Team Krug developing trust on a lovely Sunday morning after church.

I went to a PT today to get some insight on a foot numbness problem I’ve had for about 18 months. I have been guessing it has something to do with muscle tightness from running pushing the double stroller. I got new running shoes two sizes bigger than usual, undid the laces as much as possible, shortened my mileage after the marathon and only push Ben now (Sam rides). It has slowly gotten a fraction better but I was very curious to see what the PT thought for short term and long term prognosis, and what the cause was. (I’d been to a podiatrist who thought that it was tarsal tunnel syndrome and also thougth my gait was all off. I had my suspicions, though and wanted a second opinion.) So today after a consult, some focused stretching and some massage my feet were literally almost 50% better! We freed up some space in the muscles for blood to flow again and the nerves started to come alive. It’s unbelievable being able to feel the ground under your feet. I don’t know how I’ve managed like this for so long. I have no idea how I’ve done yoga, but I have noticed my balance is a bit off. Hopefully that gets back to normal with some renewed sensation :0 Long ago I knew PTs were the bomb – I worked as an aide while at Univ of VA and one of my best adult friends was a very gifted PT. She really worked miracles for people and I recalled that often the PT was the one to finally put all the pieces together in the jigsaw puzzle of a person’s unusual symptoms. Why I didn’t get a PT consult long ago I don’t know – I just figured this was a podiatrist’s domain. I had already gotten an MRI and an x-ray and they were negative. Anyway, I share all of this because it is hopefully the beginning of the end of a story which has bothered me for a long time. And it means I can keep running, doing intervals and more speed work vs distance for now as long as I am diligent about stretching. No multi-tasking on that, doing a yoga move for one leg while ostensibly stretching the other ;0 I am thankful to have my body back! And I think I will call my old friend at UVA just to make sure she knows how important she is to many people 🙂 

In other news…I’m going to start a grad level stats course in Aug to refresh my brain before pursuing a PhD. And finally…you can have a public health moment any time, any where. Today we were at the optometrist (me and the boys for my annual check) and the man doing the intake asked a variety of questions (drug allergy, etc.). When he came to this one, I had to laugh: “Do you use alcohol?” This question is always asked in a variety of very awkward ways. Hasn’t anyone revisited the phrasing to ensure a more accurate response? This type of wording is not likely to elicit a comfortably truthful answer. After laughing and explaining my response, I said “It depends on the day.” (Kidding!) I suggested rewording to “How many drinks containing alcohol do you have a day, on average?” (I’m sure there’s literature on this and a better way to phrase it, but this is what came to mind with Ben in my lap.) The nice man totally agreed that when people answer this question, it always seems like they feel uncomfortable and may not be giving him the most accurate info. Alcohol consumption does affect your health in many ways, so this is important information to collect as accurately as possible. We thought it might be interesting to tabulate the data pre/post revising the question and see if the drink count goes up. It was funny, though, to respond to the subsequent questions about “Do you have headaches?” (“Noooo, well, only the days I drink a lot.”) or “Have you noticed any changes in your vision?” … ha ha ha… only a public health geek finds this funny, probably.