Thanks to a very fine orthopedic doctor who specializes in feet and ankles (Dr. Shumaila Sarfani) I'm starting to see a twinkling spray of light at the end of the tunnel.
Airossti, it turns out, started here in Texas, not yet a recognized procedure for those who live in other states. Practitioners, chiropractors all, I believe, are trained to manipulate soft tissue to get rid of scar tissue and adhesions. My primary doc prescribed four sessions and I talked to several people who got great results, so leaving no stone unturned, I tried it. It may have helped moderately, may have set me back--I'm not sure--but it wasn't the magic bullet I'd hoped for.
Dr. Sarfani suggested physical therapy at Stratton instead, so I returned to Joe Eliot there, the therapist who completely reversed my sciatica in the summer and fall. Having been to several PTs after knee surgery, I consider Joe the best of them all, hands down, no contest!
He asked me if any of my doctors had diagnosed neuropathy. "Just my mom," I said.
"Your mom??? How old is your mom?" (I mean, really, who my age has a mother who does internet medicine?)
"Ninety seven," I told him. "But she's obsessed with my finding a solution and sent me links to articles about it."
"Wow!" he said. "Good for her!"
"So do I have that?" I asked.
Joe is careful not to diagnose--that's not his wheelhouse. To get an accurate diagnosis, he said, I'd need to see a neurologist who would use needles in the feet to make such a diagnosis.
But here's the good news: it doesn't matter. Physical therapy addresses what is, regardless of what we call it or what caused it--whether arthritis or neuropathy or trauma. So now I'm doing exercises daily and seeing Joe twice a week for six weeks.
Dr. Sarfani also recommended never going barefoot. The new Hokas are very light and flexible shoes with good arch support. While I prefer barefoot to any shoe on any market, I have to admit that wearing these shoes has helped.
I'll get an MRI on the 19th--but her initial diagnosis is nerve damage over arthritis lurking in the feet. Instead of meds to mask the pain, as I've been taking for months, she prescribed Meloxicam and Gabapentin. One is an anti-inflammatory, the other talks to nerves.
I hope this is my last post relating to my feet! I'm sharing these details to provide some encouragement to those of you who may be going down one road after another, looking for answers. It's depressing to spend weeks or months going seemingly nowhere. It feels like traveling in the dark with no map, running into one dead end after another. But if we persist, we can be so lucky when a friend leads to a new doctor with fresh eyes who introduces a new GPS system.
My goal this weekend is to move back into the casita and see if I can stir up some long-dormant creative energies.
I'll know all is well on the day when I lose track of time, immersed in a handmade book or collage again. Hope restored, I can see that day on the horizon.
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