Thankful Thursday!

Yesterday I was thinking how I needed to post but I didn't know what to post about. Well, now it's Thursday and so I have a topic. I think I'll keep thinking and get something posted this weekend or something. But for now, these are the things I'm thankful for:

• Books - I'm really into Fiction right now, but I just love to escape into a book. I love learning new things about myself and other people.
• Time with my husband. You don't realize how precious it is until it's gone. Well, IT'S BACK!
• Planning vacations or fun things.
• Family pictures.
• The comfort and ease in a good strong friendship.
• Weather that makes my heart sing.
• Acupuncture
  

Look inside for a minute and find out what your thankful for today. Have a great Thursday everyone.

Thankful Thursday!

I really enjoy the Thankful Thursday posts. It reminds me to slow down and think of something that makes me happy. I don't spend time leading up to this post thinking about what I'm going to write. When I open up the New Post tab and write my find my picture, that's when I start thinking about what I'm going to post today. This post might be a little different if I took the time throughout the week to think about my thankful things.

Anyhow... Today I am thankful for:

• family issues resolving themselves. Sometimes they don't need a hash out, you can just sweep it under the rug and know that it was a time when things just didn't work out quite right.
• Family members reaching goals that have taken years of work. Congrats Dr. AMY!!!!!
• Acupuncture. I don't know what normal peoples feet feel like, but I feel like my feet are normal. I can't remember what my feet felt like before they became overworked, so I don't have a comparison any more. I'll take no cramps after 30 to 45 seconds of hard pointing!
• Today being Brad's last final for this semester. Thank you Lord, for getting us both through this year of school with our sanity mostly intact.
• Weather that allows you to eat outside.

I think 5 is a good number. What are you thankful for?

My Feet

Throughout my life I have been to doctors and physical therapists for my feet multiple times. From dancing for 20 years my feet are BEAT UP! My biggest issue has always been my arches. It started as a pulling sensation when I was dancing and has now progressed into cramping. When I first went to the podiatrist they said that the issue was plantar faciitis. I got a bunch on exercises to do on my own to stretch and strengthen my feet.

Now if you have ever seen the kind of dance I do, strengthening my feet doesn't seem like the right course of action. I went home and looked up Plantar Faciitis to see what the symptoms were and if I had them. Big fat negative on that one.

A few years later ..... I went to a new podiatrist. Told them what was up and what they had diagnosed me with before. They said that my achilles tendon was too tight and sent me home with some different stretches. This made more sense to me, however the stretches didn't help.

Last year..... I went to a sports doctor for knee pain and my feet. He sent me to physical therapy for my knee and had them work with my feet too. Chris, my physical therapist, was baffled by my feet. He watched me walk (no real problems, slightly pronating), watched me dance, watched me just point my feet, looked at my dance shoes, everything. He got together with a friend of his that works with the local professional ballet company to talk about my feet. After all that we tried stretches, ultrasound, massage, manipulation, taping techniques, stuff in my shoes, soooo many different things. Taping my feet worked .....sorta. The rest felt good but didn't do anything for the cramping or hurt and didn't help. He eventually kind of gave up on it. I went back to the sports doctor and he started doing ART (Active Release Therapy). This is basically deep sports massage and some of the most painful therapy I have ever received. 6 to 8 sessions later I wasn't noticing a difference so I stopped going for that.

Last week..... My mom was headed to a oriental medicine center that offers acupuncture along with it's other treatment options. Acupuncture is covered under my insurance, so I figured I would give it a try. I have been for two treatments with my third one today. I haven't noticed a difference yet, but I don't know how many treatments they suggest. I"m going to ask her tonight. I thought you guys would like to see what my feet look like during these treatments. :) So here is a picture for you. There are a few needles that you can't see, but most of them are visible in this picture. I also have to add that this has been one of the least painful treatments for my feet so far.