Loni's Life

The plantar fasciitis seems to be under decent control.  Only some low-level twinges first thing in the morning spiking to some Level 6's if I have been running around town on it all day.  Under control with some Rx anti-inflammatories and custom orthotics.    During the unpacking, I uncovered my alternate set of custom orthos, so those are in for refurbishing while I am in my other set.   

Plantar fasciitis (say "PLAN-ter fash-ee-EYE-tus") – or my term is PF--   is the most common cause of heel pain. The plantar fascia is the flat band of tissue (ligament) that connects your heel bone to your toes. It supports the arch of your foot. If you strain your plantar fascia, it gets weak, swollen, and irritated (inflamed). Then your heel or the bottom of your foot hurts when you stand or walk.   In other words, it is a see mingly never-ending pain in your heel (especially in the morning) when it feels as if someone is driving red-hot nails through your heel .  I went through PF in my right foot around then end of 2001 or so.. seems like a lifetime ago.. and perhaps it was a combination of excess weight and the stresses of running ~ including the White Rock Half Marathon (that ’ s 13.1 miles … even after 3 summers of training) .   At that time, I went to Dr. Roy Ashton of Ashton Podiatry and a series of night time splints, no bare feet, ...

Well, it was Round 2 of Neurotherm today... I hope this knocks out the last 10-15% of the pain that is left after the first round. You Tube video of someone else's procedure here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAqCXVBky-I&feature=BFa&list=ULOYCwTvvA18w&index=1 The freezing spray, the probe, and gauze the other end of the zapper the magic box to do the zapping

On the mend... my foot is on the mend; had another shot on Tuesday; have to continue PT for another month; and continue all my at-home care. My temp crown is feeling pretty good. Mama is on the mend from shoulder surgery. BFF is doing well at 5 months post VSG. I hope Auntie J is on the mend from the upper respiratory infection and healing from grief of a recent and unexpected loss of a family member.

The plantar fasciitis is on the mend.   Woohoo!   The hope of my physical therapist is that I will get released from PT next week.  Pain is down from 9-10 first thing in the morning to 1-2; and 5-6 during the day down to 0 to 1.. and the 1 is only if I've been standing on it for extended periods or walking.   No pain during the night or that keeps me awake or from falling asleep.   Still have to keep it on ice treatments at night along with the Rx anti-inflamatory.   The daily stretches are here permanently; but I get to start coming out of this tendon strap this week.  Yippee!     So PT on Thursday and then Tuesday; a follow up with Dr. Ashton on Tuesday and potentially another cortisone injection to knock out the last of the inflamation to hopefully get that down to zero at first thing in the morning and zero during the day.   I've been approved to add cycling and swimming back into t...

I had been hoping the pain in my left foot would resolve itself with home care of ice, rest, orthotics, etc.  The familiar pain originally flaired up post-Trek Triathlon 5K and I thought it was on the mend after lots of ice, rest, night splints.   But 10 days in sandals in Hawaii in January brought along another flair.   So rather than try to fight it again on my own, I finally went in to see my podiatrist to confirm the self-diagnosis of Plantar Fasciitis.    I think I was hoping for maybe some freaky stress fracture, but the x-ray tells the story with that darn tell-tale heel spur.   So I got my foot shot up with cortisone on Friday and orders to stay in Rx orthotics and sandals, an Rx anti-inflamatory, daily ice and stretching regimen, a daily strapping of the tendon, night splinting, etc.  Plus physical therapy will start in the next couple of weeks too.   Hopefully, we can resolve the left foot with all of these treatments so that ...

With the MS150 cycling tour next weekend, Mina and I did 2 loops around White Rock Lake yesterday for nearly 20 miles. We were set to do another 20 or possibly 30 miles today.. but I had a pretty spectacular crash at the bottom of the hill at the bridge across the spillway. Thankfully, the pack of bikers behind me didn't run me over or crash also. They were all super nice and made sure I was up and going and each one in the pack checked on me as well. They even recognized us on the other side of the lake and asked if I was doing OK. I've got black and blue marks and one heck of a scrape across my left elbow.. was one of the longest 4 1/2 miles back to the car ever... for a while there I even thought it beat the last 5 miles of the 25 miles short course of Hotter than Hell. Pretty much my left arm from shoulder to wrist to a heckuva beating and my right inner thigh also sporting black and blue marks. Pretty much, right now I'm learning how much I take that left...