Feet can do the darndest things

I was thinking while walking past a bush in bloom this morning that the best way to keep sane in the face of COVID-19 is to keep from looking too far into the future in much the same way that I tried to frame my outlook during leukemia treatment.

You have to pull your gaze back from the uncertain future to keep from  keep getting overwhelmed. Or at least that's what I tried to do. In the hospital I remember saying to a doctor, or maybe it was a nurse, that I was trying to take it one day at a time. I remember the person saying to even take it one breath at a time. I don't know about that, but I do know that if I get carried away with the what-ifs, I try to pull myself back in.

I've also been thinking about my feet, the good and the bad.

They have been serving me well, carrying me around town on longer runs. I heard somewhere that it's good for the brain to vary your route, so I've been changing it up a little. To get a break from the intensity of MSNBC, I've been watching a little bit of The Today Show, which usually has at least a few bright spots. The other day they were talking about even changing up little things, such as using the opposite hand to brush your hair or your teeth.

I don't think my feet can take it running every day. But I'm glad that while playing so much tennis in The Before Times I at least tried to run once a week so I wouldn't lose it in case I wanted to do more. Now, with no tennis, running beckoned. It's not as easy as when I used to go out without even thinking about it. I have to push myself out. But once I get going, I'm glad for it. The most I've gone is six miles, but it's not any less than what I used to do. I am of course slower. Five to six miles is enough for me to get those wonderful endorphins. With a dog walk in the morning and near the end of the day, I've gotten up to seven or almost nine miles on some days.

Can you tell which are the new ones?

The problem with my feet is, 1) I felt a twinge in my heel and realized I better take care to do the things I know I need to do to keep plantar fasciitis at bay. These include stretching, rolling my foot on a bottle or ball, and, something that's hard for me to do, getting my knuckles into my calves to try to get them to be less tight. (I needed the chiropractor for that.) I have some roller things somewhere in the back of a closet, where they are not too useful.

I realized that I hadn't gotten new running shoes in a long time, so I went online and found the same model and brand. Of course the ones on the market were the next model up. You hear people saying to buy two pairs of the same shoe if you like them. I don't have the foresight. I looked around and found what I wanted, Brooks Cascadia 13. They are a trail running shoe but good for me because they are very neutral and work well with my orthotics. The ones widely available on the market are up model (14) but since I couldn't try them on I wanted to stick with what I had. I found them at Skirack, a little store in Burlington, Vt.

 As for problem number two, it's the unpredictability of the neuropathy in my feet. One day last week (I think it was before a storm) it got so painful that I could have cried. It gets to the point of feeling like you are walking, or running, on shards of glass, or that an electric current is going through your feet. I have CBD cream and drops that might help a little. I gave up on the THC and the TCH/CBD combo because I didn't like what even a small amount did to my head. A friend said I could be a weather predictor, because it seems to be related. Then they calm down and it diminishes to a low-grade buzzing feeling. On some days they are numb. I guess that isn't bad for running, because it's an extra layer of cushioning.

I asked the neurologist in Boston about trying a little more gabapentin at night. I don't take a very high dose. He said to go ahead and try adding an extra 300 milligrams at night. I asked him to change the prescription so I wouldn't run out. He changed it without adding a dose. In other words, he took one away in the morning and added it to the evening. He seems to have disappeared. I called his office three times, and Melissa sent him an email, because he was going to give me a referral to somebody I need for an intestinal problem that he said could be related to my neuropathy.

As I wrote in this post about dermatology, it is very hard to find a doctor for a non COVID-19 problem. At least it is not life-threatening, and so I am trying to keep that in perspective.