He walks the earth in our shoes

Late for an appointment

I was in hospital again today for an appointment at 15:00, unlike my other appointments, the Orthopaedic department does not seem align its scheduling with the Oncology or Internal Medicine departments.

I usually get a letter in the post asking for me to attend at a particular time, there are times I have wanted to shift the appointments but somehow the personnel do not have the availability that allows for such flexibility.

I made it to the hospital by bicycle and I must say it was dreadfully cold last night when I was out at the main library, I was dressed like an Eskimo with my leather gloves doubled over and I arrived for my appointment a few minutes late – I do hate being late, but my day seemed to start a bit slower than I wanted.

Hats off in greeting

After waiting about 20 minutes I was called by the man who did my shoe fitting in November, I do not know his technical capacity but he seems to be the hands-on man, the orthopaedic consultant was in the office along with a specialist nurse.

As one is wont to do, I took off my hat before shaking hands which seemed to impress the consultant as he remarked to the nurse in Dutch, they introduced themselves and I sat down.

Everyone wanted to see my foot which I said had improved considerably, the shoe and socks came off but before I could get my scissors, the nurse came forward with hers and cut the bandages off, they were quite impressed with the condition of the foot.

New treatments recommended

The consultant advised that I reduce the use of special shoe by half over the next two weeks. I could now use my normal shoes for outdoors and the orthopaedic shoe mainly for indoor use, they also recommended that the Mepitel dressing be discontinued because the dressing will now not help the skin thicken and firm up as it should, the Vaseline massages of the soles should also stop because the grease would not be as effective.

Tomorrow, I can collect from my local chemist a special cream that I can apply to my feet to deal with the dryness and help complete the healing process.

In the process, I can also reduce the use of the crutches, but considering I had lost some muscle mass over the time I was unable to put weight on my left foot, that support is useful, I think I would return the crutches soon after Christmas.

Pulling one for the hat

During the conversation, we did talk a lot about hats, the consultant liked my hat and asked I got it from, well, there is a milliner in Cologne who has been making hats since 1969, they are a married couple and every opportunity I have had, I have visited to get a hat or two.

When I first shopped there some 6 years ago, I bought a pork-pie hat that allowed for the front end to be pulled down almost in trilby style, of all the hats I have bought from that shop, it has been the most durable, so the last time I was there, I bought of that style and I have been quite happy with them.

If you in need of capable, efficient and professional milliners with a traditional sense of purpose and service you can visit Gronau M. & A. at Friesenplatz 12 in Cologne, and if you say they were recommended by the black man from Amsterdam, they will probably go Aha! Smile and serve you very well.

Walking the earth in our shoes

As the meeting closed, the consultant, revealed he had been at a concert where a prolific drummer who used to be part of Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s band played, he had been in Kenya for 8 years and could speak Kiswahili and since he was visiting London soon, he wanted to know where Nigerians mostly congregate.

He seemed to have a keen interest in things African, but more broadly, he just liked to know where his patients came from. For an orthopaedic consultant, he probably has walked the whole earth in the shoes of the many who have been under his care.

I thanked them very much for their care and concern, wishing them a merry Christmas, we now have a tentative arrangement to another appointment in March 2010 after which I suppose my foot would have been certified completely healed and back to its full functional ability.

My left foot

Door-to-door transport available

I was back in hospital again today to do two things, the main appointment was to get my new shoe and the ancillary one was to have blood taken for tests.

Thinking through how to get to the hospital without using the landau of unnecessary ostentation, I found there was door-to-door public transport from my home to the main entrance of the hospital, with a very convenient change-over half-way through the journey.

After a few checks on the local transport times, I got the bus and changed to the tram without having to stop for long arriving at the hospital some 30 minutes to spare before the shoe appointment.

No appointments are required for the blood giving exercise, you arrive, take a number and you are processed, pricked and your venesection is complete in less than 15 minutes.

No foretaste creates low expectations

I then went to the Orthopaedic section and waited as the appointed time came and went, I did not get seen for another 35 minutes, in which time I had buried myself in a Sudoku puzzle and read a few articles in the Economist.

In this experience, I can say never have I seen the greater need for a clear idea of what you will be getting just as for a house you see plans and models, for machines you get prototypes and for curtains you get colour cards and all the matching stuff to help you in informed decision making.

I received no such thing regarding my orthopaedic shoe such that the shoe I was fitted with last week did not get a glowing review at all, I was planning on rejecting the shoe today such that I had painfully shoe-horned my foot into one of my wide but regular shoes to prove a point.

I really should have been given an idea of what I would be getting, I was pleasantly surprised. But it shows how without a foretaste you can end up with extremely low expectations.

I really like it

Apparently, what I wore last week was prototypically to model the wearing and fitting to the real shoe, especially the shoe inlay which was to bear and distribute the weight underfoot with due consideration of the painful but healing lesions.

So, out came this boot, the inlay first tried out on my foot then put into the boot and I put on the shoe, it got all laced up and pulled to fit and there we were, a shoe that looked like it was begging for a partner shoe to make up a pair.

Black, thick felt, moulded to my own foot, bespoke and wearing well, but just for my left foot.

It fits well and I have offered a slideshow of the shoe and inlay here, pictures can do the rest of the talking.

My Shoe Slideshow on Flickr

To live in one shoe

Off the foot for a shoe in

The whole tiring event of today was contained in a hospital visit. Whilst I was yet in hospital it was suggested that a special shoe be constructed for my foot.

It was considered a difficult task because the lesions under my sole were at or close to the weight-bearing parts of my foot.

How you displace the weight in such way that each step was not an earthquake of stabbing pain would call on the genius of these specialist orthopaedic cobblers.

Appointed m’lady

So, this visit which could not be merged with other planned visits to the hospital, I was there to try out my half a pair of Jimmy Choo’s, Manolo Blahnik, you have no patch on these footwear.

First, the receptionist said I had no appointment but was quick enough to realise her mistake before I took the ante to the next octave, this was set 5 weeks hence and still this was not for my bespoke shoe - in all, this conception to acquisition will take 7 weeks, I can get a bespoke suit done in Asia in 24 hours.

When the shoe was finally presented, it was like a low-heeled pump/boot and the inlay of wood, silicone and some padding that would blend better with Caucasian skin.

It was fitted and there were parts marked out for modification and improvement, meanwhile, my foot had seen enough rough handling to start crying out with pain.

The beauty of the shoe

My sole had changed a bit since the first analysis, a greater surface area of skin had already become necrotised than the original lesion areas, these bits of skin when pulled back expose fresh red skin that would form the basis of new sole skin, but as it heals the surface nerves are so sensitive and are active transmitters of pain, I have to ask if there are better pain management regimes I can use.

This bizarre construct of a shoe might require that I have a heel added to my normal right-foot shoe, methinks, this shoe would not have long to travel and you cannot imagine the cost of this sandal pretending to be a boot when it was only mustered the admiration of a slipper.

At least, if you are going to make a special shoe try a bit of beauty – is that too much to ask, do the sick have to be seriously made up to look very sick indeed? I have a separate appointment next week to pick them up.