I went to a medical seminar today on aging/memory/ Alzheimer's, and met a doctor there. He was wheeling himself around on a 4 wheel thing called a Wheel about. It was a small thing you kneel on with one leg and just walk/scoot around. His foot was hanging off the back.

So I asked him what it was for.... and he told me:
He has a stubborn ulcer just like Alan's. It is on the ball of the foot, and the story behind it is really interesting.
No diabetes. He had a new shoe that gave him a blister. And because a golf tournament was coming, he injected himself with Marcaine (like lidocaine)...so he could walk the course. So the ulcer went ballistic... got infected, and he had cultures done on it...which ended up with Zyvox... $5000 a month. The organism in his ulcer is a pneumococcus). That sounded weird to me. I wonder if he was lying. (or just stupid again).
His ulcer has gone down from the size of an apricot to a dime, but is still not healing. He is using Regranex also. It has been 7 weeks. Now he says the bone is poking thru the skin. So it appears similar to Alan. At least from what I could determine. (he seemed pretty stupid for a doctor). So he is not to walk on it at all. He did not like the "boot" which sounded similar to Alan's.

What it appears is that when the cushioning fat pads in the foot deteriorate, then the bone comes out. He said there is no help for this. No collagen transplant etc to restore it, because of the weight bearing. So keep this in mind when your new referral explains stuff to you and Alan. It seems pretty complex to me. And to think a doctor brought this upon himself? Strange.

In regards to the Ebay...someone outbid me by 100% to steal my thunder. I noticed that it is a dealer...who probably expects to resell the set separately to make more $$. YOu know I can't compete with this mentality!
So I found another dutch oven, and am watching it instead.
Thanks for the PM on PayPal.... but it looks like I will be out bid every time if these are dealers playing one up on each other. I am just a puny regular person. I guess I don't have much chance there in that capacity.