Archive for the ‘Foot issues’ Category

I’m back… I’m nationwide?

Posted: October 9, 2012 in diabetes, Disney, Exercise, Food porn, Foot issues, Physical activity, Stubby the Wonder Toe, Supportive Partner Woman, Travel
0

Greetings!

I know, its been quite awhile. I started writing this from the laundry room of Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort. I know… I go to such interesting places on vacation. What can I say? It’s a gift.

So, it’s been about a month since I scribbled anything down. Just been crazy busy at Chez T and, well, just nothing really interesting to report. Done some stumbling recently, food-wise, not a serious backslide, but enough that my last doctor visit resulted in just a one-pound loss. In a month. Granted, I wasn’t working out like crazy… trying to keep the tempo down to prepare for our trip. Fat lot of good that did me.

See, after one day of serious walking, with preventative measures in places (Stubby cocooned in moleskin, his counterpart wearing a gel pad), I get a freakin’ blister NEXT TO THE GEL PAD!!!! This, as you can imagine, did not make me happy. Especially not with five days to go.

Supportive Partner Woman (de facto nurse of unparalleled skill!) then decreed an easier pace and began a regimen of rubbing my feet with ammonium lactate cream, which, according to the surgeon, is good stuff. This, coupled with Betadyne and gauze and a lot of moleskin, really enabled me to stay upright. It’s the one blessing of neuropathy… I can’t feel the pain of a blister. Looking back, I thing the problem was due to the crazy high humidity. It made the air chewy and we usually wound up with two showers a day.

So, for us a vacation to Disney World is more about the friends and the food than anything else. We paid two visits to Ohana for meeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaat on a stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick! There’s an art to eating somewhat healthier at Ohana… that is to view it as a high protein meal. Just keep in mind that when the nice server brings a sizzling skewer of dripping meat, he or she will automatically adjust your request by a factor of three. So, if you would, in fact, like one more piece of steak, make sure you have friends to share it with, because you’re getting three giant pieces.

The food at Ohana is not bad… you start with the Ohana welcome bread, which is a sweet Hawaiian style bread that has a touch of pineapple flavor. Then you get a salad, which would be better with less dressing. It’s positively drowning. I’m pretty sure I saw a lettuce shred clinging desperately to a life ring as its mates all drowned in the Vinaigrette Sea.

The staff follows this with the chicken wings and dumplings. I’m not a huge fan of wings to start with and these are just meh, so I usually pass on them. The dumplings are awesome, though, and it takes a great deal of self-restraint to not totally strap on the feed bag. This is followed with the greens, which consist of snow peas and broccoli that are well prepared. The share a plate with some tasty lo mien.

After the BS is dispensed with, it’s on to the main event. The meat. See, Disney wants you to believe that Ohana means family, but in reality, Ohana means meat. Lots of meat. Lots and lots of meat. We’re talking meat with a capital MEAT. The room is dominated but an open wood fire cooking giant skewers of steak, chicken, pork and shrimp. I love the shrimp. It has a nice level of spiciness without being too much to numb the palate. The steak has a wonderful marinade… not sure what all is in it, other than garlic, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. Makes it very bold.

The chicken is pedestrian… not a ton of flavor, probably kept mild for people who don’t care for spice. The pork, though, is not that great. It’s usually a little overcooked and the BBQ sauce is way too sweet for my palate. I think the open fire is simply too hot and dries out the meat. Pork, IMHO, should be done low and slow with just enough sear on the outside to keep the juices in. Here’s a view of the cooking fire in action:

After the gorging is over, they hit you with dessert. They bring a banana bread pudding topped with vanilla ice cream. If that’s not enough, they will dump an Exxon Valdez sized load of caramel sauce on top. I’m lucky, though… since I have dietary restrictions, they usually bring me a nice plate of fresh fruit.

I will provide more food details over the next few days, but suffice it to say that even with all the food, I still managed to lose 2.5 pounds while away. So, not a total loss.

Talk to you again tomorrow.

Song of the Day: Gangnam Style – PSY
Currently Reading: The Tombs – Clive Cussler

Good thing Buzz Lightyear didn’t say “To xfinity… and beyond!”

