Saturday, November 5, 2011

So Much Has Happened!

Where to start?

I went to a podiatrist on Tuesday morning.  The first thing they did was x-rays - I wondered what the heck another x-ray would do, until I realized these were weight bearing x-rays.  So I stood on my bad foot and let them take more pictures. 

The doctor came in and showed me the pictures.  It is kind of amazing to see what is happening to my foot.  It is not fractured, that is the good news.  However, I have bruised the bone...

What is happening is my arch is no longer supporting my weight - so when I put weight on my foot, my bones are starting to hyper-pronate, which means the foot is rolling inward.  This causes my metatarsals to hit against my talus bone (top of my foot) in a new and special, er, painful way.  He said we caught this early; many times it turns into arthritis.

Solution?  He said custom orthotics.  I asked how long it would take before I could run again.  He said as soon as I had my orthotics. 

So Thursday I went to have an impression made of my foot.  When I got there, I asked what the actual diagnosis code was on my prescription.  She looked it up and said, "huh, it says Black Heel."  I googled that and it is a skin condition on your foot where it turns black...not what is happening to me.  I realized it must be wrong. 

When I met with the orthotic specialist I told him I wasn't comfortable with the fact that the dx code was incorrect...could we find out more?  We talked about what was going on with my foot.

Turns out this guy treats a number of members from the local runners club.  He said he wasn't sure if I needed these orthotics - that maybe an over the counter insert he is very familiar with would work.  He found my doctor, talked it over with him and returned.

Solution - spend $20 on over the counter inserts (made by Spenco) before spending $300 on orthotics that might not work anyway...and are non-refundable.

He sent me to a drug store and I picked up a pair of the inserts.

I could not WAIT for Friday morning so I could try them out.

I made it an entire mile before it started hurting...then I walked home.  I had put the inserts in my minimalist shoes (Brooks Green Silence) and they have pretty much zero arch support...so while it was better than without, it was not quite right.

So combo #2 was up this morning.  Spenco inserts in my Brooks GTS 12s.  I had some pain while running but then it sort of went away.  My foot was even a little numb.  I decided to keep going and ran 2 miles.  The funny part is, once I've run, it hurts the rest of the day.  But while I'm running it is bearable. 

Because I know there will be long term effects until I get this figured out, I am back to the drawing board again.

So today I put together Combo #3.  Spenco Inserts with my Brooks GTS 12s, and an additional arch insert in my right shoe.

I plan to try Combo #3 in the morning.  I need to know what is going to work before I fly out Monday!  I am going to the hotel gym each morning, even if that means I only get to do the elliptical. 

I'm just so excited to be back out there somehow.  Even if right now my foot is hurting and I need to ice it again. :)

No pain no gain, right?

Or loss that is.

I did ok eating wise this week.  Not as bad as last week.  Not as good as it could have been.  I'm continuing to work through my head issues; did you know that those are never truly fixed?

You can adjust habits, get on a good roll, but you will always, always face challenges with food if you started off with food issues to begin with.

Does it get easier?  Sure!

But it is never something you're cured of.  Having lost 100 pounds in 2 years I definitely can attest to that.

Please know I mean for that to be informational, not discouraging.  I think its important for people to realize that this journey is not easy.

But it is SO worth it.

Going to try to post some outfit pictures this week.  Have done some shopping lately and found some awesome new duds.  I'm trying to buy things that I will be able to wear 20 pounds from now still.  I invested in a black blazer that will likely fit me forever. 

That is what makes it worth it. :)

Big hugs to all of you out there...will be better about blogging my updates this week!

~Clara

What I ate today:

Breakfast: Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
Lunch: Wendy's grilled chicken sandwich, small chili
PM snack: shared some Junior mints with my wee one
Dinner: Loaded Baked potato soup (homemade)
Dessert: healthy pumpkin muffins

Exercise:
ran 2 miles...and shopped shopped shopped!  Total of 2800 cals burned all day.

3 comments:

Anne said...

Hope your arch supports help! My tendinitis does that same thing where it hurts at first, then I can't feel it. Then, after I'm home, somedays I can hardly walk. Weird how that happens. I've been down with a migraine for four days. I'm feeling better tonight, so I'm anxious to get going again. Here's to both of us getting out there full steam tomorrow!!! :)

Burton W said...

Did you do something to your 'bad' foot to make it your bad foot, or was it just luck?

ClaraB said...

Hey Burton! I think a combination of changing to minimal support running shoes and wearing high heels every day for 6 months (when I rarely wore them for a few years) is what contributed to me developing a "bad" foot. It's actually giving me some new issues now, I'm going to see the doc again this week. Fun times! :) No pain, no gain, eh?