Auctions are Addictive!

There has been very little going on here on the health front (not that I'm complaining!) I'm quite happy with the "Bunion Buster" experiment to date. I generally wear boots; I've acquired 8 pairs of paddock boots, elastic sided boots, and cowboy boots over the years, and otherwise am down to 2 pairs of flat "dress shoes" and a pair of tennies (quite a change from my days in Big Library Vendor World, when I routinely wore 3-1/2" heels all day, every day ...) Before last week, when hand/foot struck I had difficulty getting boots on and laced as my toe was too stiff to bend into the footbed. Now, with the additional padding and protection, the blistering is greatly reduced and the stiffness is almost nonexistent. So far, so good!

A couple of weeks ago several friends and I went to an eclectic auction at Garth's, a local auction house. I used to go to auctions fairly regularly and it was fun to go again. I split the winning bid on several garden ceramic pieces with friend and sister C2 - nothing I couldn't have gotten at a garden center, probably, but for much less.


This morning I went to the first of several promised auctions on a local estate. I was interested in equipment for Emma, our Ferguson tractor. I got a post hole auger and a disc; the disc is a Ferguson no less! I paid for the two pieces about a third of what we'd have paid for a new disc, so it was well worth it. Fun, too - but the discretionary portion of the tax refund is gone now, so no more auctions for a while. Except when my sister gets here next week - then we go back to Garth's ...

Tale of a Toe

Monday I visited the local podiatrist who gamely cut 1/4" of hardened thick skin under the joint of my left big toe. He confirmed that hand/foot is not anything like a "normal" foot problem. He counseled against orthotics, as they don't do much to unload pressure from the big toe. (And I appreciate that bit of honesty, given the $300 or so cost of orthotics).

Then he offered the fact that his daughter is a dancer, and why didn't I check some of the products available at the local dance supply store? So I stopped in, and found a line of products from Bunheads, specially created to relieve the pressure points on dancers' feet. I'm now trying the "Bunion Buster" and found yesterday that I could be on my feet all day and my toe didn't bother me. We'll see how this performs over time - but a $12 fix that's handwashable, reusable and unobtrusive is a pretty wonderful solution!

Yesterday's bloodwork and visit to Dr SC: no Aranesp (hemoglobin 12.6), no Zometa (blood calcium 8.6, normal). I'll be alternating visits to Dr G and Dr SC, seeing one of them every 4 weeks, with attendant bloodwork on that schedule, and we'll resume the drugs when and if they are needed. Hooray!

Now, if only spring would return ...

All's Quiet?

Sorry for the hiatus; not much has been going on. In the intervening days we've managed to take a little break in Holmes County, Ohio. We keep going back to the Grapevine House, one of the most peaceful B&Bs we've ever found. We got in a long walk, a couple of good naps, and a visit to the Mt. Hope Auction - shades of my youth and frequent visits to area livestock auctions! We're already scheduled for the next visit over 4th of July, which will mark the 10th anniversary of our first stay at the Grapevine House.

Last week we went to the monthly renal cell networking group session, this time just for discussion - no speakers. While I enjoy hearing from the speakers, sometimes I miss just sitting around and catching up with how everyone is doing. When I think back to how little hope there was for RCC patients just 2 years ago, I'm amazed by how far we've gotten!

Yesterday I went to the podiatrist for yet another outbreak of hand/foot on my left big toe. He came up with an interesting recommendation - his daughter is a dancer, and he suggested that I check out some of the padding products available at dance specialty stores. So that will be one of my tasks today - I will report what I find.

Spring came, went, and seems to be cautiously trying to return. Let's hope that the effort is successful (and that we don't go directly into summer, please!!)