Trip to Dr. Miller

Got up at 5:30am. Always have to tell myself when I have to get up early that no matter how little sleep I get, I will be OK and it will be enough. That helps me to get to sleep.

Dr. Miller gave me an Aircast boot to wear to relieve the foot pain. He said I could wear it as needed. Only one problem - the technician gave me the wrong size and my toes hang over the edge and hit the ground when I walk. I have to exchange it this Friday. Spouse has graciously agreed to go down with me.

Dr. Miller recommended Albuquerque physical therapist to make the orthotics. I said I wanted someone who could make orthotics for an active person. Even though he's a physical therapist, he makes orthotics on the side. Jemez Physical Therapy also recommended him. Dr. Miller also gave me a referral for 8 physical therapy visits. He could see that I still have some mild swelling in my ankle area. I have to figure out who to go to.

Not going to 5:30pm shallow water aerobics class anymore. Pool and unisex locker room are way too busy. Besides, I feel so much colder that time of day (it's dark now with the time change) and it coincides with dinner time. I did enjoy the teacher and the music. I'll go back to the noon water aerobics class.

Last Gasp Autumn

I drove up Camp May Road and parked at Shotgun Shell because I wanted to take photos of some beautiful baby aspens that grow in a drainage there. Imagine my surprise to see a parked car and a middle-aged man in a white dress shirt sitting on a rock nearby and looking at pieces of white paper. I heard his car leave while I was in the drainage taking 21 photos of the aspens that were still in yellow, having their last gasp of autumn colors. I had planned to say hello when I was done taking photos. He had studiously ignored me as I walked toward the drainage. I wanted to tell him that he had picked a beautiful spot to park.

It looks like a system is coming in today because this morning, our turquoise blue skies looked milky blue like they do back east in Ohio and Pennsylvania and small, dark bottomed clouds were forming. This afternoon, we're all socked in with high clouds.

I drove to White Rock this afternoon and, on the way there around 1:30pm, I'm sure I saw a ghost going by...but, then again, today is Halloween so maybe it was just someone in costume! : )

I bought a pair of very long, fiberglass, canary yellow ski poles at the Jemez House Thrift Shop for $2. The lady at first wondered if she was supposed to charge me $15 because the poles still had their tag from the recent ski swap held in town. I'll use the poles for my balance practice on the Fitter wobble board. It gives me confidence to know that I can catch myself if I start to tumble off. It's also good to practice closed-eyes balance.

Saw my neighbor Irma at the thrift shop and talked with her for a while. She recommends glucosamine and chondroitin for my foot problem. I'm afraid to take it, though, because I know a woman in the Wednesday hiking group that took it but ended up having 2 knee operations anyway. Irma also suggested apple cider vinegar and increasing my brewer's yeast. She says she takes a zillion supplements. I don't know her age but she looks good. She was carrying her little dog, Chippie. He had an operation this week but is doing well.

I walked about 2 miles RT on the lower Water Canyon Trail. My right foot felt good enough on the way out, which is slightly downhill. On the way back, as I got within about 1/2 mile from the trailhead, I had to be very careful not to walk too fast or else it would have caused pain. I'm icing my foot now.

I Wasn't Fair

I wrongly doubted the intentions of the staff at Dr. Sauer's office. They called me back this afternoon and said that Dr. Sauer looked at the cd of my right foot x-ray and it was fine. I explained to them that I had just been concerned to make sure they got the cd after going to the effort of faxing a request for it. I thanked his office for calling me back. Anyway, all's well that ends well!

Self-Frazzled

The noon water aerobics had a substitute instructor. He was nice and tried hard but I didn't get as good a workout as from Stephanie. As one part of the workout, he had us do a very repetitive routine with dumbbells. That was good but the rest of the routine intense enough. In part, this is because there were so many people in the class that it's hard to maneuver around them. The other part is that he didn't include any intervals (but nobody's perfect)! It was nice of him to substitute for Stephanie.

