I know not all of you (any?) are interested in my feet. Feet aren’t that interesting at the best of times and mine aren’t any more interesting than yours but my feet have been an ongoing drama for me and I have told you bits over the last few months, so I’m going to tell you the way the story ends. This week I’m doing a blogging challenge – to blog everyday for a week and each day is a different style of post. Today’s is a story post. The story of my feet.
The story began at the end of summer when I was sick of my feet hurting all the time. I thought I must have needed orthotics, so off I trotted to the podiatrist that had solved Leigh’s feet/back issues, and got some orthotics. After a few weekly then fortnightly check ups with little improvement, multiple adjustments to the orthotics, new orthotic friendly (almost passable on the casual fashion stakes) shoes, foam padding on the orthotics, there wasn’t all that much improvement. My right foot has alway been worse, my personal theory is because it was the right side of my body affected by a brain lesion I had a couple of years ago. So with little real improvement the podiatrist referred me for an ultrasound, nothing showed up. I started to think I was just a hypocondriac.
Then the podiatrist suggested an MRI and due to cost I decided to start with the right foot, bingo, ganglions and some stress reaction but not a stress fracture. I at least felt vindicated. I wasn’t making it up. He recommended wearing a moon boot and getting the left foot MRI’d too, which I did under the referral of an orthopaedic surgeon friend of mine. Bingo, more ganglions. but apparently you can’t wear 2 moon boots, so I donned the moon boot with as much fashion and flair as possible for about 6 weeks, again without all that much improvement.
Eventually my back gave in, you might remember that I had to cancel a trip to Cairns as I ended up in hospital with back spasms due to the uneven gait of walking in the moon boot. Moon boot got ditched. My ortho friend referred me to his colleauge who deals in feet as there was some suggestion that the ganglions would need to be removed. Finally a solution. I didn’t really care it was a surgical intervenion, by this time, months later and several thousand dollars poorer, I just wanted someone to DO something. Alas, it seems my body isn’t that simple.
At this point I was starting to realise that perhaps it’s all connected to my Hashimotos – sore joints, inflammation. The surgeon wasn’t convinced the ganglions (whilst large) were causing the pain so no surgery. I was devastated. No solution? Do I have to live like this all the time? I’m only 42. Another test, this one, perhaps will be the all revealling one. Off I go to Qscan again, this time for a CT/SPECT scan which I was told was to help look at the flow of blood in hard to see spots (like feet).
If you’re still with me, this is the part of the story where you are hoping for a happy ending. This is certainly the part where I was hoping for a happy ending, but in the end I’d take an answer. I love happy endings, even the predictable ones. Maybe I’ll end up with a happy ending to my feet story, but it’s not come yet. After all those tests and months of waiting, I’m just old. I’ve got arthritis.
But that’s not the end of the story. I hope not anyway. Whilst I really wanted a final solution so I can have happy feet, this is real life and not every story ends happily. My life isn’t over though, so for now, the end is the beginning of at least knowing what is wrong with my feet. Arthritis. At least it’s not rheumatoid arthritis. Millions of people have arthristis. I’ll just have to learn how to manage it.
So now the next chapter in my story begins of how to manage it and reduce the symptoms. I will try a cortisone injection into both ankles (eek) before we go to NZ in about 6 weeks time and see if that helps. In the meantime I’m reducing my nightshade intake, increasing my intake of turmeric and rubbing a number of essential oils into my feet (turmeric, frankincense, white fir and ice blue) – I think that’s helping as last night and this morning I haven’t done that and the pain is worse. Knowledge is power – it always helps to know what you’re dealing with and although I would have preferred a solution that involved ‘fixing’ my feet, I have hope that knowing what it is, I can find a longer term solution!
For those of us with chronic issues our stories are ongoing. I’ve been a bit down about it in the last couple of months, but now I know, I’m taking charge and moving on. I’m over talking about my feet, so I’m just going to get on with it. On with the much bigger story of my life!
My Recipe for Happy Feet in the Making
✔️ ️ Bath in bicarb + magnesium flakes or epsom salts
✔️ rub with a few drops of frankincense oil (my fav… Great for your skin too), turmeric oil, white fir or wintergreen essential oils
✔️ spray with then rub with magnesium oil (lots of magnesium for sore muscles!!)
✔️ rub with doTERRA deep blue rub (like Deep Heat but cooling and natural)
✔️ reduce nightshades (eg white potato, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers) to help reduce inflammation
If you want more information on how to buy the doTERRA essential oils, please send me an email annabel@whatannabelcooks.com and I’d love to help you.
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