Scribbles and Photos

Freedom Tower - South Face (entrance to the memorial) I am four weeks post op after a chailectomy on my big left to e ( Wiggling My Toes ) .  This week, I got new exercises at PT (standing on one my left foot for 30 seconds at a time (3 times) and toe and heel raises (3 sets of ten).  I also graduated to just an “eensy weensy” little band aid for covering the part of my incision that is not fully healed when wearing a shoe and permission to leave it open to the air when barefoot.  I graduated myself to that about a week ago but was “doctor approved” this past Thursday.  Woo hoo. For the next two weeks, I’m on a short leash in terms of how much walking I should do -- a mile is the outer limit until I have less pain after coming home from a walk.   When walking, I need to focus on “rolling through my toe” and trying to regain a more normal gait.  This is hard given that the toe does not move so well yet and so rolling through...

#15 :: Twin Towers, Bansky with a glimpse of surrounding graffiti Sometime back in the Spring I decided that I should get out of the park (Central Park that is) and into the streets a bit more. The deal I made with myself was that I would spend at least one day a month exploring NYC.  For the most part, these expeditions have centered around public art ( Expedition Keith Haring , Art. Sofa. Rope. ) or some architectural wonder ( A Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge , Midtown Reflections ).  This past weekend, I spent time in the park (photos from that expedition accompany First Steps and New Toys ) and a part of yesterday wandering around downtown (photos to follow at some point). Tonight, I did an impromptu art walk with my trusty phone in hand to see the latest creation from #Bansky -- a street artist of some renown who is currently spending a month as artist in residence in NYC.   Unlike my hunt for the Sing for Hope pianos (come to think of it, I have a lot of pho...

Fly Have you ever watched a kid who's just learned how to walk and is now exploring the seemingly vast expanse of his or her world. Usually with a parent following along behind?  She scampers. He sometimes looks like a drunken sailor.  At times she falls quickly and at other times he makes it pretty far before taking that tumble.  Always there is a joyous abandon and fearlessness and a curiosity about the world.  It's all new and the possibilities are endless. As we grow, we lose some of this abandon as we begin to worry about falling and the resulting broken bones.  For some, aches and pains begin to creep into our lives due to the wear and tear that daily use takes on our joints.  We can become a bit more unbalanced as our gaits change to compensate for a joint gone bad.  In my case,  as chronicled in  Wiggling My Toes , the problematic joint was that of my big left toe.  I recently took action to get it fixed -- as opposed to ...

Fall Leaves - Central Park I am making slow progress since posting about my post-operative adventures in  Wiggling My Toes  and Mourning the Corner Drugstore .   I can now actually bend my toe and the incision is almost healed.  It's going to leave a pretty awesome scar though.  Much of the progress is due to starting physical therapy (PT) and getting out of the surgical boot into a regular shoe.  I will admit that finding a regular shoe that works was quite challenging -- took two trips to two shoe stores but I was successful.  After a couple of false starts (including a pair of Merrell clogs that is just two big), i have two pairs that are big enough to accommodate the swelling in my left foot but not fall off of my right foot.  Of course, a couple of pairs of shoes for when my toe is all better followed me home.  Looking forward to wearing them. I am still hobbling around with a cane -- more to let people around me know that there is...

Out and About - East River Have you noticed that the corner drug store is no longer a drug store? Out and About - West Side OK, I confess, I noticed this a long time ago.  The big "chain drug" stores are my "go to" stores for a lot more than getting a prescription filled, buying band aids, or picking up a bottle of pain relievers.  I just hadn't given much thought to how poorly these emporiums serve the sick and injured until I was injured myself.  If you've read  Wiggling My Toes , you know that I had a Cheillectomy on my arthritic big toe joint (aka Hallux Rigidus) just over two weeks ago.  The surgery went well and last Thursday my stitches came out.  More importantly, I could ditch the crutches for a cane.  I started back to work this week which has presented its own challenges -- I'm not elevating and icing my foot as much so my toe is a bit more swollen then I would like it to be at this stage. Getting my stitches out also...