My right foot has stopped cooperating with my brain and I just need to vent. I used to have occasional foot drop, but it's happening more frequently and frustrating beyond belief!

I hate looking like I'm clumsy or drunk when I'm out in public! (At home I'm just entertaining when I'm like that!) I've gotten away with being one of the "but you look so good" people for so long that I'm spoiled. I don't want people to see that I have MS.

Yesterday I was leading a Weight Watchers meeting and when I walked across the room I nearly fell when my right foot decided to stay put. I didn't have the courage to look at the members to see their reaction--I was too embarrassed. So I carried on and, when I was leaving the meeting, the same thing happened.

I know that it's hardly the end of my mobility, but I'm frustrated beyond belief. My cane is cute & named "Duke" (the handle is a Boxer dog's head), but I guess I'm too vain to use it unless absolutely necessary.

How can I reconcile my foot drop and my vanity? That question probably falls more in the rhetorical vein, since there's no good answer. Seriously, though, does anyone have a good strategy for handling foot drop and/or the reaction to it?

Thanks for letting me vent!

Darah,

I have learned to handle drop foot with a sense of humor, even while in public. It has been one of the most effective tactics that I have employed. Even my clients tell me that they vacumm the carpet before our meetings so that I do not trip on any dust. They get it....and therefore so should I.

I used to walk 9-12 miles per day in the desert doing biological surveys for my clients, and now either use a cane after a few hundred yards, ride a big scooter to do the surveys or ride a Suzuki Quadrunner to get across my project sites. My clients and most other people see this as my way of acclimating to MS changes. They have all said, independently, that if I just gave up it would show that I have no "spine" and was too vien.

Hence, acclimating is a very positive thing. And, when people understand why you are doing what you do, they are amazed generally.

Drop foot does suck, but giving in to it is even worse in my opinion. Acclimate and adapt new strategies...it breeds success and confindence, even when you fall. Don't let anything stop you.

-Vic

Hi Darah-
Have you seen the walkaide? I hear it's spendy but it might do the trick!

After reading your post, I looked at their website. It's a neat little gadget, but I wonder if it would work and/or be "medically necessary" (i.e. covered by insurance) for intermittent foot drop?

I guess I could call my neuro's office and find out.

Thanks for the tip!

Yes, it does stink, but I make a point of falling with style.

My first line of defense at the beginning was choosing the right footwear. Fitted shoes with a slightly turned-up toe make a huge difference.

I also use a Foot-Flexr which is designed for runner training but gives a little added "pull" to keep me from tripping over a dropped crumb.

I do have a cane, and I don't give a rip what people think of it. I need a 4-wheeled walker nowadays, and again, if someone has a judgement prepared for me over that, then let them wrestle with their own demons.

I need my scooter for anything more than 75 feet, do I look pitiful or weak, or like less of a person to you? It's not vanity for me, it's denial. Once I got over each stage of it, I got to using the tools I need to keep doing the things I want to do. I'm not embarrassed to wear my eyeglasses or use my toothbrush either.

You'd think that I'd be over the vanity and denial ten years into this miserable disease, but I'm hanging onto them for some stupid reason.

Anyone else can use whatever they need to get past the impairments of this disease, and I don't think a thing about it.

Try to get me to use something, though and it's like talking to a brick wall.

Although I did give in and use my wheelchair last month to go to a political rally. I even got to sit at the "rope line" and shake the featured speaker's hand. On that particular day, I knew that it was the only way I'd make it through the wait at the park for the festivities to begin and my husband insisted that it was the only way I would go!

One thing I've noticed is that many people are very unaware of the considerations needed by someone using a cane or wheelchair for mobility. I can't tell you how many times I've nearly had my cane kicked out from under me by people rushing her and there is a store or mall. If I could run, I'd chase them down, hit them with my cane like the little old ladies do in the movies, and give them a stern lecture about common courtesies such as being aware of the people around them. Then there's the wheelchair . . . I get so tired of seeing nothing but people's behinds when I'm in it! No doubt that these experiences factor in when I resist using aids that might make me look different in a crowd.

As for denial . . . it is a very comforting place to be until something like foot drop comes up and knocks you back into reality (or on your kiester!). I've accepted the big changes in my life, like the loss of the career that was my life-long dream, that it amazes me that I can't come to grips with the smaller ones!

Hi Darah~ I think you are the same "Darah" that I crossed paths w/a few yrs ago elsewhere! It is really nice to see your post.

About the footdrop.. The others' have given you some good advice and all I can add is that I too, do not adjust well to using devices that are yet another reminder of the way I used to do things. Stubborn? Yes.

My Dr had a leg/foot brace made for me, of which the insurance DID pay for, BUT, it's in the back of my closet collecting dust. I wore it for a short while. The newer ones are so much better than mine.

Hope to see you posting more.

I have used a cane ever since I knocked down an entire handbag display at Sears and the people who were there thought I was drunk - that was in the 70's - I've been using a brace for foot drop probabally 20 or so years along with the cane - if I didn't use a brace I would be spending half my life trying to get off the floor and I seriously couldn't walk without tripping - the walk-aide is expensive and not covered by any insurance I have had - if you want embarassing - there's knocking down the entire line of display racks of lingerie like dominos at Neiman Marcus because you're forgot to grab your cane -

It took me a while to get used to wearing the brace but if it enabled me to walk and do a job then it was and is worth it - as for people not being considerate of a person with a cane - I only had that problem once and a very sharp rap on the ankle with a metal cane does the trick - canes are also helpful for getting things off the top shelf - just remember to duck - and to use as a lever when you do fall down and there's nothing to grab onto to get up - golf carts are terrific too and so are the scooters they let you used at Jamestown - only ran down one person and that was my DH -

I'm one and the same! It's good to be back with the gang!

DARAH??? Is that really you?? Geez Louise..I am more surprised than DM....

Welcome home!