Afterwards, I went to the shallow end and water walked 1/2 mile or 18 laps, across the short length of the pool. I think my style needs work as it was hard on my hips because I used too long a stride length and jutted my butt out. That took about 35 minutes. The idea of the water walking is to get my feet ready to exercise walk on land again.

Tomorrow I have an eye exam so I'll just do an exercise dvd in the morning before the appointment. Wednesday, I'll do the shallow water workout in the evening. Thursday and Friday, I'll be back to the noon class and hopefully Stephanie will be back.

I'm not at all sure about getting orthotics from Dr. Sauer's office. This afternoon, I had called the UNM Clinics Film Library to ask if the cd of my right foot x-ray had ever been sent to Dr. Sauer and was told it had been sent on October 16. I then called Dr. Sauer's office and they had no record of receiving it so I called the Film Library again and he tracked the package, giving me all the details regarding the delivery, including who in Dr. Sauer's office signed for it.

When I called Dr. Sauer's office back, suddenly they admitted they had received the x-ray but it was still in the envelope as Dr. Sauer hadn't had time to look at it yet. That wasn't why I was calling, just to check-up on if he looked at it, but what I was trying to do was to follow-up that they had actually received it since the last time I saw Dr. Sauer, they hadn't. This incident gives me a bad feeling like I've done something wrong and I get the distinct feeling that his office staff just considers me a bother. I feel like they told me they hadn't received it when they knew they did because they were afraid that I was going to ask if he had looked at it yet.

More Hopeful Today

Tonight I walked part way toward the Los Alamos Airport and back - almost one mile per the step counter but probably really did walk a whole mile all together if I count the walking up and down the block while monitoring the water hose that was running full blast under the spruce tree - watered the street anyway!

It would be good if, before the appointment with Dr. Miller next week, I could walk a full 2 miles. Six weeks ago, I could walk about 2 miles before the foot pain would begin.

I'm not entirely pain free and can't really give all this rehabilitation effort a fair evaluation until I can try a longer walk. Will work up to it by next Tuesday.

Daughter and son in law enjoyed trip to Durango, Colorado. Apparently it's a very liberal town and much support of Obama was in evidence during McCain's visit on Friday! Spouse joked that with all we've lost in the stock market crash, we could have bought a condo at Durango Mountain Resort!

Recovery Lasted One Day

I was so happy yesterday when I tried a mini-hike ( probably less than a quarter mile) and it seemed that my right heel and medial instep wasn't hurting. I used two ski poles and only took careful steps.

This morning in White Rock, I walked from the White Rock branch of Mesa Public Library, crossed Rover and started down a gravelled path that runs beside Cañada del Buey. I hardly went very far at all, less than a couple of blocks, and realized that there was the same "twisting" feeling in my right hindfoot and that it was causing pain under my medial arch and in my ankle. I used my ski poles for support but that didn't seem to make any difference.

This is very disheartening. It's been 6 weeks since I've exercise walked or hiked. I'm wondering about the suitability of the Dean Karnazes SOLE heat moldable insoles for faster paced walking. They are very comfortable and very supportive to wear around the house but, once before when I tried walking to the end of our block, they seemed less comfortable when using a normal, brisk walking gait. The green Superfeet seemed more comfortable.

I was in White Rock to go to the Jemez House Thrift Shop to look for more ski poles but didn't realize they close at noon on Saturday. I missed that deadline by 1/2 hour. Then I went to the White Rock Mesa Public Library to check the non- return box.

I drove to the Española Walmart Supercenter instead of driving to Santa Fe. I bought some foot related items, including an Mueller adjustable ankle support, a PediFix arch bandage and a MediTemp ice pack. Both the ankle support and the arch bandage are too tight, even though they are one size fits all. I'm evaluating the ice pack (one treatment for tendon damage is to ice it and this was suggested by Dr. Sauer to help the posterior tibial tendon heal).

This evening, I also tried out the Hapad posting heel wedges and the longitudinal metatarsal arch pads. I'm trying to recycle all the Hapad Comf-Orthotic Sports Replacement insoles that I have by modifying them with the Hapad pads to make them more supportive. The posting heel wedges seem to work well but I couldn't get the arch pads to be comfortable so I may need a smaller size.

