Again I have not been around for a while, this is partly because there is not so much to update people on and because I have been away training as part of my new job.
The new job continues to be very interesting and enjoyable and very much off of my feet and this is such a huge relief. Being off of my feet during the day means that I do not come home in pain and just want to flop on the sofa and as a result I am getting out there and doing more exercise.
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This exercise is important, I think that since the foot got really bad I have let myself use it as an excuse for continued weight gain and in the last year or so I have probably put on a stone (or two) and now that I am off of my feet during the day and improving the time has come to do something about it. At the moment I am typically getting up before work, 4 days a week, to cycle about 5 miles on an exercise bike and then playing a kind of fitness game on the PlayStation for about an hour in the evening and during my lunch break I am going for a 20 minutes walk as this is something that I can now do (I have nice places to walk to, see pictures). On top of this I am also eating very healthily and I already feel more energetic and so much fitter. I have lost weight in both of the last 2 weeks and probably need this to continue for a couple of years to get down to a good BMI and that is what I am setting out to do (so at least I will have weight loss to keep people updated about if nothing else).
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Recently I reported that my foot was really dry and actually this became a bit of a problem as the bottom of my foot became tight however a week of using E45 on it has really cleared that up and it no longer seems to be a problem.
The forum continues to have one or two people join here and there and share their story, please continue to do this and hopefully we can find people that were in a similar position to you can so can give you a bit of advice and if not I am always checking it to give my opinion on things. I would like some more people to interview on here as well, I already have a few people lined up for once they have finished their treatments but this takes time, so if you have either Dupuytren's or Ledderhose and would like to share your story than let me know.
I have also been pleasantly surprised by the continued viewings of this blog despite my reduction in numbers of posts and I thank you all for visiting, please do comment, e-mail or post on the forum as the more people we get talking about this the better. Speaking of which I am thinking of e-mailing a paper to see if we can't get a story out about Ledderhose and the availability of Radiotherapy as a good treatment for it in the UK at least. I will of course keep you all updated on how this progresses, certainly there are several out there about Dupuytren's and I think it is time the shoe was on the other foot, it will be great to raise awareness and not just of the disease to the public but to GP's and of course will raise awareness of radiotherapy as a treatment option to patients, which as many people have found out is something you often have to discover for yourself.
Good luck to everyone and I'll keep you posted, but for now I am happy with the way my foot is progressing although I still need the stick and can't stand for long periods of time (yet?) but I am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel, perhaps I am even out the other end and the exercise makes me feel so positive.
Stories on Dupuytren's:
So glad things are improving and so proud that you continue to give other sufferers hope. The value of that cannot be over-estimated.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the nice comment, with the amount of positive feedback and e-mails that I am getting I don't see how I can stop doing the blog and supporting others and still sleep at night knowing how much pain and how lost I felt less than a year ago. If I can help even just one person a year who is in a similar position to what I was then it is worth the effort.
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