My Dogs are Barking!

No, no new animals at our house....I'm talking about my feet! I've been suffering from Plantars Faciiatis for more than a month now and its debilitating at times. Its worst when I first get out of bed and try to put my feet on the ground. Some times I feel like I will lose my footing all together and fall, the pressure on my feet hurts that much.

I haven't been able to run and I'm wearing my running shoes for extra support from the moment I get out bed in the morning, to the moment I get back in bed at night. It's exhausting and I'm crabby about it. Nothing is worse that when your feet hurt. On top of the Plantar's, my Bunions are killing me. They even started hurting before the Plantar's but since that pain has been so intense, I'm trying not to complain about both. They hurt to the touch- constantly... and feel almost like I pulled a muscle in each big toe.

I decided last week that I needed to see a doctor and do something about this, to be sure I hadn't a caused permanant damage, etc.

I went to a local Podiatrist that is the husband of a friend of mine from St. Matts. Everyone loves him and he's great. SO great, I had to wait an hour to see him.

He did XRays, an exam, and came back with a diagnosis and a plan.....

My feet are bad. I have beautiful arches without any pressure on them and then my feel go very flat when standing.

One leg is slightly longer than the other ( weird)

I have heel spurs in both feet

You could see the inflamed Faciia band in the XRay and you usually can't

my big toes are way out of alignment and this doctor questioned the bunionectomy work I had done in 1999. Uggg!

He said he was surprised I could run at all.

While surgery on my bunions may be the overall result, he hopes that is years away and wants to do all he can before we reach that decision.

Here's the plan....

Lots of Stretching. All day long, especially before and after runs

6 days of Prednisone! 6 pills the first day, 5 the second, 4 the 3rd, etc for 6 DAYS! Yikes! Not happy about it I was on Prednisone lastsummer and it made me alittle crazy, literally. The doctor is concerned by the amount of Advil I have been taking and doesn't want me to take anymore as it could affect my kidneys. his thought is we can reduce some of the inflammation and give me alittle relieve faster.

I am wearing temporary arch supports for the next week. My feet were taped and I can slide this sock-like thing on and off each day to offer additional support.

I'm being seen again next week and they will custom build an orthotic insert that will give additional arch support and hopefully position my feet in such a way that I can give my feet a break and begin to feel some relief.

Never a dull moment here. I'll keep you updated!