Tuesday, January 26, 2010

My, My, My, My Neuroma

The very first guy that I was ever "going with" was Ricky Evans. We "went together" the end of 6th grade through the beginning of 7th. He was in my ward and every Sunday, throughout all of Sacrament meeting, he'd just sit and stare at me, all googly eyed. He was enamored. I mean, come on, I was super hot back then. Ha ha. One day that little romantic said something to me that has stuck in my mind all of these years. He said, "Wow! You have really weird looking feet." My heart pretty much melted on the spot.

Okay, so I've always known, especially since then, that my feet were jacked. They are just not too pretty. They are wide and my toes are kind of squashy. I'll spare you a real picture but you can imagine the ugliness, right? I pretty much don't care. It's not like I try to hide them from anyone-my footwear of choice is a pair of flip flops. So what if my feet are ugly? At least they are comfy!

So it's winter now and the flip flops are stored away. Sad. I miss them. I especially miss them when my neuroma acts up. You see, I have a Morton's Neuroma on my left foot. It's basically a tumor, but not a tumor. That's how my podiatrist explains it. It's a swollen, inflamed nerve between my third and fourth toe. Oh and it hurts-like crazy! Make that super crazy! I've had it about a year and there are a few things I can do to treat it but nothing works that great. I can soak it in hot water and then shock it in ice water. So pleasant! I can get a shot of cortizone in it every now and then, which actually is heavenly. If I get super desperate, I could get surgery. But the best thing I can do for it is to wear "roomy shoes" so it's not compressed. Though no podiatrist would ever say that flip flops were what is recommended, I know how it feels to wear shoes versus flip flops. It feels ten times better with all that wiggle room. But it's winter and flip flops just don't work in the snow. Oh, how I miss the flip flops.

Anyway, of course it's the new year and of course I made the goal to start working out more. I haven't been too great at it since the neuroma started up and while I'm not really gaining weight, I am definitely not losing any of that Alexis baby weight (still-sigh!) I so desperately need to. I'm pretty much sick of that whole thing. Anyway, when I work out on my elliptical, which I usually love, it hurts like heck. I can usually make it about 15 minutes and then I'm in so much pain I have to stop. I've even tried working out barefoot a few times with the whole flip flop thing in mind and that's not much better. Yesterday I made it a whopping 4 minutes. Impressive, eh?

Well, I think it may be time to put my New Year's goal aside for a bit until I can find some sort of exercise that does not include any weight bearing on my left foot. After that super intense 4 minute work out yesterday, I have not been able to walk today. I've just been hobbling around, trying not to look like a fool. Luckily I didn't see too many people today and I was able to fake that I could walk for a minute when I did. Really, isn't walking over rated anyway? That boyfriend of mine was right. My feet are crazy weird.

5 comments:

Alisa said...

Maybe you should try swimming! I have been thinking about swimming too, because it's supposed to be easy on my arthritis. But I don't know...it seems so hard to get away from the kids, doesn't it? Something you can do from home is always easier. Maybe we could work out a child swap during the day so we could both get some exercise!

Teri said...

We need warmer weather so Cyndi can wear her flip-flops!!

Casey Jensen said...

Cyndi you are hilarious! Love the story about your 6th-7th grade boyfriend.

Abby said...

Oh, true love gone awry. I hate painful feet...I actually had foot surgery as a teenager. So I understand foot pain...it was for something different, though. I get kind of crazy in my head if I don't get to work out, so I now have one more reason to admire you. I'm with Alisa...I'd be willing to watch some kids so you can go swim if that's what you choose.

angie said...

I love the title of your post and it made me sing it all day yesterday! I am so sorry about you r painful foot.