a full day
It was a late night last night - I refused to go to bed until one of my assignments was done. It was a good idea until my alarm went off at 6 a.m.
I was at my desk working before 7 a.m. Checking lab charts was a blur of CBC, UKE, LFT, ECG, ESR, CRP....*yawn*. It was such an early morning because I had to leave work early for an appointment in the city and didn't want to miss too many hours of work when I'm so close to being done. While I was working, Jack dropped the kids off in my office to fight over color with my highliters and Jack took his dad to see a doctor. His dad was having a lot of pain in his ear last night and now has some antibiotics for an ear infection.
I went to the city to see a podiatrist today. For as long as I can remember my calf muscles cramp up and my heel hurts when I walk until I'm practically hobbling down the street. So frustrating. I've tried more stretching, starting out with a slower pace, better shoes, nothing seems to help. So, I went to see what the problem was. The British doctor was friendly and amusing, trained in Scotland, and very interested to know that I was a(n) (almost) midwife. The doctor took floor-level pictures of my feet, watched me walk up and down the hallways several times, stretched my feet and legs, and used a doppler to check the ("perfect") circulation to my feet (and I giggled out loud to see him pull out his Huntleigh and gel to use on my feet ;-).
His diagnosis: my gastrocnemius muscles are impossibly tight. Most people have a minimum of a 20 degree angle when they dorsiflex their foot, but when the doctor did mine? A whole 1 degree. Yep, I have 1/20th of the stretch and range of motion than most people do, and it's been this way for most of my adult life. Because my calf muscles are so tight they aren't doing their job when I walk so my foot wobbles and rocks from side to side, causing the cramping in my gastrocnemius and lateral calf muscles and the heel pad inflammation. He assured me that the inflammation in my heels is not from heel spurs or plantar fasciitis. To treat my problem I have to ice my heel often, I bought supportive insoles for my shoes, and every morning I have to stretch my calf muscles by standing on the balls of my feet on the bottom step of my stairs for 30 seconds, 5 times. And he told me that walking or running on a treadmill will actually make things worse. So, I've got pretty green insoles stuffed inside my Nike's and I'll be balancing on my bottom stair first thing in the morning, every morning. I know that I'll be doing lots of walking in Toronto and I didn't want to be hobbling down the street, so hopefully I see some improvement soon.
After the podiatrist we fought the crowds at Costco - a mattress sized package of toilet paper, a tub of mini blueberry bran muffins (that I'll freeze for school lunches), a case of Annie's, some 9 grain ciabatta buns, etc. I'm always a bit overwhelmed by the crowds of people and the immense size of everything there.
Our next stop was no less frustrating. We went to a second hand clothing store for kids and while I had Julia try on at least a dozen pairs of jeans, Jack attempted to find some back-to-school clothes for Charlotte. By the time I finished with Julia, Jack had come up with one pair of silver sparkly shoes. Hmmm. A quick run through the racks in Charlotte's size and then we were out of there! $50 and we got 2 pairs of designer jeans for Julia (that fit! yay!!) and a t-shirt, plus two pairs of jeans for Charlotte and a nice sweater. Finding jeans for Julia is always an issue - Walmart brands, Children's Place, Joe, Old Navy, none of them fit her. What we do know, is that Miss Me, Abercrombie slim fit, and Gap slim fit DO fit her. She's got such long legs that she needs a kids' size 14 for the inseam length but then it's difficult to find size 14 jeans that can be adjsuted to fit her waist! As long as I can keep finding the designer jeans at thrift stores I'll be ok with that.
After that bit of shopping, the girls are ready for school; lunchbox snacks, clothes, shoes, school supplies, backpacks, lunch boxes, DONE.
As we headed home with Charlotte asleep in her booster seat, Julia absorbed in her book and evidence of a fast food supper on the floor, I said to Jack, "It feels like it was days ago since I went to work this morning." My bed is calling to me.....
I was at my desk working before 7 a.m. Checking lab charts was a blur of CBC, UKE, LFT, ECG, ESR, CRP....*yawn*. It was such an early morning because I had to leave work early for an appointment in the city and didn't want to miss too many hours of work when I'm so close to being done. While I was working, Jack dropped the kids off in my office to fight over color with my highliters and Jack took his dad to see a doctor. His dad was having a lot of pain in his ear last night and now has some antibiotics for an ear infection.
I went to the city to see a podiatrist today. For as long as I can remember my calf muscles cramp up and my heel hurts when I walk until I'm practically hobbling down the street. So frustrating. I've tried more stretching, starting out with a slower pace, better shoes, nothing seems to help. So, I went to see what the problem was. The British doctor was friendly and amusing, trained in Scotland, and very interested to know that I was a(n) (almost) midwife. The doctor took floor-level pictures of my feet, watched me walk up and down the hallways several times, stretched my feet and legs, and used a doppler to check the ("perfect") circulation to my feet (and I giggled out loud to see him pull out his Huntleigh and gel to use on my feet ;-).
His diagnosis: my gastrocnemius muscles are impossibly tight. Most people have a minimum of a 20 degree angle when they dorsiflex their foot, but when the doctor did mine? A whole 1 degree. Yep, I have 1/20th of the stretch and range of motion than most people do, and it's been this way for most of my adult life. Because my calf muscles are so tight they aren't doing their job when I walk so my foot wobbles and rocks from side to side, causing the cramping in my gastrocnemius and lateral calf muscles and the heel pad inflammation. He assured me that the inflammation in my heels is not from heel spurs or plantar fasciitis. To treat my problem I have to ice my heel often, I bought supportive insoles for my shoes, and every morning I have to stretch my calf muscles by standing on the balls of my feet on the bottom step of my stairs for 30 seconds, 5 times. And he told me that walking or running on a treadmill will actually make things worse. So, I've got pretty green insoles stuffed inside my Nike's and I'll be balancing on my bottom stair first thing in the morning, every morning. I know that I'll be doing lots of walking in Toronto and I didn't want to be hobbling down the street, so hopefully I see some improvement soon.
After the podiatrist we fought the crowds at Costco - a mattress sized package of toilet paper, a tub of mini blueberry bran muffins (that I'll freeze for school lunches), a case of Annie's, some 9 grain ciabatta buns, etc. I'm always a bit overwhelmed by the crowds of people and the immense size of everything there.
Our next stop was no less frustrating. We went to a second hand clothing store for kids and while I had Julia try on at least a dozen pairs of jeans, Jack attempted to find some back-to-school clothes for Charlotte. By the time I finished with Julia, Jack had come up with one pair of silver sparkly shoes. Hmmm. A quick run through the racks in Charlotte's size and then we were out of there! $50 and we got 2 pairs of designer jeans for Julia (that fit! yay!!) and a t-shirt, plus two pairs of jeans for Charlotte and a nice sweater. Finding jeans for Julia is always an issue - Walmart brands, Children's Place, Joe, Old Navy, none of them fit her. What we do know, is that Miss Me, Abercrombie slim fit, and Gap slim fit DO fit her. She's got such long legs that she needs a kids' size 14 for the inseam length but then it's difficult to find size 14 jeans that can be adjsuted to fit her waist! As long as I can keep finding the designer jeans at thrift stores I'll be ok with that.
After that bit of shopping, the girls are ready for school; lunchbox snacks, clothes, shoes, school supplies, backpacks, lunch boxes, DONE.
As we headed home with Charlotte asleep in her booster seat, Julia absorbed in her book and evidence of a fast food supper on the floor, I said to Jack, "It feels like it was days ago since I went to work this morning." My bed is calling to me.....