Adventures in podiatry

Almost three years ago, I had a severe infection in my foot. A local podiatrist saw me on an emergency basis, provided excellent treatment, and all was well. But I have other issues with my feet, and my doctor wanted me to continue to see the podiatrist regularly, and we were a terrible fit. I felt like she was patronizing and judgmental; and we did battle over a particular diagnostic question. It's a complicated question, clearly intended for people with far more significant issues than mine: "If you went walking, how far could you walk before you had cramps-- but if you stretched, you could walk the same distance again." The only honest answer I can give is "that doesn't happen to me." I only have cramps if I have done far too much; or gotten dehydrated or cold; and in any of those cases, I will continue to cramp no matter how much I stretch. But she'd continue to harp on the question, and I'd say something like "I walked 2 miles yesterday and didn't have cramps" and she'd write down "two miles"... and the next time she'd be all "last time you said two miles." So after a while I just stopped going.

I recently had a worrying symptom pop up (spoiler-- false alarm,everything is fine); and when my doctor wanted me to go to the podiatrist, I asked for a new referral. I saw her this week. She took care of the immediate problem, and then started going through a history.. and simply asked, "do you get cramps when you walk?" I replied "only if I'm cold or dehydrated" and that was that. New podiatrist for the win!