A Lift, a Lie, and a Luxury

My orthotic shoe inserts are finally ready! I went on Tuesday to pick them up from the podiatrist who I am NOT using for my surgery. I was so excited for the appointment. These inserts are a major investment and should go a long way towards keeping my left foot from getting as painful as my right foot has. They are custom-made for my feet and will have the arch support and the pronation correction I need. When I arrived and slipped them into my shoes, they felt great. Wow. Major change in the tilt of my foot! This could really make a difference, keeping my foot from turning inward and stressing out the big toe joints with every step. I did notice, though, that where the orthotic ended, about 3/4 the length of my foot, the seam between it and my shoe was quite noticeable on the right foot. He said they could shave it off to a more gradual incline at the lab. Just let him know if it continues to bother me.
As excited as I was about picking them up, I was also feeling sheepish about not choosing Dr. L for my surgery. I had already told his nurse when she called to finalize the scheduling that I was not going to do it at this time. So I was hoping it just wouldn't come up. No such luck. As the appointment was ending, he said, "SO . . . see you next week for pre-op appointment, right?" Uh. I totally chickened out.  I should have said, "I got another opinion and decided to go with someone else." Instead, I just mumbled something about considering putting it off until I had a longer break off from school. He replied, "You know, there's never a good time. You just have to schedule it and do it. But . . . it's your foot!" Yes. It is. Content with that conversation and ready to be out of there, I started packing up to go, and he said, "See me back in two weeks to check the fit of those orthotics." YIKES. In two weeks I will be in my recliner with my foot up in the air. Giant bandages around a newly constructed foot with incision running all down the big toe. No hiding that! I told myself, "It will be okay. The orthotics will feel fine, and I just won't need a follow-up appointment."
Again, no such luck. The left orthotic feels fine, but I really think I need the right one adjusted. I don't mind sending it back to the lab, because after this week, I won't need it for a while anyway, as that's the foot that's having surgery. But that means I'm going to have to call the office and 'fess up tomorrow. I'll have to say that I need him to see me this week and send off this orthotic now, because I can't come in the following week. Even if I could just drop it off and tell him what I want done to it, I would have to go back in to try it on when it was ready. Honesty = always the best policy.
So there's the lift (the orthotic lifting my foot into correct position), and the lie . . . now for the luxury--I bought new shoes! The typical foot-owner cannot understand why this is so exciting, but to me, it's a major event. I've been trying to buy new shoes to replace my worn-out Born shoes for a LONG time. But when I go to the shoe store, everything just HURTS my feet, and I end up going home dejected and empty-handed. I was down to one pair of shoes I could wear--my tennies--and I was wearing them even to work with my professional clothes. Then I found out that Dr. Andrew Weil, one of my favorite health gurus, has worked with a podiatrist to develop a line of shoes! Here's the link: http://www.weilbeing.com/. And here's the video showing how they work: http://www.weilbeing.com/technology/. So I found a Dillards nearby that carries them and grabbed a friend whose feet also hurt, and we went comfort shoe shopping. By the time we had run those clerks ragged pulling every shoe in the store out of the back in two or three different sizes, I had found TWO pair of shoes that felt wonderful! One pair are Weil shoes, and the other are Borns. Here are the ones I got:

My New Weil Balance Shoes

My new Born Quinces

8 days until surgery!  And I have LOTS to do to get ready.  Better stop blogging and get to work!