This is the time of year when changes are all around us. The trees are beginning to get their fall beauty, the corn fields have been turning brown for a while now, and it looks like autumn has hit whether we are ready or not.
There are still some warm and sunny days, but the nights get cooler. I like this time of year. It always makes me yearn to go out and walk on crunchy leaves. My kids have been sharing their garden produce with me, most recently pumpkins and squash. The pumpkins will give a fall glow to my neglected yard, but the squash will be baked and packed away in packages to enjoy throughout the winter ahead.
The other day I did go out into the garage and scavenged up a few fall decorations to go outside. While it is often painful and difficult for me to move, I try to think of jobs that will make me move to a certain extent each day. I know that one of the worst things I can do for my stiff back is sit, and I don’t believe my foot is harmed by using it some every day.
About a month after the doctor gave me the OK to get rid of the boot, I finally did. One night I was uncomfortable wearing it, so I got up and took it off in the middle of the night, and proceeded to sleep well after that. I have never put it on since, so I have kicked the habit of the boot, and am feeling safe with wearing a shoe during the day, and use slippers to get up with in the night.
At this point, the right foot can only fit into one pair of old walking shoes that are quite stretched out, as it still swells as the day goes on. It will seem good to wear different shoes one of these days.
I must admit that at times I feel this foot is at a standstill, but at other times I can see the improvement. It does let me know when I have overused it, however. I remember the doctor telling me that if it hurts, I should sit down. Well, I try to do that, but sometimes I am in the middle of a job, and sitting down is not so easy to accomplish.
Of course, baking eight pies in one day, plus walking around Applefest in Tigerton was perhaps more than what I should have attempted in one day, but I didn’t know that until it was too late. After a couple of days of rest, I don’t seem any the worse for my foolishness.
Fall also seems to be the season for my yearly doctor’s appointments. There is one thing about being a senior citizen: We get lots of yearly doctor’s appointments. I saw one doctor last week at the new hospital in Shawano, I got a little impatient with the wait, but eventually found out I was an hour early. The notes on my calendar are hard to read sometimes, I guess.
Today, I saw the eye doctor, and he gave me the great news that I don’t have any sign of eye disease, nor any damage from my diabetes. Tomorrow, I have to go for a blood test, and in November I get an ultrasound. Meanwhile, I continue with physical therapy for my foot, and I continue to do my exercises at home to aid in its healing.
I may not be up for a long walk in the leaves of this year’s autumn, but you can be sure I will amble along for at least a short journey.
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