My lower limbs have been making this sabbatical half-year hellish. First, there was an unexpected meniscus tear in my right knee; that pain is still there, a sharp needle in that one joint. Then my left knee started swelling up and protesting every time I bent it; that knee has been a weak point for a half century, and I think being more reliant on that leg made it protest more. Then I had a gout flare-up in the left foot, and those of you who’ve suffered one of those know how agonizing it can be. And now, this morning, I wake up to my right ankle experiencing a sharp grinding pain, like it’s going on strike in sympathy with the other joints. Basically everything below the hips hurts right now. I’m also going stir crazy, trapped in my office.
Two things are helping me keep my perspective.
First, years ago I was funded by a cancer training grant, which required me to attend weekly classes on cancer. Many of these were great and useful to me, when they were taught by molecular biologists, but every once in a while they’d bring in a cancer surgeon, which was a very different experience. Most memorable was the guy who had a patient with bone cancer in his lower limbs that spread up into his pelvis. To keep him alive, and to generate the most horrific series of slides I’ve ever seen, they cut him in half at the waist, threw out his legs and pelvis, and tied him off with a knot, where the tag end of his colon and a couple of ureters were left dangling, dripping into a plastic bag.
The happy part of the story is that he lived long enough afterwards to escort his daughter down the aisle at her wedding, which is all he wanted. Also, I’m left with some terrible images that tell me it could always be worse.
They still look a little creepy to me
Second, I’ve always been kind of an anti-foot-fetishist. I’m a hand man. Feet have always seemed like ugly, malformed hands, so I’m most comfortable keeping them tucked away in a pair of shoes. My recent problems mean I’ve been shoeless most of the summer, and when I am getting up to shuffle around, my attention is often focused on my feet. I have started to seriously appreciate my toes. Really, they’ve evolved to spread out the load at the ends of my feet, and I see them doing an important job that has always been obscured by footwear. Then I notice that they also conform to the substrate — we didn’t evolve to walk on flat floors, but on more rugged ground, and there they spread out so that all five toes are in contact. Sometimes, when I’m trying to get from the bedroom to the bathroom, I look down and have to admire the job my toes are doing.
So I’m getting by. I have an appointment with my orthopedist tomorrow, and hope he can fix one or two of my problems.
Ah, the joys of ageing-related decrepitude.
I reckon better a sound mind in a creaky body than a creaky mind in a sound body.
Cold comfort, but one takes what one can.
I’ve seen the ultimate in both extremes, with my mum and my wife’s mum, and I am certain of that.
Good luck.
Youtube has been feeding me videos on leg exercises to do when you’re older in order to have good stability and circulation. I’ve been doing those and my legs have adjusted to the assault. But lately under the category of what fresh hell is this the algorithm has been pushing “Asian squats” on me. In some probably messed up stereotype people in the East are sitting communally in a deep squat because they have kept the flexibility we Westerners lost with our chairs and sedentary lifestyles.
In what might be the baddest of bad ideas I wish to eventually deep squat comfortably. I can almost get there for a few moments but have resorted to trying to plant my buttocks on my heels with a pillow which hurts badly enough. My right knee wasn’t too happy for about a day, so I’m being more gradual. Good quad and shin stretch though.
@2,
problem is you can’t exercise, let alone squat, when your knees are used up. In PZ’s case, I think the way to go would be to fix the knee with the meniscus tear arthroscopically first, then do a TKR on the other one 6 months later, it depends on the cartilage surfaces and how used up they are. The gout is treatable.
“Oh, hey. An update on all PZ’s maladies. I was wondering how he was making out.
Hmm. I wonder what the image of the red balloon is all about? He’s pretty hip, for an old guy; maybe I’ll learn about something new if I search it. Ah, well. I’ll just finish the paragraph while I’m here, and…and…oh, Sweet Mother of Pearl!!! 🤢🤮”
Look, I’m an ER physician assistant. You have to go around the block to disturb me. That did it. Congratulations?
Look at the bright side. You are healthier than Robert Redford.
Hollywood Legend Robert Redford Has Died at Age 89
Good luck PZ!!
that’s pretty rough.
I don’t have anything helpful to add, but you have my sympathies, and I hope things ease up a bit soon.
Interesting. I would have thought of hands as clumsily repurposed feet. Both are useful. I have never found anything disturbing about the sight of feet (and there are plenty of things that weird me out in one way or another).
With the satirical comedy Polyester in the 1980s I learned about the existence of foot fetischism.
Here is a bit of biology for PZ
“A perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility. ”
.https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BRVKqHJ7S/
rorschach @3
PZ is in the rehabilitative phase. I’m aiming for prevention, though deep squats are a bit sus. Trying to be cautious. My hips have hurt in response to the sitting on the heels thing. Definitely doing stuff my body doesn’t like much. PZ is sort of an inspiration in that vicariously I don’t want to have leg issues in 10 years. I’ve had a knee surgery in my late teens (meniscus tear and ligament damage). If PZ is holding off on the meniscus maybe it’s for good reason.
As for feet I managed to bang the hell out of my little toe last week. Not near as bad as I’ve done before. Bruised up for a few days. Still tender. Nowhere near what PZ is going through.
PZ, best wishes for your health.
To keep your feet in good shape while keeping them open to the air, I suggest a good pair of Birkenstock sandals. They have a footbed that is shaped to your foot and provides appropriate support (not flat) that helps everything you pile on top of your feet*. Some idiots will say ‘hippie shoes’. That is so incorrect. They have been made for people serious about their feet since 1774.
As a dear friend of ours said, “Talk fast, walk slow and keep on truckin'”
*I still maintain humans walking upright was a stupid move. Instead of distributing the weight of the body along the spine and on 4 extremities instead of just two, upright stance piles all the weight of your body on your spine, hips, knees, ankles and feet.
rorschach @3:
Not necessarily. I blew out my right knee (ACL and meniscus) playing soccer 47 years ago. Before my knee replacement in 2022, I’d had advanced osteoarthritis for decades, and in the last few years I couldn’t walk unaided (cane at best, usually a crutch).
But through all that, right until the day before surgery, I could still get a good workout on the stationary bike. Doesn’t mean everyone with bad knees can do that, but it’s worth mentioning.
I’ve often complained to my wife about the bad design of my body, especially about the stupid, numerous joints. She told me to write a stern letter to the manufacture but I can’t find a good address.
Good luck, PZ.
The surgical procedure you describe is called a hemicoporectomy. There has only been one of them at the Markey Cancer Center where I work in the 15 years that I have been here. I collected tissue for a research project. I will never forget that case!
There are other reasons than cancer for hemicorporectomy.
It is done for bone infections such as osteomyelitis of the pelvis or traumatic crushing injuries.
Surprisingly enough, average survival is 11.0 years with good long term care.
I still wouldn’t want one.
Mid 70’s, post heart attack, 8 years of reforming my body, and in the best shape since early adulthood. What I’ve learned: 1. knees can heal meniscus tears, but not if you are using them in the same manner as always through the healing period. Get a good knee brace, and wear it for 7-10 days (not at night). If knee still hurts, put it on for another week, etc. 2. Reforming how you use your body as part of reforming major joints and feet takes time. It all connects together, so changes in thigh muscles will change the pull on knees and ankles, etc. Constantly re-evaluate, and don’t be thrown off as things change. 3. Most exercise programs for older folks either don’t do near enough, or demand stuff like deep squats that you shouldn’t be doing until you are ready – maybe 2 years down the road. 4. Emphasize strength training, not endurance. 5. A good coach or physical therapist is worth the money, even if you only check in periodically to get on-going evaluation and direction. Pain sucks – much sympathy.