It's the little things

When you've been sick and you finally get the big things under control, the little things can be incredibly frustrating.

Of course just because you've been through something major, you don't get a bye from the normal problems. But sometimes you just want to say, "Give me a break already."

I got plantar fasciitis, the inflammation that causes heel pain, after my first stem cell transplant when I had recovered and was running and playing tennis again. I went to the Grand Canyon around this time and while my friends took big hikes, I hobbled along the rim. They said I complained about this more than I complained about leukemia. Anyone who has had plantar fasciitis will know what I mean. It is just infuriating that an area about the size of a quarter can cause so much pain. At one point I couldn't even walk down the driveway to pick up the paper.

I wandered in the podiatry desert for way too long, going to the wrong people, including one podiatrist who gave me cortisone shots that worked only for a little while, who gave me a cumbersome brace to sleep in (which I usually tore off in the middle of the night) and who said, before I finally bolted, that he might slit the bottom of my foot to relieve the tightness that was causing the inflammation.

I finally found the right person, who made soft orthotics in his office and told me what kind of sneaker to buy. I haven't had symptoms in ages. Every now and then I get a twinge, which makes me nervous, but then I double up on my stretching exercises, and so far, so good.

I bring this up because I have a new little something. I hurt the side of my right hand, probably by mis-hitting a ball and straining my hand in the process. Mike taped it for me today at physical therapy, and although it feels better, it is still sore, and I wonder how I will do tomorrow at tennis and how I will do at my first match this weekend. It will be bad news if I can't hold the racquet.