Not For the Faint of Heart

So Glen and I have been dealing with our individual foot problems: heel for me and toe for him.

I also have red spots on my legs which seem to appear when I'm having a few bad heart days. The doctor says it's venous insufficiency.

My heel has been causing me lots of pain for over 4 months how. I have trouble with plantar fasciitis and when a cortisone shot did not do the trick to eliminate the pain, I decided to go for the gusto--I had dry needling done.

The doctor deadened my foot with many deadening shots--the worst one was by my ankle.

Using ultrasound imaging, he used an empty hypodermic needle to repeatedly puncture the plantar fascia.

The dry needling induces minor bleeding in the tissues and it helps to break up scar tissue at the heel. The bleeding recruits blood cells to heal this tissue--which normally has rather poor circulation.

I'm happy to report that 2 weeks later my heel is feeling so much better and the bright red spot has subsided with several applications of the special lotion the doctor gave me.

Now on to Glen's issues--which has literally been an issue of puss and gunk coming out of his big toe, for over 5 weeks now.

Rebecca, this one's for you, because you said you wanted an update on your father's big toe.

The rest of you -- please look away if you can't stand looking at disgusting things because this is purely disgusting.

When I reported on Glen's condition to the foot doctor 2 weeks ago, he thought Glen should be on an antibiotic. Glen is not one to rush into taking medication and so he declined.

With 2 more weeks of his toe hurting like crazy and him having to deal with the oozing, he decided to break down and get the meds.

Some day soon, we hope, his toe will heel and be as beautiful as the other big toe without a toenail.