Tomorrow I'll try a mini-hike using the green Superfeet. I really am not overdoing it but need to have some normal, brisk walking to evaluate how the foot is doing so I can report that to Dr. Miller on November 4.

Wild Woman Wishes to Embrace World

Today I brought the Tina Turner "Simply the Best" cassette to water aerobics class because Stephanie plays music on Thursdays. Everyone seemed to like it. They thanked me and the instructor for the music.

Fortunately for them, I didn't have a whole lot of breath leftover for singing although I got in a few breathless lyrics. Certain songs made me want to exercise like crazy while others were forgettable. Her "Tina Turner Greatest Hits" cd is better but I didn't want to bring a cd to class - I'll stick to cassettes.

Kate might bring in a Ricky Skaggs album one day. This afternoon I'm previewing various cassettes to determine how fun they'd be in water aerobics class.

I sure am going to miss the class when I finally start walking and my pass expires! My skin, however, won't miss it. Right now I'm stinging from all the places where I've scratched myself to death. I'm not sure if it's the chlorine or the coconut oil. I'll wash the chlorine off thoroughly tomorrow (usually I just give myself a rinse) and apply the coconut oil and if I still feel itchy, I should switch to the olive oil next week.

I saw Barbara swimming laps at the deep end. She's the one I always run into at the library. She went for a dip in the therapy pool afterwards. She told me she's hard of hearing in both ears and should wear hearing aids but doesn't.

I ate 3 squares of unsweetened chocolate this morning, spread with peanut butter and topped with a medjool date. Chocolate is like speed for me so I'm fairly supercharged at this point. Problem with it is that you have to keep taking the addictive substance every day because otherwise, you crash the next day. Unfortunately, I'm out of chocolate so it will be black tea tomorrow. Hmmm...I do have some cocoa! : )

I'm so supercharged that I'd like to just keep typing and typing but either I've ran out of things to say or I don't remember what I wanted to say!

I know, I know...I watched the PBS show, American Masters last night. It featured the life and career of Charles Schulz, the Peanuts creator. This was a complex man and I'd like to read a biography of him one day. He died of colon cancer at age 77, in part because he didn't believe in getting regular checkups. (I'm glad now that I have scheduled a colonoscopy.) After having a stroke and the colon cancer, he had decided to put away his pen and end the Peanuts comic strip. He died at home, in bed, while his wife thought he was napping. She commented in an interview that she was amazed at how he had managed to die the day before the last Peanuts comic strip was to appear.

Passage Through Autumn

I drove up to Pajarito Mountain Ski Area to see Fall before it passes me by. I enjoyed seeing the blazing baby aspens along Camp May Road. I was amused by a chipmunk pair that leapt from boulder to boulder, disappeared under my car, and then chased each other through the golden grass at the Los Alamos County Camp May Park. The sun was very bright and I got warm in the car even though the outside air was chilly. When I stepped outside the car briefly, my breath created smoke. How cold does it have to be for that to happen?

It was with regret that I left to drive back home. When I started back, the sun was low over the top of Pajarito Mountain and the lower ski slopes were in shadow. I drove very slowly in low gear on the way down, not wishing to leave the mountains and the beauty of the autumnal colors. I was filled with intense longing, wishing to be traipsing through the golden grass alongside Camp May Road.

I read a newspaper article today about children nowadays not getting outdoors enough and spending too much time on the computer and in the thrall of electronic playmates. The author fondly reminisced about how in his youth, he hardly ever spent time indoors if he could help it. He referred to himself and his buddies as semi- feral children. That's what I felt like as I took a "Sunday drive" down Camp May Road and watched as all my former haunts (pre-foot injury) rolled by me - semi-feral, longing to abandon the car and disappear into the forest.

It's important, though, that I heal as well as I can and when I resume hiking, that I go about it in an intelligent way - use hiking poles, don't ever hike on a foot that hurts, get orthotics, and get supportive hiking boots for the rough hiking that has infected my blood and for which I hunger right now.

