Ouchie

Y'all remember when I had plantar fasciitis after moving all those boxes, and I went to a Burbank podiatrist and got a shot of cortisone, some exercises, some Hoka sneakers, and some fancy custom insoles?

Maybe you don't remember that much detail but anyway, it seemed to get WORSE after doing all that, and the pain migrated and evolved a bit, so I made an appointment with a fancy-schmancy foot doctor in Manhattan, flew East for the July 4th weekend, and got a foot ultrasound and rock star foot guy said...

...I have torn my plantar fascia. His assessment is the cortisone made the pain go away and I then proceeded to walk all the heck over the place and not take it easy (which is true). He also said the custom insoles are basically garbage and the shoes are fine but not any better than other similar (and cheaper) shoes. He gave me a lecture about for-profit medicine and how our very stupid health insurance system incentivizes doctors to do little add-ons to get more money from a visit since most in-network fees are quite small.

And then he assigned me to go to physical therapy until my foot has improved, and said I should toss the custom insoles and get less rigid over-the-counter ones. (I suspect their rigid arches might have exacerbated the situation.)

Today I had my first physical therapy. It was like getting a really intense foot massage, but with homework. And I have to go three more times over the next two weeks before I'm allowed to return to California, then I'll probably have to come back a few weeks later, or maybe I'll be improved enough I can go to a Burbank PT for a while.

In short, I have a doctor's note requiring me to go to Manhattan. Which would be more fun if I didn't also have a doctor's note to take it easy and stay put in my apartment in Jersey City.