Broken foot update

Today is five months and one day since Bob fell down a dark stairway in a Sutter Creek, California bed and breakfast and broke his foot. Those of you who follow my blog know the story – surgery two weeks later to pin the three broken metatarsal bones together because of all the ligament damage, months of his riding around on a scooter-like vehicle called a RollerAid, walking for weeks after that wearing the Boot, and months of physical therapy. Plus until he could get rid of the boot I was his chauffeur. Believe me, none of it was a pleasant experience.

So here’s an update. He is walking very well wearing New Balance extra wide shoes though his foot is still red and swollen. He does foot exercises and soaks his foot in ice water twice a day, he works out at the gym twice a week with a personal trainer and once on his own, and he has begun to walk for about thirty minutes each day.

I wish I could say that his exercise program is pain free, but that is not so yet. He’s thinking about going back to physical therapy to see if that would help ease the pain. However, he walks free from the back pain that was caused by his having to move around on the scooter and later the boot, putting his body totally out of balance.  So he is making progress. And he goes at a pretty good clip – he complained yesterday that I wasn’t moving fast enough for him.

Well, I improved my gait, and I take great pleasure in being able to walk with him again. But, because I don’t find those 30-minute walks enough exercise for me, we walk after I return from the gym.

However, since he picks the routes – different from the ways I usually go on my big long walks – I get to discover new things around my little beach city. I took a couple of photos of one of our new statues in the patio area between the Manhattan Beach police department, city hall, and library. The patio has four sculptures, but this one is my favorite. I don’t know the title, so I’ve named it Fire Lady. Anybody out there want to give her another name?

Fire Lady - front and back