Hi All:

I just got the most interesting post card in the mail today.

It's an invitation (addressed to Alan), to attend a OPEN HOUSE at the Foot Care Center in Brooklyn, NY.
This is what it says on the card.

. Free Dinner Buffet and Beverages
. Meet Our Physicians and Podiatry Team
. Tour Our Facility and see our latest Technologies!
. Attend Free 15 min educational seminars on footcare
. And Register to Win $500 Cash on the spot!!!

then it gives the phone number to reserve your spot.
It's on September 19 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

On the left side of the post card it says:

YOU DESERVE THE BEST!!! PUT AN END TO PAIN
The word end is in GIANT letters!!!!

It also says "The Footcare Center at the Ambulatory Surgery Center of Brooklyn offers a comfortable, modern setting that provides state of the art treatment for problems of the feet and ankle.

And then it lists all the specialities that they treat.

The first speciality listed is NUMBNESS/NEUROPATHY.

If you think we are missing this meeting, you don't know us!!!!! lol

This is a brand new State of the Art 20,000 Square Foot Facility.

I bet we'll meet lots of PN'rs there.

Maybe they have some new technology for neuropathy. Maybe some laser zapping, some injection?? SOMETHING NEW that no one has discovered before.

So please know, that on September 20, I'll post whatever new thing has been invented for the treatment of neuropathy!!!!

Melody

The heck with the treatment of neuropathy, go for the free dinner buffet and the $500 cash prize!!!! I hope they have lots of healthy stuff you can eat. Really, it sounds very interesting, and fun, too.

Hey! That sounds like a great place to visit!....and probably has good food too! Let us know about all the great new procedures they tell you about!

They will probably have pamphlets, booklets, WHATEVER!!! on neuropathy, because it's the first on the list of specialties on the Postcard. And they had about 37 specialties.

They could have put numbness/neuropathy at number 37, right?? But it was the first topic.

So I'm all stoked up to learn whatever I can learn. Alan is a hoot. He said "oh I can't wait, I mean, they have to have SOME NEW STUFF ABOUT NEUROPATHY, RIGHT??

Oh, he said something interesting tonight as he left for his midnight to 8 shift. He has the shoe boot on his right foot. He looked at me and said 'You want to know something really strange? the neuropathy in my left foot is practically gone." I said "what???? and he said "yeah, really, maybe it's the IVIG??? And I said 'well, what about the right foot?" and he said "well, by my pinky toe, I need something cushiony on the outside".

So tomorrow I'll buy him the Lambswool that they sell by the Dr. Scholl's products. We'll see if that does something to the pinky toe thing that is going on. As it is, when I bandage him, I have to take a piece of gauze, fold it twice and place it between his pinky toe and the toe next to it. Something about straightening the pinky toe so it doesn't compress the other toe.

It's working. I have no idea why, but it's working.

Learn something new every day.

And they have to serve something that's low carb and low fat, right???? lol

Mel

If that boot cures his neuropathy, I'm going to order a pair! Do you think they come in a variety of fashion colors?????

Dakota:

The Boot has absolutely nothing to do with his neuropathy. He's wearing it on the right foot for a recurring foot ulcer. He still has the neuropathy between certain toes on his right foot. The right pinky toe (well, this is a new thing. Something in the right side of the boot is annoying the outside of his pinky toe (that's why he needs the cushioning).

But, when I put the piece of gauze (folded twice), between the pinky toe and the toe next to it, well, it uncompresses something.

I gather that, next week, if he should start the one hour a day in regular shoes, then Alan will still need the piece of gauze between the pinky toe and the other toe.

See, when you strap yourself in the shoe boot thing, you step into it, you put a piece of padding on top of the foot, then you close the top of the shoe boot and it overlaps each other. (I'l take a picture when he comes home, so you can see what I'm talking about). Then after you overlap the two pieces (they are velcro and they overlap and stick to each other), THEN you have to take this strap and overlap the strap, pulling it tight for support.

That must be what is compressing the toes (the boot would never make neuropathy better, might even make it more annoying, but so far it's just the pinky toe thing going on).

So once you loosen that part (that goes over your toes), well, you uncompress some nerves that are being squeezed together.

With neuropathy in toes, it's all about like wearing those crocs. Big roomy toe box. You don't have a toe box in a shoe boot.

And I watch him as he straps those velcro straps on (can't count how many there are). But it would drive me nuts.

The only great thing about this boot, is when he wears it, he walks like a normal person and his ulcer is healing beautifully.

So we shall see what happens when he starts the one hour a day thing.

will update (and I'll post a picture of the front of the boot so you can see what I'm talking about). I'll put it on this thread.

Mel

Okay… here’s are the pics of the boot.

The first pic is the inside of the boot.


The second pic is the two front pieces (that go over his toes) on the bottom toe part of the boot, after it’s just folded over.


The next pic is the Velcro strap that is pulled to tighten the front part of the shoe boot. Notice it has the name of the boot company on it. BIOMET


The last is the pic of the side view of his boot.



This boot came with 4 little black pads that you insert to prevent rubbing. Alan has lost 3 of them. We can’t find them in the house. Thank god, he has one left.

So he uses the piece of felt to wrap around his calf, then he steps into the boot.

Oh, you’ll find this fascinating. I just put him to bed after his night shift.

He has been putting a piece of gauze between his right pinky toe and the other toe (to uncompress a nerve and hopefully ease up on the PN in that area. It worked). This is the foot wearing the boot.

So this morning, we are doing an experiment on his left foot. His PN was acting up. So I said “Why not put cotton balls between each toe of your left foot, then we put your sock on. If it uncompresses any nerves and your PN eases up, we just might have something.”

He is fast asleep. He did take his sleep med but that usually takes 15 or so minutes to kick in. And before this morning, he could not lay on his back, only his side (to ease up on the PN discomfort).

I shall let you know if this cotton ball thing works. We really won’t know anything until he wakes up, walks around a bit, and sits in his chair to watch tv. That will be the only way to see if uncompressing these toe nerves amounts to anything.

Picture it this way. A woman goes in for a pedicure, and before they put toe nail polish on the toes, they put this little gizmo on the foot that separates all the toes.

That’s what I did with the cotton balls. I also have this gizmo (when I do my own nails). I’m going to disinfect it and try it on Alan later on. It will either work better than the cotton balls, work not so great as the cotton balls, or it will do neither.

We shall see.

Melody.