It is another winter day on the plains of KS today. Rain changed to sleet and ice today and it is now snowing. It will look like a winter wonderland in the morning if the sun shines.
When I went down to do the chickens before I left for Wichita I was carrying an empty five-gallon bucket back up to the barn. The wind caught the bucket and I almost took flight. I had a Mary Poppins moment! The trip to pull the trash can down the driveway was a challenge. The walk back up was brutal as I was walking into the wind. Glad I did it before I left for Wichita.
The foot doctor gave me a bit of a reprieve. He recommended a pair of New Balance wide shoes and he prescribed a tropical anti-inflammatory medication. I am to try those two things for six weeks to see if my bunions will calm down. He said they are very inflamed. If it works I can put off surgery for as long as I can stand the pain. If it doesn’t work the only other option he recommended was surgery.
If I do surgery I will have to be non-weight bearing for two weeks and on crutches and then I wear a boot for six to eight more weeks. He said the first two weeks are rough but then recovery seems to go smoothly. It will be a rinse and repeat thing as both feet need fixed. He recommends 12 weeks between surgeries. If and when I decide to have surgery I call his office and they will put me on the schedule. I am going to cross my fingers that the new shoes and anti-inflammatory medication calm things down.
I stopped at the New Balance store in Wichita and got a pair of shoes. The guy that helped me seem to know what he was doing. He had me try on three different options. The pair I got had the most give in the bunion area and allowed it the most room. The foot doctor recommended I not wear any other shoes for the six-week trial time. Tennis shoes go with everything – right? I will continue to wear my muck boots to do chicken chores but that doesn’t take long so I won’t be in them for long each day.
I drove through rain that turned to ice for about 40 minutes on the way to Wichita. Once I got to Newton and on into Wichita it was clear. It started sprinkling as I left the doctor’s office though and rained and iced on me all the way home. My wipers had trouble keeping my windshield clear of ice. I played it safe and drove below the speed limit most of the way. I kept testing my brakes and never did slip and slide. I was very grateful to get home safe and sound.
The college closed the campus so my class for tonight was cancelled. I am to do homework tonight or tomorrow and the instructors will briefly answer questions tomorrow night over the material they were going to cover tonight. Class tomorrow night might run a bit over as they have two nights of information to cover.
The good news it is to be 41 tomorrow and the sun is to return from the short vacation it took today. That should melt the inch of snow we are forecast to get tonight.
It is so nice to be tucked in for the night. I have the fireplace on and the house is nice and cozy. Grateful for a safe trip to and from Wichita in the winter weather. Grateful class was cancelled so I can stay in tonight.
I had one of those moments this morning that I realized how I have progressed in my inner journey. I was able to put into words something that had triggered me and find a way to communicate it. I wouldn’t have been able to do that several years ago – maybe even one year ago. That felt good!
Grateful for a safe journey today, grateful for a chance to avoid surgery – at least for a bit, and grateful to be tucked into my cozy house tonight.