Podiatrist #2

[cjsmith]

This one says: that's nerve pain ya got there. There's definitely also some inflammation, and some minor tenderness related to the joints themselves. But the major problem comes when the nerves are compressed directly. She was very good at it.

I'm surprised my nerves have so much life left in them, frankly.

Some mechanical things that may be contributing: my very low fourth metatarsal (no padding), my slight hammertoes (no spreading out the load), my orthotics (hard plastic with no shock absorption whatsoever).

She says that sclerosing treatments for Morton's neuroma were tried and given up on "because they work for some people and not for others" decades ago, but are experiencing a resurgence now. I think she meant to imply that they were useless. If they do work for some people, though, I'm still glad I tried that first, because it's both easier and less drastic than surgery.

I now have big fluffy metatarsal pads stuck to my orthotics. There is barely enough room inside my shoes for my feet. I also have a prescription for Yet Another Anti-Inflammatory -- woohoo, collect the whole set. And she says ice it a LOT. A lot a lot.

Intriguingly enough, the pain is different with this pad under my foot. Different spots ache. Seems to me mechanics do play a role. This leads me to believe that if the mechanical problems could be fixed or worked around I'd be fine. The doctor didn't say that, though.

Followup in two weeks. I see dollar signs floating in front of my eyes.

Comments

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I see dollar signs floating in front of my eyes.

*hugs* Too bad they're not floating toward you.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Maybe I could just wrap my feet in hundreds.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Yikes. I hope the pads continue to give you some relief. Poor feet. Poor wallet.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

If I can ever run again it will all be worth it. If not, well, I'll just look stupid.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

You won't look stupid to me CJ. No matter how things turn out. To me, you look courageous, in a quiet and un-self-aggrandizing way.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Bill. I'm just someone who doesn't know the right answer.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure any of us know the right answers CJ. At least you're not letting the lack of answers paralyze you with indecision.

[melanie.livejournal.com]

sheesh, i bet you *are* getting tired of this. no wonder.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Fifteen months last Friday. I no longer say "I'm a runner" because it's simply no longer true. I say "I used to be a runner."

[melanie.livejournal.com]

ouch. :(

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah. But I'm doing all this in the hopes that I can run again. If I had no hope of that, I really wouldn't bother. I'd just grit my teeth. So in a sense all this effort is good -- the doctors haven't told me improvement is impossible.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

I also have a prescription for Yet Another Anti-Inflammatory -- woohoo, collect the whole set.

what, you don't HAVE the whole set yet? i'll swap you some Mobic and Bextra for whatever you have that i don't. ;-)

taking the least dangerous/invasive route first is always a good idea. why kill a gnat with a bomb when a flyswatter will do?

i hope the new, different foot pain is just your feet adjusting to the new, different positioning. PT causes me freaking boatloads of pain, but they keep promising that it's good, 'cause it means we're working the right things. rumor is that eventually, the right stuff will feel good and the wrong stuff will feel bad.

{{{hugs}}}

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

This one's Voltaren, and I've got Celebrex and Bextra at home. Think I could set up a side business as a pharmacy?

Good luck with your PT. From what I've heard, when PT is needed it *really* hurts. I hope you see some improvement soon.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

ah, Voltaren. that was my first. we were together a long time. *wistful sigh*

at the doc's urging, i gave that all up for trilisate. what a mistake! i had a horribly violent weekend fling with trilisate, after which i vowed NEVER AGAIN.

but i'm one determined woman. i hurled myself straight into a series of short but intense stints with celebrex, vioxx, bextra and mobic. bastards, all of them. made all these wonderful promises in the early days, and then turned lazy and neglectful on me. of course each one promised to be better than the last, but each one lied.

now i've come full circle to not my old friend Voltaren, but a friend of his, lodine. i think it's a relationship of convenience. he's not doing much for me, but i don't have the heart to end it. codependency, i'm sure, but i've got bigger fish to fry right now, so we'll stay in this "i don't really like you but i sure don't hate you" thing for now.

and yeah, PT *hurts*. i might enjoy it more if i could get Kelly (the hawt PT Aide student) to wear a corset, fishnets and boots. and tie me up before i start my exercise. and use a violet wand rather than that wimpy machine. *wicked grin*

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I think you need to consider a new career in physical therapy. With a sense of humor like that, and the sartorial creativity, you'd have people flocking to your clinic!

