Back in the Saddle Again

This isn't a post about horse riding!  No, it's about me and my footwear.  After almost two years, I am back to wearing normal shoes.  Two years ago, I broke a brittle piece of bone projection in my big toe and it lodged between the joint.  That led to toe surgery in February of 2015.  After that, in April of the same year, I had my ankle joint cleaned out and reconstructed.  While recuperating from that, my knee started to hurt horribly.  Turns out I had a fracture in it that went undetected.  In order to keep it from getting worse, I wore a knee brace.  Finally sick of the brace, I had a partial knee replacement this year.

Now almost two years later, I am back to wearing normal shoes.  It has been a journey!  It's also been some work getting my feet back into the type of shoes I like.  For two years I wore sneakers or well padded loafers.  The flexibility I regained once I could bend my toe again, was lost when I became lame in the knee.


At this point, I am wearing pumps up to two inches.  It feels pretty good, but I had to get my toe back to being able to bend.  I can wear boots too -- which used to be difficult when I wore my bulky off-loading brace.  The pair I am showing here came from Pigeon Forge, TN.  I picked them up while I was visiting the Great Smokey Mountains.  For many years I had a client in Knoxville, TN. I love these boots because they remind me of a beautiful day driving through the Smokies and that funky touristy cowboy shop I bought them from.  I'm also wearing a pair of Italian leather boots I found at a bargain price my senior year of high school.  Those were found for $20, marked down from $200 -- in 1979 dollars!

It had been hard for me to have limited mobility.  And I still have a ways to go.  I've gotten fat and lazy.  I'm also not sure the ankle surgery was worth it because I am still experiencing substantial pain.  However, it feels right to be reunited with my shoes.  There are many pairs I need to work my way back to, some that are too high I might never wear again.  But I feel like I'm back in the sister-hood, because now my shoes give me something to bond with the other ladies at work with.  I don't know if other ladies can relate, but I sure did miss my shoes!