thought, gee, it’s darker than in summer at this wee hour. Then I thought, ah, the season is turning. And we have arrived in autumn.
These are distortions to tree-cover in the 3D presentation of satellite photos by GooMaps. Makes the trees look like distorted broccoli. [No cookbook.]
Thursday, 21 September 2017
Sole, right foot; little toe to left and heel to right. At the photo top, you can ends of the tape strips that cross the incision (put on after sutures were removed), and I was told to keep on to the next appointment (next week).
During my long recuperation from my, ehem, misstep, I expected I would keep up with the weekly flow of New Yorkers. This is the first week I’m actually reading the current issue. One thing that distracts me these days is movement exercises.
My current moves include massaging and fondling my foot—yes, it needs the habituation. Lately, this has loosened large flakes of skin from my arch-sole, which has callus zones still stained yellow-orange by the iodine from surgery. For a while, the old skin kept me from flexing very much—too tight. Now, the skin and inner layers are increasingly willing to allow movement.
This is good!