Best Foot Forward.

Tagged: mindset

A pun meme on a black background showing the sole of a bare foot, captioned above and below: 'Don't bother asking a podiatrist for metric conversions. He only knows feet.' with a PainfulPuns logo in the corner.
Day 42Boot / Transition

Don't Stop

Today is a time machine. It points backward and forward at the same time, and I'm standing right in the hinge of it: six weeks post-op, to the day. First, the…

Pain 3/10 NWB six-week-check · throwback · hardware
A someecards-style meme in dusty pink with two suited men, one adjusting the other's collar, captioned: 'Time flies when you're having fun... or something like that.'
Day 40Boot / Transition

Fly Like an Eagle

OH MY GAWD, I just realized it's been days since I posted. And honestly? I think that's a good thing. I've been off doing this wild new activity called life -…

Pain 2/10 NWB boot-transition · weight-bearing · six-week-check
A retro comic-style illustration of Plato, the Greek philosopher, in a teal tunic and orange sash, captioned in bold cream lettering: '“Nice argument, but how much can you bench?” - Plato'.
Day 35Boot / Transition

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Going on week 3 of heavy lifting, week 4 of stretching and mobility. And god, what a difference it all makes. The catch is that it matters what and how I'm…

Pain 2/10 NWB boot-transition · strength-training · mobility
A Kermit the Frog puppet lying tucked in white bedsheets with wide, exhausted eyes, captioned 'When you want to sleep because of the fatigue but you can't sleep because of the nerve pain. #MSlife'.
Day 34Boot / Transition

Shock the Monkey

Hooo boy. That foot nerve pain is back, baby. BACK. It showed up around 10pm last night and yanked me right out of a dead sleep. For whatever reason my foot…

Pain 4/10 NWB boot-transition · nerve-pain · swelling
Alexis from Schitt's Creek in a denim jacket, smiling and shrugging, with the caption 'Just being me' and a smiley emoji.
Day 32Boot / Transition

The Future's So Bright

Confession: I forgot to post yesterday. Not because anything went wrong. Because everything went... fine. I stretched. I slept great. I hit the weights, ate…

Pain 2/10 NWB boot-transition · mindset · goals
An animated Looney Tunes clip of Bugs Bunny sobbing dramatically, fat cartoon tears streaming from both eyes.
Day 30Boot / Transition

The Distance

Let me be straight with you: today the foot genuinely hurts. There's a deep, insistent throb in the heel bone this morning, well past the dull background ache…

Pain 5/10 NWB boot-transition · mindset · pain
A flat-style illustration of a woman with dark hair in a bun and a magenta top, reaching up to arrange a horizontal roadmap on a wall: five colorful chevron arrows, each stamped with a clock, connected by dashed lines to note cards above and below.
Day 29Boot / Transition

Time Is on My Side

I am, at my core, a person who needs a finish line. Hand me a goal and a timeline that ends somewhere I can actually point at, and I will happily grind toward…

NWB boot-transition · weight-bearing · timeline
The 'Conspiracy Keanu' meme: a wide-eyed young man with tousled hair looking bewildered, captioned 'THE UPDATE IS' across the top and 'THAT THERE IS NO UPDATE' across the bottom.
Day 28Boot / Transition

The Waiting

Some days the headline writes itself. Today's headline is: nothing to report. The update is that there is no update. Exactly four weeks ago I came home from…

NWB boot-transition · weight-bearing · physical-therapy
A meme captioned 'my body after doing absolutely nothing all day,' showing two blue x-ray-style illustrations of a human figure with glowing red pain points at the neck, knees, and ankle.
Day 27Boot / Transition

Scar Tissue

Facebook did the thing today where it reminds you who you were nine years ago. And nine years ago today, I was parked in a chair a lot like the one I'm in now,…

NWB boot-transition · scars · comparison
A Ron Burgundy meme: Will Ferrell in character as the mustached anchorman in a blue suit, looking earnestly at the camera, with bold caption text reading 'THAT'S A HODGEPODGE.'
Day 26Boot / Transition

Here Comes the Sun

I skipped yesterday's entry but I did not skip all the required stuff like stretching and eating healthy and soaking up the sun. I realized I was feeling a…

Pain 2/10 NWB boot-transition · mental-health · vitamin-d
A meme of a happy little white chihuahua swimming through bright blue water with its eyes closed and a blissful grin. Floating labels name skincare and supplement ingredients around it: 'Hyaluronic acid,' 'Retinol,' 'Glycolic acid,' 'Vitamin C,' 'Vitamin E,' and 'Amino acids,' with 'Peptides' near the tail and the dog itself labeled 'Me.'
Day 24Boot / Transition

A Change Is Gonna Come

OK, peptide convo time (so muff your eyes and ears if this is not your jam) OMGGGGG the FDA's Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee did something amazing…

NWB boot-transition · peptides · fda
Meme of an open package of Nabisco Oreos with the cookies lined up in a neat row, captioned 'I JUST DID A LINE.'
Day 23Boot / Transition

Lean on Me

Let's talk about how much surgery recovery leans on a positive mindset. Look, I'm not going to get all goofy here or start spouting Brené Brown-isms, but this…

NWB boot-transition · mindset · friendship
A black-and-white photo from a 1984 fitness book: a young John Travolta in a black sleeveless unitard and white headband sits on the floor with his legs extended straight in front of him, arms reaching forward over his legs mid-stretch.
Day 9Early Recovery

Physical

Today's entry is about stretching, and how it has officially become a non-negotiable around here. Since this is my 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... 6... 7... EIGHTH foot and…

Pain 2/10 NWB early-recovery · stretching · exercise
A meme of Ken Jeong in a classroom, squinting hard at a tiny scrap of paper held up to his face, with white text reading: 'Me trying to find my patience.'
Day 6Early Recovery

Patience

Day 6, and I've entered the in-between. The acute pain is gone. Not "managed," not "tolerable": gone. What's left is soreness, plus the occasional sharp little…

Pain 1/10 NWB early-recovery · mindset · patience
Selfie of a smiling woman with long blond hair, wearing a heather-gray t-shirt printed with bold black block letters reading 'EVERYTHING HURTS.'
Surgery daySurgery

The Final Countdown

3... 2... 1... it's go-time. And it feels exactly like my very first Badwater race day in 2015, and the ones I was lucky enough to run in 2016 and 2019. All of…

FWB surgery · badwater · mindset
A narrow road winding down through dark, reddish volcanic hills into a vast open desert valley, with a long mountain range rising in the hazy distance; a remote Panamint Valley descent at low light.
Pre-op · 7d to surgeryPre-op

Dream Weaver

The other night I had a dream that I was running on a cart path. And I was running fast. Nothing hurt. I remember thinking, clear as day, "why on earth am I…

FWB pre-op · dreams · pain-science