Last Therapy Session

I had my last physical therapy session on the 21st. Since I'm on a pretty limited budget and my insurance only covers 75% of the cost of the sessions, I had to end them. However, in the 2 weeks I went, I improved each foot's flexibility by a centimeter or two. So, I'll continue the exercises at home and in a couple of weeks, keep my appointment with the orthopeadic doc. I'll have to make some decisions after that on whether to continue to plan my Appalachian hike or drop the whole thing.

Sports Medicine Visit

Well OK then! Had my 1st visit to the Sports Medicine office. Met a very nice tech there who did lots of foot measuring and testing and poking. She found my very sore tendons and said, "Yep, inflammed." Falling arches are pulling the tendons out of position causing said inflammation. She provided some ultrasound to assist with reducing the inflammation. She also gave me a couple more exercises to do to get the muscles strengthened to assist the tendons. OK. Now, with inserts in all boots and shoes, avoidance of going barefoot in the house, exercises and some anti-inflammatory drugs, can I get back in shape to tackle a couple more sections of the N-P before winter sets in?

Foot Trouble

Having failed my attempt to hike the Northville - Lake Placid trail end-to-end because of foot pain, I am attempting to determine the problem and fix it. After many days of rest and staying off of my feet and some exercises to stretch the ligaments in the bottom of my feet to no avail, I made an appointment with my doctor. She took a look and decided that I needed to see an orthopaedist. I went yesterday. She took some x-rays, thank God no bone spurs. Her determination was posterior tibialis tendonitis in the ligaments of my feet, with some plantar fascitis for good measure. I'm now taking some anti-inflamatory and have an appointment with the sports medicine people for next week. Imagine, me with a sports injury! Anyway, I am continuing the exercises. Have been told to hold off on hiking though a short walk is OK and move into some cross training for awhile. The anti-inflamatory is for 2 weeks. Hope it all helps.

Lake Durant Campout

Randy, Elizabeth, Spot and I used the reservations for Lake Durant we would have used on the N-P hike. Reached the campground on Wednesday and had camp set up by 4pm. Had a very nice lakeside site right across from the site (number 3) where the N-P trail comes into the campground. Thursday was cloudy. We decided to visit Great Camp Sagamore. This is a walking tour of the grounds and buildings with a guide that talks about the builder, Durant, and the purchaser, the Vanderbilts. Don't you know the sky opens up just as the tour starts. By the time we finished, we were all wet and at 40 or so degrees, we were cold too. We decided to pack it in, pulled down the tents, packed everything, wet and muddy into the car and headed home. Spent today drying out tents and tarps, washing gear and putting things away.

As for the Northville-Lake Placid trail. My ankle/arch still hurt and with all the walking around, aches. I may have to actually break down and see the doc about it. I still want to complete the trail, I just may have to take it in much smaller "bites".