Several years ago I had to have an Austin bunionectomy. Don't look it up online -- it's horrifying, graphic, and nausea-inducing. (You just looked it up, didn't you? Well, don't say I didn't warn you.) I have abused my feet for years, from tearing down hot summer streets barefoot to soccer to judo, and I'm sure the way we played marbles as kids (kicking the inside of one foot with the other foot to shoot the marbles into holes) didn't help.
I like movement.
I've always been hard on my feet. Once I even cut one of them (Lefty) almost in half. Last summer I gave myself a double-dose of Achilles tendonitis, and it still hasn't repaired itself. Seriously -- I'm a teacher; I'm on my feet all bloody day long.Now it seems a new problem has arisen. I seem to have given myself permanent nerve damage with something called Morton's neuroma. Apparently the relief (not cure) for this is cortisone injections directly into my foot.
Can you say, "Bullshit to that"? Sure you can. I knew you could.
Looks like I'll live in pain until my foot falls off from gangrene, or whatever next crazy-ass ailment it decides to get. Looks like my running career will be shorter than I expected, and there won't be any returning to the mat for judo no matter how many times I've rolled that around in the back of my brain.
So, the next time my coworkers comment on my gait ("Are you limping?"), I will simply answer, "Why, yes, yes I am, and it's all Austin Achilles Morton's fault, the bastard."
Man, oh, man. It sucks to get old.