Posted: August 29, 2012 in Comcast, Cooking, Customer service, Foot issues, Stubby the Wonder Toe, Xfinity
2

I got to spend some time this morning on the horn with Comcast. For the most part, I don’t have a lot of complaints… at least not regarding the internet. The service is fast, affordable and generally reliable. It helps that we are located between the big scary Lancaster office, and the much smaller, quieter, and friendlier Elizabethtown office. We also have phone service with them and that, too, is generally reliable. Today? Not so much. I was trying to call our eye doctor to schedule our annual exams and *BANG*, no dial tone. I pull out my cell phone and call them, actually speak to a live person. He gets the phone all squared away, then I ask about the problems we’ve been having with the net… dropping out, slow, etc. He starts to say he can help, then AT&T drops the call. Grrrrr.

Near as I can tell, the issue is with the new cable modem. I’m thinking that even though it’s recommended by Comcast, it’s the culprit. Maybe it’s blind loyalty to the trusty old Linksys, but the SURFboard seems to like to pop on and off at random intervals. This does not make me happy… I have the AirPort app on my iPhone and iPad and I can usually see that it’s disconnected but when you need to power cycle it, well, that’s a pain in the butt. I’m going to try to call Comcast again tomorrow and see if there’s anything they can do for me.

Today was fruitful in the gym as well. I made it to Hempfield and hit the elliptical for a half hour and did some weight training. I did a whole body interval on the elliptical that involved going backwards. I didn’t go too fast, keeping it around 100 steps per minute, but I didn’t fall over. I’m taking that as a good sign. It just felt so right to be back there and sweating. I know I still have a long way to go until I’m fit, but I will get there. As I stressed before, my immediate goal is not to figuratively die at Disney next month.

Oh, and a yoga update. Supportive Partner Woman (possessor of better flexibility than I!) has been doing this BodyFlow stuff, which is combination pilates, tai chi and yoga. She was showing me some of the poses and I’m not sure I’ll have the balance to handle it, since Stubby has a negative effect on balance for me. Maybe I should just make sure I get started on mats so I don’t kill myself during the inevitable tumbles. Am I scared about it? No, not scared. Perhaps a little apprehensive.

So, folks… that’s the score. I’m doing some training the rest of the week at work, which is a good thing, and my trainee seems to really be liking the subject matter. I’ll take that as a victory.

Talk to you soon!

Song of the Day: Basket Case – Green Day
Currently Reading: 56 – Kostya Kennedy

Quote of the Day:

Your body is the baggage you must carry through life. The more excess the baggage, the shorter the trip. – Arnold H. Glasgow

Back on the field

Posted: August 28, 2012 in Exercise, Foot issues, Physical activity, Stubby the Wonder Toe, Weight loss
0

Hey everyone!

The Boot of Shame

What a difference a couple of days make. I was bemoaning my lot in life and talking about a reboot, then I went to the podiatrist yesterday and received some good news. It really made me that much happier, but I am out of the Boot of Shame. This doesn’t mean I’m full court back into the treadmill life. Dr. Miller wants me to stick to low impact stuff for another week or so, give the newly grown skin a chance to strengthen. I was, however, allowed to go back to the elliptical and arc trainers. So, yay me!

Since Stubby the Wonder Toe is out of the Boot, Dr. Miller still recommended cushioning him and, well, he gave me a little padded cuff to put around Stubby. It makes him look like he’s wearing a little g-thug hat. The only downside is that Stubby isn’t quite long enough to wear the padded bandage well, so I’ll stick to moleskin and gauze for cushioning.

I hit the gym today and Ryan had me doing a solid 25 minutes of cardio and working it the entire time. It was only 25 minutes as I had an appointment with the dietician as well. We did 10 minutes on the elliptical, another 10 minutes on the X-Ride and closed with five minutes on the arc. It felt good. I didn’t quite realize how much I missed it, but I started noticing my energy level being down the past couple of weeks.

Anyways, Shauna (dietician) is pleased that even with all that’s been going on, I’ve managed to lose 2.7 pounds. She wants to see me another time before SPW and I go on vacation. I know I can do better, but honestly, as bad a week as I’ve had in terms of food and exercise, I expected to gain weight.

I came home, fired up the grill and cooked up some chicken breast to take for dinner. I made some brown rice to go along with it, accompanied by peas (because it’s the only frozen vegetable I have at the moment. I also made some veggie flatbread pizza for lunch… this time topped with tomato (including one of our own!), mushroom asnd turkey bacon. Turned out pretty good. Shauna suggested that I try turkey pepperoni… thinks I might like it better than the bacon.