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

nah. i'd have to go back to school. and be on my feet all day. and something tells me the old biddies who come in wouldn't appreciate my humor.

but i do call the different devices my "torture devices" and i'm always up front in telling them how much the baps board hates me. (the feeling is mutual)

now, if i could oversee the running of a facility with a very select clientel, well, now ... ;-)

(would i be allowed to bill those kinds of services to insurance?!)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

something tells me the old biddies who come in wouldn't appreciate my humor.

You could specialize in sports injuries, and get the young biddies. ;-)

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

i might enjoy it more if i could get Kelly (the hawt PT Aide student) to wear a corset, fishnets and boots. and tie me up before i start my exercise. and use a violet wand rather than that wimpy machine.

When I worked at a rehab hospital, the patients all swore the PTs were closet dom(me)s. You never know, she might just do it sometime. Last time I had PT I visualized my PT aide like that, too. Is there a rule that the PT aides have to be hawt?

Did mobic do anything for you? I was on it for awhile for my knee and it didn't do squat.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

Is there a rule that the PT aides have to be hawt?

i think just the young female ones. there's an older (40s-ish) woman there, too, and she's rather UNattractive.

i don't think mobic did anything, really. i think i would have increased pain if i quite anti-inflams altogether, but they don't provide anything close to "relief". that was the last of the new ones, and by that point i think i'd asked the doc to just prescribe M&Ms. (not to be confused with S&M, of course).

oh, i'm gonna get myself in trouble here, i just know it ...

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

I used to wonder if anyone used the equipment in the PT gym for, um, other activities ;-)

Yeah, the last aide I worked with was just out of school, maybe 23, and so damn cute!! I think it's a rule. There's a university on the south side of Indy that specializes in training PTs, so there's always a crop of young'uns around here.

I'm turning into a dirty old lady. Heh. It's about time!

Yeah, mobic didn't seem to do anything for me, but it was the first thing I was put on after naprosyn. We figured out that any anti-inflamitory was ripping up my GI tract, so I had to choose between my stomach and my knee. My stomach won, and my PT sessions actually helped.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

There's a university on the south side of Indy that specializes in training PTs, so there's always a crop of young'uns around here.

mmm, fresh young PTs, ripe for pickin'! and indy isn't that far away from Dayton ...

are fresh young PTs allowed on a vegetarian diet? this one, kelly, has all the makings for a good domme, or at least a killer girlfriend. now *I* feel like the dirty old woman!

i was given nexium with one of my fancy new anti-inflams, standard procedure, i think. it's lovely stuff. since i've run out, i've discovered exactly how well that worked. my new rheumatologist doesn't operate that way, so no more Happy Purple Pills for me.

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

Nexuim didn't work for me. I have GERD anyway, and even with Protonix it didn't help. They even 'scoped me to make sure I didn't have ulcers.

I really do need a body transplant. Hmmm, maybe I could talk one of those hawt PT aides into donating...

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

You know... seems like there have GOT to be some perverted PTs in the Bay Area. Where are they all?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I bet we could get a bunch of people to make a pact: whoever finds 'em first gives everyone references!

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

OK, when I get my head transplant, you get these feet. My feet are probably the only part of me that are in fine shape, other than being wide. I even have nice toenails for polish :-)

Did the hammertoe thing you tried do anything?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oo, pretty toenails! :-)

Yeah, it made my foot swell up noticeably. Oops.

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

I need to redo the polish. Al has 5 different colors of metalics, so I do each nail in a different color (of course, the feet are symmetrical in color order).

Have you had a chance to try any of the other stuff in that book you were talking about recently? In between flying to Death Valley and working and having a life, of course :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

(of course, the feet are symmetrical in color order).

Of course! I would (do it that way), too.

Yes, I've tried looking for trigger points and massaging them. I don't know whether it's helped. It's blindingly obvious that I do have, by this book's definition, trigger points that need work. That's believable and sane. But whether they are in fact related to my ball-of-foot pain is unclear. My left foot is pretty good, my right is still a mess, and I haven't the foggiest whether they'd be exactly like that *without* what I'd been doing. *sigh* :-)

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Well, I hope this helps, and that you don't have to go through as many podiatrists as I went through rheumatologists. :/

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm glad you found a good rheumatologist eventually.