[MelodyL]

Hi all:

We just came back from Beth Israel Hospital. Alan new custom molded shoes had just come in the other day and we got the call. These are his first pair of custom molded shoes. I really thought they would be these gigantic shoes. Don’t know why. They are smaller over all than I pictured them. But they are higher. Alan put them on and wouldn’t take them off. He walked around the doctor’s office smiling and going ‘whoa, these ARE different., aren’t they??” The shoe specialist guy was there. What a nice person. He answered all of our questions. Alan asked him if they put down that he had heel spurs and he said “absolutely”. These shoes are made just for YOUR feet, heel spurs, foot ulcer, bunions and all” We laughed.. Here are the photos I just took.








Oh, not to forget, after the doctor examined Alan’s foot and said the ulcer is just about healed, but that (as we already knew), that this is a process and it’s doing nicely and it never looked better, he wants Alan to come back in 6 weeks. So we shall do that.

And I asked the doctor (he’s an orthopedic specialist dealing with a lot of people who have neuropathy), so I knew he would be able to answer my question.

I said: “Doctor, I have to ask you a question that I bet no none with neuropathy has ever asked you”. He said “go ahead”.

I then said: ‘This is a neuropathy question. Alan has been to countless neurologists, neurosurgeons, back specialists (oh the back specialists he has been to), and although we know he has been diagnosed with CIDP, and the monthly infusions DO help with his balance and some of his pain (for a short time), he still has burning between certain toes”.

I then said; ‘think of Star Trek, with all the scanning devices they had on that show, is there a diagnostic tool or something even close to that, where you can put Alan’s feet in a machine, (I then went over to the model of the foot that he had on the counter), and I pointed to between the toes. I then said “these are nerves and ganglia, right?” and he said “right”.

I said “isn’t there ANY way, that you can scan his feet into a machine, and then the machine highlights all his nerves and then the person reading the image would see his damaged nerves and go AHA!!! So that’s where the neuropathy is, we can zap this, or we can give him trigger point injections, or SOMETHING??”

See, I needed to know if such a diagnostic machine actually existed.

The doctor shook his head sadly and said “no, we don’t have such a machine at present”. I then said “why can’t they do trigger point injections where he has the burning”? He said “no, in his case, it wouldn’t work, (then he went on to say that nerves come from the back, down the spine, etc. etc. DIDN’T UNDERSTAND THE REST OF WHAT HE SAID.

But I did find out that there is no diagnostic tool (and you would think that by 2008, there would be such a tool, but at least I asked my question.

So we go back in 6 weeks, and Alan is now good to go.

So that’s the end of my rhetoric on Alan’s toes.!!! lol

[Twinkletoes]

Those must be comfortable shoes. I bet you could walk all day in shoes like that and not feel a thing. I wish I had shoes like that.

Mama always said "There's an awful lot you can tell about a person by their shoes." Where they're going. Where they've been.

I've worn lots of shoes. I bet if I think about it real hard I could remember my first pair of shoes. Mama said they would take me anywhere. She said they were my magic shoes."

So happy for Alan!