I left this morning before 7 am when it was -5. I had an appointment at Mayo which I made in December at the dermatology department. I sent a picture of my feet through the portal – here it is. Both feet looked the same. I know it’s gross but there’s a point here.
It started out as the worst itching I’ve ever dealt with. I used a metal back scratcher to scratch until my feet bled. I bought everything I could find over the counter and did get a prescription to calm the itching. But then the itching turned red and got scaly, hot, cracked and very sore. It was always worse at night and then the hot water in the shower irritated it, too. Sometimes I’d wake up in the night scratching my feet until I had to get up and put a cold washcloth over them.
Then it seemed to get better and now I think I’ve solved the mystery. In August before I had surgery on September 8 I got a pedicure at a different salon. Seemed fine. About a month or 6 weeks later I had another pedicure at the same salon.
I cannot prove this and I certainly could be wrong but I haven’t had another pedicure since then and my feet have improved by leaps and bounds. Could I have been allergic to some chemical the salon used? Maybe. I do not know but Mayo decided it was something like infection, fungus, dermatitis and I have several prescriptions to fix it.
I want a pedicure so bad right now – my feet are a mess – I can’t even get the old polish off with regular remover!!! You can bet I will be finding a new salon.
So Keeper was without me today and Rick never really knew where he was. When I opened the gate at 5:15 poor Keeper came running from the northwest – outside most of the day in this weather. I wish I could reassure him that I’ll be back. Sigh. Hazel met me at the garage door crying and singing her song of woe. Both are sound asleep right now. It’s hard to relax when Mom’s not home.
So I did a little shopping – just one blouse and a pair of sneakers. Then I went to the antique mall and bought this new rag rug for $18.
And this vintage baby picture for my collection – have I ever shown you the baby pictures?
I have never seen this one before. Stopped at the chiropractor on my way home – then home for chores, garbage, mail. Yes – all waiting for me. 😖 Sigh
Several of you are up for a wall quilt challenge – okay! I’m on it!
How did Three get his name? Probably 30 years ago a big orange and white cat showed up and he would sit and stare – like Jack Benny used to do on his show. So he became Jack Benny and when he died another orange and white cat showed up who became JB who you all knew until he died at age 19 last spring. In the meantime ANOTHER orange and white cat came along. Remember I wanted to euthanize him because I just couldn’t take any more cats. (the cat distribution system). You guys had a fit!!!Of course nobody volunteered to take him in so what was I to do? His name became JB3 – but who can say all that? So he became Three! What if I died next week? What will happened to my beloved cats? I’ve accepted so many cats from people who were moving or didn’t want the cat anymore. Sigh.
Reader photos
I’m beat – what a long day. I loved hearing from all of you who watched the Indiana game or had some connection to it. I have watched Fernando’s TD so many times – it was a thing of beauty!
So sorry about the foot situation. Your willingness to share, Mary, prompted some interesting comments and advice. Thanks to those who shared.
Indiana certainly had a “Cinderella” year, and well earned. It’s always good to see the message of hard work and sportsmanship on the national scene coming from America’s youth, our future.
Many rescue animals, from their earlier experiences, seem to have separation anxiety. Who could blame them? Shame on their previous owners for memories embedded in these creatures, by thoughtless caregivers. Both of my children have chosen rescue dogs and a cat. One dog has two BB pellets that won’t be removed. Needless to say, any sudden loud sound is very unsettling for her. She is the sweetest girl. Thank you to all who show love and care for these animals
Jan – you’re right! I’m so glad others shared their experiences with nail salons.
I think it was a case of poor cleaning procedures at that salon….that would cause bacteria which caused all the suffering. Cynthia had a very good point – report that place so no one else goes through what you did. I’m so sorry that happened to you! Wanted to mention that our doctor recommended a product for rough edges on feet – Flexitol Heel Balm. We buy it on Amazon and it takes very small amounts to cover the rough spots on your feet. We both noticed a big change in just one day…our feet are soft again and feel so good. Highly recommend this product! Poor Keeper & Hazel — I bet they slept soundly…they were worried about you! Looking forward to the sewalong, too.
So sorry about your feet. My daughter had a pedicure some time ago and got a very painful plantars wart on her heal that was growing into her foot. She had to have it removed with a painful surgery and never has had a pedicure since. Wonder if these salons have to have some kind of regulations on cleanliness?
Thank you for the pictures of the orphan blocks quilts. This inspire me to put something together with my orphan blocks.
Hope your feet get better soon with the medications
I’m hoping that the meds will have a healing effect on your poor feet. Please be patient because sometimes those problems can take a long time to heal completely. Loved all the pics of quilts, cats and sweet babies too. My daughter rescued a dog that is a Heinz 57 mix but she is part Anatolian shepherd & she is the most devoted dog I have ever seen. She will stay with us but she is always on the lookout for my daughters return. Our thrift stores here have gotten really expensive. I don’t know if more people are shopping there due to the economy or if it’s just gotten “trendy”.
Des – is it the overall economy? Why shop thrift? I might as well shop retail. My feet are much better – that picture was taken in November when they were really bad. I tried to get in to the dermatologist locally but couldn’t get in till spring! So I simply sent the picture via my portal to Mayo. And luckily they made me an appointment. I also bought a sun lamp that I use on my feet which I think is helpful.
