New Shoes!

Yesterday was a pretty exciting day overall. I got a new, custom made, pair of orthotics, of course had to buy new shoes to wear them in, learned about some new food allergies, dyed an old and dingy purse a new color (bright red), and found out that my bridesmaid dress is in so I can pick it up tomorrow. For now, I'll only focus on the first two things.

My new orthotics are carbon fiber, which means they were expensive, and were made from a mold of my very own two feet. They're pretty sweet! They're flexible in the arch, so they give a little bit to help shock absorb, but not so rigid that they let my arches collapse. The heels are built up a bit and flat across the bottom so that my heels can't roll around while I'm walking, which, I suppose, helps both the knees and the feet. And they're padded with this cushiony material to make them less harsh on the tootsies. Oh yeah, and they have metatarsal pads to help spread my toes when I walk. I guess that probably helps with balance, weight distribution, and probably fixes the funky way that I get from here to there.
When I picked them up yesterday, the guy told me that I should break them in by adding an hour to the time that I wear them each day. I started out with an hour yesterday, so today should have been two hours, however, I forgot to take them out of my shoes this morning, so I wore them all day. I dunno if that's a bad thing to do, but I must say that my knees don't feel too bad. Maybe they're gonna help. That'd be nice!

I should probably go into the business of making and fitting orthotics, prostheses, and braces. Sure seems to me like there's a LOT of money to be made in the field. I know someone has taken a few very nice vacations thanks to my contribution to the cause over the last 10 years or so!

So yeah, that is actually how high my arches are. It doesn't seem that bad until you see them up against each other like that! I could probably stick a highlighter through the gap. The crazy thing is that my arches actually flattened out quite a bit after my surgeries in 2003. My feet grew a half-size after that. They must have been insanely high...anyway...

Oh yeah, and here's a pic of the new shoes! Since the lighting is less-than ideal, I'll tell you that they're chocolate with light blue and some tanish-gold. Very classy!

I was SO excited to finally be able to buy a regular pair of shoes. It took me forever and ever to choose which ones I was going to buy. I spent about an hour in each of two shoe stores before finally deciding. I didn't even know what size to get. Tens. That's what I need. Just so you know. Anyway, about 45 minutes into my visit to the second shoe store, which happens to be an outlet store, the lady working there finally talks to me and asks me if I'm finding everything alright. She looked at me like I was crazy until I explained my situation to her. I told her that I hadn't been able to buy shoes that weren't z-coil in like 5 years or more and that I had to be sure that I chose the right pair. I felt like I was under a lot of pressure! When I was paying for them, she assured me that I made an excellent choice. I think that I did. They're super sweet and super comfy. I mean, what more can you really ask for in a shoe? Besides maybe a bottle opener... As those are sandals, that's a whole 'nother story.