One of the other blogs I follow on wordpress, Fat Teacher, has a feature that I’m thinking of borrowing… the author likes to share a song of the day and also what she is reading. It’s a nice way to get a few things out there, and, knowing the music I like, prove how old school I am. So, look for that in future posts.

It’s about time to head off to work… hope I can write some more tomorrow.

Song of the Day: Stone in Love – Journey
Currently Reading: 56 – Kostya Kennedy

Quote of the Day:

It’s kind of fun to do the impossible – Walt Disney

That feeling’s back

Posted: August 16, 2012 in Doctors and Dentists and Nurses... oh my!, Exercise, Foot issues, Futility, Physical activity, Stubby the Wonder Toe, Walking
2

Morning.

I’d say “Good morning”, but I’d be lying.

I got home from work last night and removed my shoes and socks, only to discover that I had a blister. A big blister. Right on the bottom of Stubby the Wonder Toe. A large piece of skin had sloughed off and, well, it wasn’t particularly pretty. I was tempted to post a picture, but Supportive Partner Woman (photo critic!) put the kibosh on that. You can thank her later.

GAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

This has my feelings of frustration and futility measuring off the charts. I’ve been doing this for months and no sign of a blister. I was even at the foot doctor yesterday and he didn’t see anything. The toe was fine when I took a shower yesterday, but somehow, while I was at work, I get a blister the approximate size of Los Angeles County and I didn’t even go for a walk. It’s enough to drive you to drink.

My first thought was, “What’s the point?” Why the hell am I doing all this work? I’ll just get another blister, and another, and another. I’ll never reach my goals. This was followed by a general thought of just bailing on our vacation and letting SPW go by herself. I’m sure if I tried that, she’d hurt me.

These feelings are followed immediately by that sense of loathing. Like Stubby is an actual person instead of a toe. I know I joke that my toe has adopted a gangsta personality, but in reality, it’s just a toe. But I hate this toe so much right now. I hate it more than I hate peanut butter. I DESPISE peanut butter. I even confess to wanting to go to the garage get a saw, and take the whole foot off. Then I can’t get any blisters on the toe, right? Yeah… I didn’t think that was an option.

So, what do I do? I emailed my trainer who is sadly off for a long weekend, and I guess the gym is right out for now. I’ll have to rock the Boot of Shame for a while and just have to keep my calories down if I want to make any progress. I see Rachel, the CRNP extraordinaire on Monday… maybe she’ll have some suggestions. I can’t let the blister stop me, though… I’ve come too far for that. Maybe this is nature’s way of telling me I was working too hard. When this heals up, and it will heal up, perhaps I just start using moleskin every day and padding the hell out of my toe. I don’t know. But I’m going to find out.

Hope you have a better day than mine has started out to be.

Upcoming challenges

Posted: July 23, 2012 in Doctors and Dentists and Nurses... oh my!, Exercise, Foot issues, Penn State, Weight loss
0

Happy Monday. OK, maybe not quite happy.

As I write this, I’m waiting to see what penalties the NCAA will hand down to Penn State. As an alum, it’s been a rough couple of months and while I’m not quite ready to add my $0.02 to the piling on, I will at some point. My only comment for the moment is that I find it incredibly ironic that an organization as morally bereft as the NCAA sees fit to pass a moral judgement on anyone or anything. That’s like having Ted Bundy sitting on the Supreme Court and weighing in on the eighth amendment.

So, moving on to the meat of the day’s post, it should prove to be an interesting day.

Why?

I woke up with an incredibly stiff back and while my ankles have stopped hurting, my hips are aching like crazy and I have my Monday morning ass-kicking to contend with. Post ass-kicking, it’s time to visit Dr. Doogie the dentist to get work done on both sides of my upper teeth. I should be slurring and drooling like crazy.

