My left foot has been hurting since I was in the Boundary Waters on a week long canoe trip in August. I’ve been having pain ever since. I have a friend who’s a family practice doctor. I went to see her and she ordered some x-rays of my foot. No broken bones. I started taking anti inflammatories and resting it as much as I could. About two weeks ago I took my shoes off after work and realized that my left big toe was numb.
I had a meltdown. 31 years of diabetes and I finally had neuropathy. Circling thoughts went through my mind. Would I need to get special “diabetes shoes?” Would I have to order special socks and avoid the hot tub in my backyard? What would this mean for my yearly Boundary Waters canoe trip? Would I take my boots off after a long day of canoeing and portaging to find major skin breakdown because a rock had been rubbing on my toe where I couldn’t feel it? Ok. Get a grip Molly. I made an appointment with a podiatrist. The appointment was this morning.
The nurse brought me into the exam room and asked me to take off my shoes and socks. Dixie got comfortable on the floor by the exam table. The nurse went through the list of questions. Am I still taking insulin? Do I still use glucagon as needed? Am I still allergic to insulin?
“Wow, you’re allergic to insulin! I’ve never heard of that before? So what do you take instead? Oh, you take insulin with dexamethasone. Wow.”
(it’s the same line that I get every time I go to see any doctor.) She left and Dixie and I waited for the doctor. My palms were sweating. I was really nervous.
The doctor came into the room. He shook my hand, and had a really firm handshake. I hoped that he would be gentle when he touched my feet. I told him about my foot pain and numb toe. He wrote this on my chart, and I squeezed my fingers. Finally he examined my foot. After a couple minutes he said, “It’s not neuropathy. You have a pinched nerve and strained ligaments.” It’s crazy but I was happy. I had a foot injury, but was smiling and content. It wasn’t neuropathy. It was something else. Something that regular people have. Phew. He taped my foot and told me to keep it dry for the next week. We’ll see if that improves the pain. If it does, some orthotics are probable in line. If not, maybe a dreaded cortisone shot in my foot.
I limped out with Dixie. She was bouncy and I was relieved.
It wasn't the dam diabetes.
3 comments:
Hi! found you via kerri's blog. An allergy to what keeps you alive - that is terrible! I think you dog must be amazing. Looking forward to reading more!
For goodness sake - I did not know you were a fellow Minnesotan until I saw the words Boundary Waters in your post and then went to the profile page.
This is fabulous.
I had the same worry recently until I realized that my toe only felt numb the day after I wore a certain pair of shoes. Damn pointy toe heels.
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