Seventy-five Bucks Worth of Butt-Ugly

I mentioned that I've (probably) developed pitting edema; we're still exploring what this all means. For the past 10 days or so I've been hobbling around on horrifically painful feet, with not a single pair of my own shoes or boots fitting over stiff, swollen feet that look like turtle flippers. I can't bend my feet enough to slide into a shoe. Add to that the problem of socks that bind, and one is guaranteed to face misery anytime one's feet hit the floor. So I'd solved the problem the same way that I did once before, by stealing a pair of Saint H's size 9 lace-ups. I'm glad to see that some innovations, such as so-called "diabetic socks" are showing up in quantities enough that one isn't forced to go to a specialty store to find them (and they really do seem to work).

I'd suggested that Saint H might want to invest in a pair of hard-soled slippers that I could borrow as needed. Off we went to our local discount shoe store; I found nothing of that nature that would fit me. When the clerk began asking him more questions, I told her it was my problem, not his; and she shifted gears without a hitch and brought several candidate shoes to me. Of one, she said, "It's ugly but it's comfortable."

That's how I managed to come out of the shoe store with a pair of velcroed walkers with absolutely no pressure points. They're black, they're men's size 8.5 EE, and I can't imagine actually wanting to own this pair of shoes. Once again, though, my comfort is more important than my vanity, and that $75 might just be the best money I've spent for a while! It's much more important to be mobile than fashionable!