New Shoes, and a Sippy Cup

For my birthday, I went out and got a pair of Vibram Five Fingers shoes.

The part where it says they improve balance, is an understatement. Since I've started wearing these shoes nearly 2 weeks ago, I haven't had to use my cane at all, my feet aren't dislocating all over the place, and my hips are happier than they've been in a long time.

The only unhappy part of me seems to be my knees. These shoes don't have much for soles, so they don't have much for padding, which means they teach you (through negative reinforcement) to step more lightly. It seems that in regular running/walking shoes, I was walking so far to the outside of my foot that I was causing everything to be completely out of whack, and with the padding in the shoes, I was stepping more heavily than I should have been, which may have been causing the extraordinary hip pain.

But these shoes! They're comfortable! It feels like you're barefoot, so that's the biggest plus for me. With the proprioception/balance issues, most of my non-visual balance comes from the pressure in different parts of my feet, and in normal shoes all of that information feedback is dulled to the point where it's practically non-existent. I'm not saying these shoes are for everyone, but for me, they're wonderful. I may never go back to normal shoes until I find it impossible to wiggle my toes into their places.

Now on to the sippy cup part of the post. I was sitting at the computer, watching a movie, and I turned my chair so I could get up and walk over to my meds... When *Crash, Splash, Drip... drip... drip...* there went my full glass of juice. It went all over the desk, the carpet, and the floor rolly thing the chairs are on. Luckily it didn't get into any of the computers, monitors, keyboards, or anywhere else that would have caused damage... So after I spent half an hour cleaning all of the juicy bits, I went to the kitchen, and grabbed a coffee travel mug, and I've been using that ever since. Added benefits: less easy to spill, not as heavy as a glass, and it keeps my juice cold longer! I just feel a bit disappointed in myself that I had to resort to that. I feel like once again, I am growing younger instead of older.

I swear, I had more to post about, but this brain fog thing is no joke. I was at supper with my author friend, and his author friends, and my hubby and roommate, and I was in the middle of a sentence, and I lost my thought. It was like, "Hey, speaking of -insert topic- I was wondering..." and that's as far as the thought train took me. It was about 3 or 4 days later that I remembered what I was about to ask.

I Miss Saturdays...

I slept through three Saturdays in a row...

One of them was understandable, as I had been drinking the night before, but it really sucks when your weekend gets cut in half because the body says "Must... Sleep... NOW!"

My left hip has been bothering me a lot lately. More than usual. So I went to the doctor to see if I could have an x-ray to check for deterioration/damage due to the ridiculous number of dislocations/subluxations I've had, and it turns out my hip is fine. No damage. Which is good news for my hip, but it doesn't explain the pain... So the doctor wants me to go see my geneticist, and have him refer me to a rheumatologist, and maybe send me for an MRI. Not fun. I'm tired of all the tests coming back normal. I was hoping for something like "you have a hairline fracture" or "look at the little bits of bone you've chipped off your hip" because something could be DONE to fix me then.

I also saw another neurologist about my twitching issues, and apparently the doctor that referred me to her didn't send any of the appropriate paperwork, and I didn't have it with me, because I thought they would have it there. Apparently the last neurologist wanted to send me for some heart related tests, and never did, so this lady is going to send me for some. Maybe. If she remembers. (Do I sound bitter or frustrated?)

Yesterday was weird. I had practically zero proprioception, and I was dizzy like you wouldn't believe (who am I kidding, the people reading this are the ONLY ones who would believe), and I was wobbling around as though I'd had a lot to drink. I was also twitching way more than is usual lately, so it might be related to my blood pressure... I had trouble locating my pulse. When I did find it, it was very slow, and very weak. I tried eating, and drinking lots of water to help with blood pressure. The only thing that seemed to help was walking home from work. But that just exhausted me, so once I got home, I curled up into a nice little ball and threw in a DVD of Dead Like Me.