This isn’t going to be a long one, but a couple people reached out to me about this infernal foot thing and I wanted to include this in my previous post and didn’t.
I still can’t believe this even happened, let alone be ongoing. This all started a little over two weeks ago (seems a lot longer) when I was walking home from the senior center and my feet hurt like the Devil. Well, it began in my RIGHT foot and radiated from my big toe. I wondered if it was gout at first, then maybe a fungal infection when both feet began hurting. I’ve never had either.
In the next couple days my calves began burning. Wearing compression socks eased the discomfort, but it still hurt to walk on hard surfaces without shoes.
The pain radiating from the right big toe decreased, but I still wake up in the morning with an aching right calf—and both feet have a ‘digging, burning’ sensation that only helps if I soak them in a foot bath of cool water, like above.
And that’s how I’m spending this beautiful Saturday afternoon. Sitting on my couch, binge-watching Season 4 episodes of ‘Eight is Enough’. Ugh, this show is the pits! Why am I watching it? Because when it originally aired in 1979, I was 18 years old and this reminds me of that time. Oh to be that young again…
Yes, yes… I’m feeling sorry for myself. I spent most of the last 18 months stuck in here, suffering with long covid. I was just getting out again and now this. Why?
Anyway, this Friday (Sept 5) at 9:00am I have an appointment with my PCP, and a full panel of bloodwork. Maybe he’ll discover excess uric acid (gout) or elevated A1C (diabetes). Who knows. I just need some answers.
I did call a podiatrist last week who recommended the blood work, but wasn’t accepting new patients when I asked for an appointment. I left a couple messages with another podiatrists office last weekend, but they never called me back. Maybe I’ll call them again first thing Tuesday morning, after the Labor Day weekend.
Back to the show… thanks for listening.
I am so sorry Dug! Not Fair, Not Fair!!!! I hope they figure this out quickly and come up with a cure or treatment. It does sound more medical, but what do I know (only what I learned from Marcus Welby and ER).
ReplyDeleteI was a big Eight is Enough fan in the day. When I saw it was available on Tubi, I sat down to watch. Episode one was good, but they lost me by episode two. Icky.
My teenaged babysitting years were spent watching Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Rhoda, Mannix. That's my comfort era.
Thank you Miss Merry, I just needed to vent. As always your comments are thoughtful and a real treat. I mean that. By the way, Mary Tyler Moore Bob Newhart and Rhoda were my favorite shows from the 70s, hands down. And I love me some Mannix! You are speaking my love language😄❤️❤️❤️
DeleteHi Doug, so sorry to read that you are having such issues with your feet. I hope Fridays appointment will give you some answers.
ReplyDeleteI NEVER liked Dick Vanpattenn (I don’t know how to spell his name!)so didn’t watch the show. I enjoyed the same shows you and Miss Merry did. They still are my comfort shows along with a few others.
We are finally out of our two month heat wave here and are having cooler, drier weather. I love it!
Take care Doug.❤️❤️
Robin
Robin your comment here gave me both a smile and a chuckle, thank you. I do love people from my generation. The Dick Van Patten haircut, his comb over is even more than the defendant I was almost chosen to be a juror for! Anyway I am glad to hear about your cooler, more dry weather. It's been the exact same for us here in Pittsburgh, I have my windows open and enjoying that breeze at least. Thanks again for the kind thoughts my dear friend. 🙂❤️
DeleteI can’t help you with your feet.
ReplyDeleteI think we should have switched places, so I could be outside on that beautiful Saturday, and you’d be sitting inside on a miserable rainy, extremely windy, even some hail, day. You wouldn’t have minded so much.
I just ate lunch (marinara with linguini), drank wine and also watched TV (Leverage: Redemption – I didn’t watch Eight is Enough way back (or now).
Thank you Peter, to be honest instead of changing places I would've enjoyed spending some time with a good friend like yourself with all that awesome gloom outside. As for that television show, I did turn it off after publishing my blog. One can only take so much punishment. Peter I just learned something yesterday; Ronnie's blog with your Sunday column? I believe that's a Typepad platform; they announced yesterday they are shutting down completely on September 30th. Blog owners are welcome to try and export their data before then. I hope you kept copies of your many columns there.
DeleteThanks for that information.
DeleteI have my originals in Word documents (as well as the music and pics, of course), but not the finished product.
I guess I won’t be recommending them to anyone anymore.
Dug, I'm glad you have an appointment with your PCP. Hopefully you will get some answers. I tend to be binge watching a lot myself these days... mostly Outlander... read the books, saw the series, now watching it over again. I also find comfort watching The Big Bang (my oldest son watches the Andy Griffith show). Loved Bob Newhart (and he appears on the Big Bang too)! It's been rainy, dark, and dreary today here... but we love that it's cooled down a bit.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Rian, I always enjoy hearing from you. 🙂❤️
DeleteI sure hope you can find out what's going on with those burning feet, Doug. I look forward to hearing about what's happening in your neck of the woods. You are such a gifted writer. Really.
ReplyDeleteYou are much too kind DJan, thank you. 🙂
DeleteIt's so unfair that you're dealing with so much, Doug. You don't deserve any of it! I'm glad you're finding strategies that help and hope that the bloodwork will give some answers AND treatments! You know I'm sending you my best and big hugs. xoxo
ReplyDeleteYou're very kind, thanks Margaret. I'm very glad we're friends. I know you're going through a lot right now in fact your stuff has given me a distraction from this so I appreciate you sharing so much. Hugs right back xo🙂❤️
DeleteDrat, I was hoping that whatever was causing the issues in your feet/legs would be over and done with by now. I hope the doctor's appointment next week provides some answers, though suspect you won't get your bloodwork results until after that weekend. Take care of yourself!
ReplyDeleteThank you Maebeme, you and everyone else have been very kind listening to my tales of woe. I'm 95% sure this is plantar fasciitis, where it's just going to have to heal on its own. Still going to the doctor of course, still getting my blood work done. I hope you're well.
DeleteGigi Hawaii. Your pcp should refer you to a podiatrist. That works better than doing it on your own. Hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks G.
DeleteDoug, sorry to hear about this. I have gout, this does not sound like that. Gout attacks at the joints, and feels like needles stabbing them. Usually the knees, ankles, toes. Mine usually hits at the joint where the big toe meets the foot. I always say its the devil's disease, because it makes one miserable.
ReplyDeleteWhat happens is that uric acid builds up in the joints, forming crystals in the joints. Foods high in 'purines' trigger it. In my case, drinking beer, eating beef jerky or processed 'beef sticks' will cause a 'flare'. I swear even smelling a Slim Jim used to trigger one. For some people, eating bland stuff for a few will result in eliminating the flare up; others, like me, need to take Colchicine in order to be relieved.
I now take a med called Allupurinol, which is a preventative measure and keeps things in check - I haven't had a flare in a few years now.
I know this doesn't do you much good, but at least you can probably eliminate gout from the source of your pain.
Best wishes for a quick resolution.
Hi Chad, thanks very much for sharing all this--and I'm very glad it's been awhile since you've had a flare-up. I sure hope it's never again. I only wondered if this was gout because it did start with a "crushed, burning" feeling in the bone below the big toe. (First on the right, then the left.) But mine has progressed downward into the arches & heels. I'm like 95% sure it's plantar fascitis. (Walking in barefoot is painful, especially on hard floors.) Makes my calves burn & ache too. I've read so many conflicting suggestions on what to do, I don't know what. Anyway Chad, thank you again.
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