It would be so easy to call in and say I’m going to cancel the days appointment. So incredibly easy. But I can’t. I’ve come this far and I can’t do that because I’ve spent a lot of years quitting when it got too hard. I tend to take the easy way out a lot… I’m always looking for ways to make life a little easier and I can get very pissy when it’s not. I guess I’m a lazy bones at heart. But lately that’s changed. Even yesterday, as much as it hurt to get moving, I did. Maybe I didn’t go for a walk or anything like that, but I did SOMETHING. I made a big batch of chili for the week and made dinner for Supportive Partner Woman (eater of zucchini). My outlook now is not as lazy but more determination to succeed and get to my goals. I’ve actually felt more like I’m giving my body parts the Knute Rockne speech.

 we’re gonna get ‘em on the run, we’re gonna go, go, go, go! — and we  aren’t going to stop until we go over that goal line! And don’t forget,  men — today is the day we’re gonna win.

For whatever reason that speech has stuck with me ever since the first time I watched Rudy;

There is a goal line ahead of me… it’s going to be a long drive, but I have the clock on my side and one helluva team. Thy are the ones who make it possible. It is kind of like a football team when you think about it. The medical staff is the coach, they show me how to do it, my family and friends are my teammates and you, the readers, are the cheerleaders and fans, offering all that support that makes it possible to succeed.

It’s first and 10, folks… and the first play is to get to the gym.

We’ll huddle up afterward.

Thursday lament

Posted: July 19, 2012 in diabetes, Exercise, Foot issues, Stubby the Wonder Toe, The Beetus, Weight loss
3

It was Thursday… that means a session with Ryan and Cory. I’m really starting to get used to the schedule. I go in, do 20 minutes of cardio, lift for a while, then finish with 10 more minutes of cardio.

Today was no different… except I tried some different programs on the treadmill, the arc trainer and the elliptical. Random hills or intervals. Just trying to break up the monotony. I noticed something, though… the more I do this, the easier it is to do 60 minutes. Today I was shocked when my time was done. It only felt like half an hour had elapsed.

I need to do something about my shoes, though. See, one of the issues with diabetes is that it does a number on the nerves in your feet. This is not just referring to neuropathy, but also pronation. This has caused my feet to flatten out and spread. Couple with poor circulation which makes the feet swell and finding a new pair of sneakers is a tough job.

Typical diabetic sneaker. Nice Velcro.

I’m a big fan of New Balance footwear… have been for ten years. They make a shoe that is wide enough to fit my foot comfortable and give some great support. After I had the issues with Stubby the Wonder Toe, the docs recommended getting diabetic friendly athletic shoes. I had looked at some of them and they were butt-ugly, no color or anything. Typical. It seems that if you aren’t the perfect size, you are out of luck when it comes to decent apparel. Same thing obviously goes for diabetes. I dug in my heels and did my research. I found that New Balance had a line of diabetic friendly footwear.

The running shoes I wound up with. Much more stylish.

Supportive Partner Woman (super supportive!) and I went to the nearest New Balance store and found that there were some much nicer options available. Options that didn’t entail Velcro closures. I found a pair that I liked and promptly found them on Amazon for 1/2 the price. After some teething problems (read: blister) I grew very accustomed to these shoes and have worn the hell out of them going on 18 months. I bought a new pair of cross trainers that didn’t fit well and that was because my circulation had been so poor that my feet were swelling so much I could barely fit in the new ones.

Lately, thanks to the gym time, my feet aren’t swelling nearly as bad, and now I need to consider placing the cross trainers back in circulation. Only problem is I have cannibalized them, taking the insoles and the laces and using them in the running shoes. I plan on picking up some new laces and changing the insoles yet again as I’ve noticed the soles of the running shoes are nearly worn through.

Did I do the right thing in refusing to get diabetic sneakers? I don’t know. I just couldn’t see myself in these ugly shoes. By making diabetic shoes that unappealing, it’s like a stigma. We don’t all have one foot in the grave. I chose to go with something with more pizzazz. I liked them. One other choice I made was to go with a sturdy pair of Merrell hiking shoes as my other go-to shoes. They keep my feet warm and dry in the winter and have plenty of support. Not the best choice for general summer wear, but what can you do?

One more note. WTF is up with Sports Authority not carrying wide-width shoes? I was told by the “helpful” sales associate that not many people have wide feet. Seriously? They do have them available on the website, but what good does that do? I won’t buy a pair of shoes without trying that brand/model to see how it fits my feet.

On that note, I’ll let you go. Got a busy weekend ahead visiting the Philadelphia Zoo with the Magic Meets crew and having a group dinner at Jack’s Firehouse.

Newer Entries