I did see a truck parked at Camp May and I inwardly blessed whoever it was that was lucky enough to be trekking the mountain when I couldn't. I'll be back, though, hiking those mountains one day!

Need Foot Transplant

Just kidding but that may be easier than getting my foot to heal. Dr. Sauer took the time to study the MRI, along with Dr. Lee, a radiologist. He concurs with Dr. Miller that I don't have a calcaneal stress fracture.

As a side note, he says I have a ganglionic cyst which is somehow connected with the posterior tibial tendonitis. He's not worried about that.

He says wait to get the orthotics until the foot is healed and suggests a cast or cast/boot to rest the foot. I'm going to research cast boots. Dr. Miller says that he'll put on an air cast/boot if it's not healed by November 4 (it isn't). Dr. Sauer could also outfit me with a cast boot but his looks much like the monstrosity that Walgreen Home Options has. Dr. Sauer says it might heal in a month if I wear the cast. He says that the removable casts often don't work because people only wear them 50% of the time. I don't want a real cast because then I can't even go to water aerobics. One advantage of getting the cast boot in Los Alamos is that if there are problems or adjustments with it, I could go in to see Dr. Sauer. Guess I could do that also with the air cast/boot from Dr. Miller - have Dr. Sauer follow me. Then, what's the point of going to Albuquerque?

Next week I'm going to start going to the Therapy Fun and Fitness on Monday-Wednesday-Friday because I read that doing range of motion (ROM) movements in a hot shower is a good thing. The warm therapy pool might help me to heal. Dr. Sauer also suggested ibuprofen and ice. Everything I read, though, says ice is best in the first 72 hours of an injury and that time period is long past. He says no stretching or strengthening but I was reading that for rotator cuff tendonitis, stretching and strengthening help the healing process as long as no pain is caused. I'm not going to take ibuprofen. I will stretch and strengthen in the Therapy Fun and Fitness class and the water aerobics.

All this infuriates me because in the meantime, while I'm not doing any weight-bearing exercise, my bones are going to decay. Only thing to do about that is to make sure I do some seated and floor weight lifting to try to maintain my bones.

Kick Butt Water Aerobics Workout!

As I was going into the Walkup Center today, I saw a woman who's in the water aerobics class and she said that yesterday's workout, which I missed because of the chimney sweep coming out, had "accelerators" which are 2 minutes fast intervals.

Stephanie, our water aerobics instructor, did the accelerators again today and all I can say is "Oh, baby!!" These fast intervals are just what I need to feel alive and what I should have added all along to my former land-based exercise routine. I'm going to enjoy these accelerators because they are an aerobic challenge and good exercise.

The hardest accelerator is the one where we pretend we are on a bicycle, with no assistance from our hands - we hold them out of the water like we're holding a bicycle steering wheel - going up and downhill. On the uphill, we bicycle our legs slower but with bigger circles which creates more resistance and on the downhill we bicycle with smaller, faster circles. I didn't think it was possible to overheat in the water but my face felt hot! Needless to say, I didn't bother with swimming laps afterwards as I was exercised thoroughly enough during the class today!

The teacher was late. It turned out that she has a gas leak at her house. She said she wondered why she was getting headaches. She didn't have time to bring out the boom box poolside to play music, a Thursday tradition, but she will next week.

Twice this week, high school ROTC members have taken up half of "our" deep end during part of our class. They practice jumping in in their clothes and retrieving an object from the bottom of the pool.

There's a woman in the class who has taught water aerobics and, even though she's overweight, she is very, very fast. I complimented her on that. She has plantar fasciitis and likes Dr. Blake, another podiatrist who comes up to the medical center.

Coincidentally, I found a book on water fitness in the Mesa Public Library non-return shelves today. Even more coincidentally, it was from the Walkup Center, having LRWAC written on the cover (the full name of the Walkup Center is the Larry R. Walkup Aquatic Center, named in honor of a Los Alamos County recreation director who died at a young age)! It's more about swimming for fitness, though, than water aerobics.