Brief over view of what I notice in this time period:
I only walk when i needed to get around the house and tried to stay in one place as much as possible. I sit and lift my legs off the ground so my feet don’t touch the ground. I used to have red inflammation on the top of my feet where the big toe joint and pinky toe joint press against my shoe went down.
I used the hot water foot bath a lot, about 4 hours a day at least. I set the temperature to 105 or 106 degrees Fahrenheit. I liked using the water bath because it made the blackish blue/purple discoloration of my heel go away, I also liked that it makes my feet look fuller. As you can see in this picture which was taken on 12/30/2020 my heel is discolored and the skin looks like it doesn’t have much meat (See Figure 1). On 1/29/2021 I switched to a heated blanket (See Figure 2).
Figure 1: look at the color on the heel and look at how the skin wrinkles up like it doesnt have much meat. Picture was taken on 12/30/2020.
Figure 2: Heated foot blanket
When I shower the ball of my feet would hurt so I would curl my feet up and stand on the outside of my feet (See Figure 3). It hurt so bad to shower I bought a shower chair on Jan 10th so I didn’t have to stand up and shower. When I am standing in the shower half way through the shower my legs quiver from the pain in my feet. First the ball of feet, then my heel starts to hurt so bad. Intense fatigue and tiredness and pain sets in on my calves, shins, and ankles. When I look down at my leg and feet, my feet and lower leg is purple. The purple goes all the way up to the second half of my upper thigh (See Figure 4).
Figure 3: curling my toes up and standing on the outside of my feet so the ball of my feet doesn't touch the floor.
Figure 4: This is not my leg but this is similar to what happens to me. The only time i really see my legs is when I shower. So one day I was showering and I look down and i notice that my feet and lower legs is a deep blue color, (my legs are more blue than this picture). My thighs is also blue but it fades half way up my thigh.
Some times when I walk during this time period I would walk a little bit here and there thinking I'm going to be fine soon.
Between 1/30/2021 to 3/13/2021, in hind sight, I notice that when putting my feet in heated therapies my feet does actually swell a lot. It went from swelling a little bit in the early days to being super swollen in March. Sometimes when I had to walk or stand I would stand and feel like my feet were inflated balloons. I didn't even question if that was normal or it something was wrong for my feet to be so swollen. I think when I started using the heated blanket my feet was in approximately 107 degrees almost 12 hours a day.
Jan 15th: I ordered a muscle roller for my legs because they were sore. There was a period in time where my calves and shin were so sore for about 1 month. (Looking back I cant seem to understand why my calf, shin and ankles were so sore)
Jan 16th – 20th: I walked a bit more thinking my feet could handle it. But, I was wrong my heel got really painful and bruised, the ball of feet, ankles, and calf was hurting too. On Jan 17th I moved some stuff around the house so a friend could move in, this was a huge regret for me because of the amount of pain it gave me and why was I worrying about other people when I should have been worrying about myself..
Jan 20th: I went to eat food with a friend, I must have walked about 800 steps that night. We did a foot spa night and I notice that her feet swells up a lot but my feet looks so small compared to her's.
Jan 26th: It’s been 1 month and I’m still chair bound... I requested an appointment with my podiatrist for the pain I have been experiencing on my feet, my heel, ankles, and calf.
Jan 27th: I got a appointment with my podiatrist and he said I now have plantar fasciitis. He recommended that I wear inserts and massage my feet and stretch it (we actually learn on March 24th that I don’t have plantar fasciitis). At the time I agreed it must be it, I just want a diagnosis so I can move on and not be in so much pain.
He also said that my feet is really cold and I might have Raynaud’s Phenomenon. I disagreed with him that I could have Raynaud’s. I always have socks on, my house is always set to 70 to 76 degrees for the last 2 years (I have never turned off my heater). Dec 23rd my friend gave me a heated foot spa and I keep my feet in 106 degree water for a significant time out of the day. My pediatrist said to do passive warming instead, like putting my feet and a warm water bottle in a blanket. Instead I bought a electric heated foot warmer on Jan 31. I actually set it to the highest setting most of the time, in hindsight it might have been worse for my feet. I think it made my feet and ankle swollen. I stopped using my heat pad around March 13th when I realized that the heat was making the pain more intense.
Jan 31st: I bought a stool for the shower because it hurts so much to stand while showering. This helps, I have not stood up to shower since.
Feb 2nd: I went to Kaiser to get a Covid-19 vaccine, I walked about 600 feet to get into the hospital. And then after I got the shot and had to walk back another 600 feet, I was struggling to walk back to my car. I walked by some hospital staff dressed in suits and they watched me walk and was concerned for me and asked if I was lost or needed a wheelchair. I declined because I was ashamed. The next day it hurt a bit more than usual and then the next day after that it hurt a a lot more than usual.
Feb 10th: I bought a wheel chair for home use because, I just gave up on walking because it hurt so bad. From this day on I only use my wheel chair and I crawl on my knees when I have to get to places my wheel chair does not allow. When I get on and off the bed/chairs to my wheelchair I use my hands/palms to support my weight. I can’t even put the slightest pressure on my feet. Also my wrist hurts a lot because of this.
Feb 19th: I had dinner with a friend and I did walk a little bit because I thought I could. It didn’t hurt that bad after I took the first couple steps, and then from then on I would walk 10 steps here and there throughout the night. The next day it only hurt a bit more than usual. But then the next couple days it was hurting more and more.
March 11th: My feet hurt so much that I told my doctor that I don’t think I would ever walk again. I request physical therapy and a MRI from my pediatrist.
March 16th: I had my video appointment for physical therapy. My Physical Therapist instructed me that I should warm up my feet, stretch, and ice my feet to reduce inflammation. She recommend that I should try to stand or walk but if I couldn’t I should at least use a exercise bike because that’s what you should do for plantar fasciitis.. She said I could use Ibuprofen to reduce inflammation. See the chart below for the physical activity. I also took 400 mg of ibuprofen on March 19th and 800 mg of ibuprofen on March 20th.
Mar 20th I would define this day as “The Torture”
This day I went to a friend’s house to help with a project but before I got in the car I warmed up my feet, stretched for 15 minutes and put my feet in ice water for 10 minutes. I sat in a car for 35 minutes with shoes on. At the house I stayed seated in my wheelchair with shoes on for the whole 2 hours putting together something on a table. At the 2nd hour my feet were burning like it was on fire, or it felt like it was burning because it was incased in ice. It was this day that started a new type of pain that I will feel from March 20 2021 to May 25 2021. A new type of pain I would never wish on anyone. It was hell on earth. Also I thought that Ibuprofen was causing my pain because that was something I started using before the pain started happening, but later on I found out that it wasn't causing me pain but it also wasn't helping with any inflammation.
