When I went to the podiatrist’s three weeks ago, for a checkup, she said No, I can’t get up in the night to go to the bathroom without wearing the boot.
Really? It’s just a few feet away.
My boot in its little pillowcase nightgown
No. “Boot on” with every step you take.
But, it’s really urgent, when I wake up at two, to get to the bathroom quickly.
Well, then, wear the boot overnight.
REALLY??
Oh, people do it all the time. Put a pillowcase over the boot and tie it on. It’ll be fine.
And, it actually was fine. It didn’t bother my sleeping at all. Really.
My next checkup was Wednesday. One way the podiatrist knows the status of this particular problem (Charcot foot) is by taking the temperature of both feet at different points (“exterior distal left ankle/exterior distal right ankle” or something like that). Because the right foot is the problem foot, its temperature may be higher at different areas because of swelling and inflamation. The podiatrist says that she likes the difference to be less than three degrees between feet. On Wednesday, my feet were stellar! At some points, the skin temperature was identical. Way to go, right foot! (And, in case you’re interested, I looked up Jean-Martin Charcot, who is renowned in the field of neurology.)
So, next, I can start wearing the regular diabetic shoe for: two hours the first day, three hours, the second day, four hours … and so on. By Christmas, I might just be walking around in two shoes, all day long, instead of walking around in the step/clonk mode of the last six weeks. (Sneaking around in a Walking Boot is pretty difficult. When Peter was here last week and I would try to walk softly down the wood floor hallway, before he woke in the morning, or was napping, it was right next door to impossible not to make noise.)
Peter was here last week, and there were photos in last week’s post. But, that went out last on Thursday, so you missed Friday:
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- A friend from next door came over to make Christmas cookies. There was cookie paint and sprinkles and, yes, yummy cookie dough.
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- And horseback riding
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- Peter put Christmas gifts under the tree.
And Saturday morning:
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- Jeremy’s childhood nativity scene was on the table. When Peter saw it, he took one look, and said, “ALIENS!!”
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- “No,” I said. “It’s a nativity scene. It’s Uncle Jeremy’s.” He picked up this poor shepherd and said, “Well, *this* is an alien!” “No, it’s a shepherd,” I said. *Skepticism*
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- “*Where’s* Baby Jesus?” “Right here.” More skepticism.
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- Peter searches for *something* that looks familiar . . .
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- He looks from all angles.
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- And finally recognizes the donkey. Whew.
You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
Isaiah 55:12 (NIV)
I’ve got lots of reasons to be joyful these days. And I am.
This verse has been set to music more than one way. I like this tune. There are other melodies set to these words, too. Also on YouTube.
Aliens – hilarious!!!! Glad to hear you will be back in shoes soon! Merry Christmas!
Yes, I’m looking forward to being able to cross my legs easily and go up and down stairs safely. But I must admit, I’m going to miss being able to park close to doors when I’m out running errands. Meanwhile, I’m trying to decide whether to arrange the aliens under the tree or or the table.
Great news about your foot. You are such a great patient!
So many precious memories with Peter. Your blog will serve as a great storybook for him in the future. I hope you have hard copies in addition to digital formats of your adventures.
I hadn’t thought about printing them out for a book. That’s a good idea. I’ll start doing that (and go back, too).