I have a diagnosed medical condition that I did not know existed a month ago. I am using the proper noun “I” often because this is all about me.  I believe this problem has existed for some time because I wrote about it in 2012.

Humor is often my escape from the cruelty of reality.  In 2012 I started falling down on occasion.  I was tripping.  My response was normal – I began to lift my legs higher when stepping.  After four years I was mostly marching around.  People would stop me and ask, “What is wrong with your foot?”  I answered simply, “I don’t know”.  Well, now I know.

Last month I stopped for some groceries, two small plastic bags.  I have four steps up into my home.  I stopped at the steps and told myself, “Lift your feet!” I tripped on the first step and scattered groceries on the patio. It was time to surrender – a term that I never use lightly for I have never been mature enough to surrender at anything until all the potential damage was done.

My Nurse Practitioner, who I trust completely, had me take my shoes and socks off and walk around the office barefoot.  A good exhibitionist such as me never misses an opportunity to gather attention.  I sat on the exam room table with my feet hanging down.  My left foot drooped more than my right.  “Was I tripping more with my left foot than my right?”  I do not know.  My NP sent me to another Nurse Practitioner who is more specialized.  It took the second lady about twelve seconds to see the problem.  My marching into her office was the evidence.  Apparently I have a condition called foot drop – on both feet.

It is a form of Neuropathy.  My range of voluntary motion with my foot is about an inch, where it should be like ten or twelve inches. The attached image of a foot brace is almost exactly what I have. Well, I have two of them.  I took the insert out of my walking shoe, inserted the brace, and reinserted the insert pad.  The change in my gait was immediate.  I was not marching.  I was stepping heel to toe as I am supposed to.  I felt relieved.

There would no longer be several falls every day.  I have stopped tripping.  I am mostly unaware of the braces.  We live in the age of modern medicine.  My braces are made of carbon fiber and weigh only a few ounces.  $1,100 for each brace (My co-pay was $100 for each brace”.

Physical therapy has helped me physically and emotionally.  The neuropathy apparently stopped signals along some nerves that control some calf muscles.  Those muscles atrophied, but they are still there.  I have exercises I can to to regain some use of the muscles.  At the moment it looks like I shall wear the braces for the rest of my life.  The nerve damage cannot be fixed.

I accept my diagnosis with gratitude.  The braces allow me to walk normally.  Putting them on in the morning is a nuisance because my body does not bend like it used to.  But I can work on that.  While I have braces, I am not helpless.  There are things I can do to improve my quality of life.  I am typing this post rather than do the exercises.  But that is the way it is sometimes.