End of the Year Thoughts

As the current year comes to an end, a brief mental visit as to what transpired throughout the course of this past year shows the usual ups and downs most normal years bring, plus a few extra bonuses thrown in. The bonuses come in both good and bad forms.
This last year, Veronica and I went on our very first cruise. We went to Alaska. That cruise awoke our traveling spirits and since that last cruise we have booked 2 more cruises for this upcoming year...one to Alaska for 8 days and then one to Europe, a Baltic Capitals cruise in September.
We also went to Las Vegas this last year. Enjoyed it enough to do it again sometime in the future.
Another trip was to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, TN area. We rented a cabin there and we always have fun when we go. I am sure that we will return sometime in the future.
Unfortunately this last year also brought along some unexpected medical issues...mainly my foot problem, which effected several trips and normal day to day living and things that I usually do. I have been dealing with this foot issue for approximately 7 months now and it culminated in my having foot surgery, 5 weeks or so ago. Based on how my foot reacted to the surgery, the outcome wasn't as positive as I had hoped. I have been working very hard on my stretching exercises in order to overcome whatever issues the surgery did not fix. Today I decided to put my sneaker on my left foot. I had been wearing a walking boot but I found that it gives no support to my arch or foot in general and I felt that it was not helping the situation out any by wearing it. So far the sneaker and the orthotics that I have in the sneaker seems to be helping out quite a bit. With a little luck and some hard work on my part, I will be able to put the foot issue behind me. Only time will tell on this issue.
With the new year approaching, Veronica and I have lots to look forward to and many changes seem to be coming our way. There will be more on those changes in the near future but for now, I don't want to say anything that might jinx those changes. Superstitious....not me.

So Whats New

Actually not much but thank you for asking...lol. Been kind of quiet around here. Veronica and I spent a rather quiet and subdued Christmas around here. Because we have so much travel coming up this year and all of the associated cost, we decided to keep this Christmas rather inexpensive. Actually it turned out well. We each got items that we really wanted. We had a really nice holiday and our evening meal was great. All in all, it was a really good day. I have been really working on my foot and ankle. I have been doing my exercises sometimes 4-5 times a day. I am really trying my best to get it back into shape. We have got many a miles to travel this year and I really want to be able to walk it all pain free. I even made up my own type of exercises. The therapy people and my doctor told me some exercises to do but I took it upon myself to modify them a bit. I usually do them bare footed while standing on the carpeted floor. I decided that it made more sense to do them in a tub full of warm to hot water. The heat and moisture would be used to keep everything loose and allow everything to stretch better. So far it seems to have helped out some but only time will tell and we will see where I am at after a month or so.

Foot Concerns

I have been doing my stretching exercises a couple of times a day and I realize that I have only been to one physical therapy session but I have some concerns about the status of my foot. Before I started doing my stretching exercises, my foot felt a whole lot better than it did before the surgery. Now that I have started the exercises and physical therapy, I have started to have pain in the same area as where it was prior to the surgery. I am hoping that this is residual pain from the surgery but it feels almost exactly like it did prior to the surgery but just on a little lower level. I plan on giving it some time and then, if it does not get any better, I will go in for a second opinion as to what is going on and what can be done at this point.