My Right Foot

A Piscean Dilemma

Pisces have a focus on the foot. Each astrological sign has its own attending body part and mine is my feet. Oh, they've seen troubles on their way- cuts requiring stitches, broken toes, plantars warts, and the 2001 'drop', which resulted in two broken heels, as well as some nasty arthritis in my two big toes.

In Ann Arbor the foot issue arose mysteriously. Suddenly my right foot hurt to the point that walking was not a good option. For a traveling nomad, this did not suit! But the timing was actually as good as it could be, if it needed to happen at all.

My friend Vicki 'helping' me dance at Lincoln's wedding

I am of the mind that the universe brings me/us interesting occurrences as we might need them. I don't know why I needed to be hobbled at this point in my trip, but I am trusting that I will understand in time. The trick for me is to find the upbeat way to roll with it. So I'm thankful that this happened during the time that I'd be with family and friends in their homes, instead of on the road.




Interesting factoids:

Rolling through Portsmouth with Ariel

• The foot issue was first diagnosed as cellulitus, a particularly scary infection when googled. So antibiotics were prescribed and emergency room visited with non-conclusive X-rays taken.
• The foot didn't respond to antibiotics as anticipated. Another emergency room visit with another round of x-rays- viola, a fracture of the metatarsal.
• During the second visit I had two interesting neighbors on either side of me. On my right was a Somali man with a burnt hand from butchering a goat. Needed an interpreter to get at the details. My favorite part was when he talked about a worm he had in his stomach that talked when the man was hungry. (I choose to believe that this was indeed a talking worm instead of the stomach's hunger grumblings that Ariel was picturing.)
• On the left was a man who had exhibited a seizure and said he was in withdrawal from ____ and needed some ____. Much moaning and groaning and thrashing. After an hour the doctor came in reporting that she'd called around to find that this man was a 'malingerer' and showed no signs of having a seizure. He acted out in order to get free drugs. No drugs would be administered. He proceeded to yell and carry on saying he was dying. From the nurse I hear "get your head out of the rails or I'll get it out myself". 
• If you're going to spend 6.5 hours in the emergency room, better to have a little drama to pass the time. And a loving daughter as company.

Much to my delight, there is a scooter made for one-footers like myself. So visiting Portsmouth NH and Acadia ME were doable with the scooter. Where there's a will, there's a way.