Foot Beds

Today's topic will be feet, specifically my feet. As you no doubt recall from previous posts, I have the feet from the 7th circle of Hell. My right foot has no fat pads due to two surgeries for Morton's neuroma. My left foot has some sort of metatarsalgia (which is a fancy word for my foot hurts and we don't know why). They both pronate to a frightening degree. I have 5 pairs of orthotics made by podiatrists and none of them are working for me. They all hurt some part of my foot. It's interesting how each pair hurts a different part of my foot. So, walking long distances has been impossible for me as of late. This is very distressing seeing as how we just spent a small fortune on airfare to Germany. Since I have squandered my 2011 insurance allotment on yet another unsuccessful pair of orthotics from what has to be the worst podiatrist in Tucson (there is no money back at the doctor's office), I decided to try custom Superfeet. If they don't work, you can return them. Retail! Gotta love it.
Sunday, since it was freezing cold, we went to Summit Hut where they make the custom Superfeet. I sat in the tall chair and Lee attached the vacuum hose to my shin, and then strapped the unmolded foot bed to my foot.

Then he flipped the switch and the vacuum was applied while he held the footbed up to my foot in a neutral position.

There is the vacuum being drawn on my foot.

They're actually better than anything I have that cost hundreds of dollars. I ordered metatarsal pads from Amazon for my left foot. After scooting it around on the underside of my left foot bed for a couple of days, I think I've got it positioned so that my metatarsal heads are separated and it's not killing the small bones in my feet. I'm beginning to think that my best bet is to MacGyver my own orthotics in the future. YouTube has a lot of information on how to place met pads and etc.
The other thing I got from Amazon are these.

Because I have the bony spiteful hateful feet, bicycling hurts my metatarsals due to pressure. These aren't that great for walking, but I wore them mountain biking today, and they really cut down on the discomfort of pressing on the pedals. So, that was good. I have a success!

Today was better, windy but much warmer. Since it's been so cold at night, we're ripping right through the propane running the furnace. This is where we buy propane these days.

We were making a U turn in a park after leaving the library. I caught movement in a wash, couldn't see what exactly was moving, and realized it was javalinas. There were several of them, they've incredibly difficult to see. Look almost dead center in the photo, and there are two of them there.


Here is a better picture from the web. It's the first time we've seen them in Tucson. They're all over McDowell Park in Phoenix.

It's supposed to by 80 by Wednesday. 80!!!!! I am finally rid of the plague, and happy we are about that. Now if I could just get my shoe insert paradigm solidified, life would be perfect. Life is good as it is, but could be improved by the ability to walk more than a quarter of a mile.