New Year, Old Pain

The foot pain is back. Yuck. It's not foot pain, it's FOOT PAIN.

I think I'm a little desperate. I've seen an acupuncturist.

He's a good guy, short, round, bearded, just the way I like my men. He said something about liver, gallbladder, and dampness. I liked the Chinese semi-massage, didn't so much like the needle part of it. My legs got restless.

I feel about the same today as I did before the treatment. Footwise, that is. Standing is killer. Walking is tough. I'm thinking of asking co-workers to go and fetch my diet pop for me.

I liked the holistic approach, talking about body systems, and all those little minor complaints from various parts of my life...headaches, heartburn, diabetes, gum disease, insomnia, and FOOT PAIN.

I'm thinking about getting a scooter for zipping around the office. It works for my buddy with the spinal cord injury. (He's a C5-6 quad-who am I kidding-I get zero sympathy from him. He keeps asking how my 'sigmoids' are.)

Is it diabetic nerve pain? Is it complex regional pain syndrome? (Nah, mine is bilateral and most descriptions of CRPS do not mention bilateral symptoms.) Is the DPM going to recommend steroid injections? Is six months of pain enough to register as chronic? Should I head right up to OHSU Pain Clinic? Their intake form is 24 pages! Nice and thorough. Again, I like their holistic approach.

I go to see the DPM & the LAc next Thursday again. DPM in the morning, LAc at 5:30 pm. And then later in the month, I get to see the Internal Medicine doc on Monday and the dentist on Tuesday.

I got a spiffy new computer, so that I can blog, and I haven't blogged much. Bleah. I've taken the Diclofenac as prescribed and taken one Percoset this evening. They still ache like a [bad word here].

I am thinking of joining Allison's new challenge. I'd like to be down to 155 in 2007. I think a more realistic goal is 160. But, hey, being gentle with myself, remaining at 170 for all of 2007 would be a very successful thing to do. Very health supportive. I'm glad she's including parents of PWDs. They have their own special kind of stress.

I want to tell all of my medical professionals that I blog. What difference do I think that that might make, I wonder? Would they want me to mention their names, or prefer that I not? I wonder.

I'm watching ER, a show I have watched for a long time. (I think it's not the same since Dr. Carter left) On today's episode, they've got a diabetic (type 2) who's had an unexpected amputation on this episode. She's got osteomyelitis (bone infection) in the toes and insists no amputation. They talk her into it, and yet the surgery discovers more damage, she wakes up with a lot more amputation than she expected. Good discussion, good character. In her, they have an association of her series of losses in her life, with her current situation-the amputation, etc. (The series also has a type 1 teen who's discovered, in this episode, to have stolen from his mother's co-worker. Interesting.)

Diabetes can be a series of losses. Life can be a series of losses. How can I deal with the things that life sends my way, including diabetes, including my current state of health, including todays crisis, but not taking on any losses that may occur for tomorrow? Can I see a silver lining? There must be an up-side.

Hmmm. Either I need to blog more, pray more, or go back to talk therapy. Or maybe some combination of the above.

God bless you. I know He is blessing me. Even if my blessing comes cleverly disguised as FOOT PAIN.