Your poor foot makes mine hurt, it’s not hard to imagine the discomfort you have suffered. My mom had terrible feet, which I have inherited somewhat, and she always said when your feet hurt you hurt all over and that is the truth. I sure hope all the scripts they have given you works and clears everything up nicely.
Did you know that Medicare pays for pedicures from a pediatrist office? My sister Susan, who sister Nancy says is so tight she squeaks, discovered this and goes routinely as Medicare allows. She loves what the doctors assistant does, clips cleans, buffs and looks for problems that the doctor can analyze if necessary. You definitely need to do that, when Don was mobile I made him go to my pediatrist and he said it was wonderful. He has thick toenails and the woman at the docs office made them seem normal. And no more of those salons where you can’t understand what the people are saying much less know what they are using!
Sammie and Nelson pout when I am gone too. Don says they lay right at the front door, which is full glass and watch for me. When they see a car’s tail lights through the trees they get excited thinking it’s me either getting the mail or starting to turn up the quarter-mile driveway. When they see me come around the trees up the drive they run to the door to the garage and pace waiting for me. Usually they are tired after they go nuts over me and figure I am staying, falling asleep not long after because they missed all their naps waiting.
Love all the kitties. Those piles of four kitties in a box and three in the floor pot are sister Nancy’s. She always seems to get kitties from the cat distribution people – those that I wish would be turned out on the road themselves!
Blessings all and stay warm. Saturday they are predicting it to be -9 with a high of 6 for the day, the rest of the week is not much different. This morning it was 12 on the farm and it didn’t feel bad!
Linda – oh, this is sooo Keeper and Hazel! I swear they recognize my car sound when I turn up the road and run along the fence – they wait at the gate and run through the minute it opens. Then I have to sit there and open the side door so they can hop in. By now the gate is beginning to close and I have to start over. Ha! Our wind chill for this weekend is unbelievable – 40 below. I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced this before. I am so relieved my barn is heated.
Oh, that pile of kitties is darling! I have enjoyed Mortie sooo much – I never thought I’d get to have another kitten again. How is Minnie? And your donkeys in this cold weather?
I wanted to know what you think of this idea for all the ladies to send pictures. Since it is America’s 250th birthday this year, I imagine there are a lot of red, white, and blue projects being made and I would enjoy seeing what everyone is making. Love reading about everything going on in your life!
Janice – we’re on the same page! Maybe this wall quilt we’re all going to make could be red, white and blue for the 250th? I will request your suggestion – thank you!
Oh dear, your feat look nasty! I sure hope the medicine helps. I get terrible itchy around my ankles when I eat tomatoes….anything with tomato, like ketchup, pizza, salad with tomato, you name it. Thankfully, I can lean over and smell Jays fresh sliced ti tomato in the summer and drool! I love tomatoes! I used to eat white bread, mayo, and sliced tomatoes! Yum! I scratch the reaction on my ankles until it is open and then bleeds while I sleep! I use Cerave lotion on my ankles and it helps some. No perfume in it.
Poor Keeper and Hazel, so anxious!
It is white here. Just enough to clean everything up and then blow around.
I’d be interested in the sewalong with the wall hanging.
I’m so glad your legs are getting better. In June my daughter, granddaughter and I had pedicures together in CA. It was my first and I ended up with an infected toe (sorry TMI) which didn’t go away for almost 2 months. It was a fun experience but I won’t do that again. Stay warm and safe with these brutal temperatures. Thursday and Friday we will have wind chills down to -40° here in SE Wisconsin. I’m over winter! 🥶
Linette – I’m doing my errands in town today – it’s 19 degrees right now but Friday is going to be brutal. I have an appointment in another town on Friday which I wish I could cancel but cannot. I’m very interested in others’ stories about infected feet – now I realize I’m not the only one who has had this problem.
My dogs have issues too when I’m not here. Now we’ve lived all together for 10 years and they know they are never beaten or neglected but if I’m gone, they won’t even go out for my husband. He has to coax them with those little Dixie cups of doggie ice cream when I’m gone from them, which isn’t much anymore. Must be that fear of abandonment stays with them, and thank God you went back to follow your gut and brought Keeper home. Many new readers may not know that story either. And yes we all did have a fit about Three, didn’t we and wished we were closer.
Your lunch out looked so good and I give you credit to dine out alone. I’d be woofing a granola bar or two.
The pictures of sweet kitties and quilts and babies are all so nice to see first thing on these cold mornings. Buffalo area has gotten a lot of snow and I hope Carol at Pin Oak quilting is doing ok.
Kathy – Keeper has separation issues for issues and even though he loves Rick, too, he will not be inside with him. When Rick goes outside, Keeper comes in. There has to be something in his past which we will never know. Ok – I will tell Keeper’s story tonight.
Mary, good I’m glad you will retell it. To me it’s a story of just following your own instincts and you sure did for all the right reasons. And I’ll get teary eyed remembering the goodbye.
Ouch, Mary! That looks SO painful. Hope you are on to a solution; prayers for relief and a quick healing!
That baby picture is darling. I don’t think I’ve seen your picture collection, but that doesn’t mean you haven’t shared it – could have been a day I missed. Your new rug is charming, too. You and Jo Kramer are always finding good stuff at the thrift places and antique shops. Maybe I need to go more often…. or do I? My young grandson sometimes goes antiquing with his mother (my youngest daughter). After one of their outing, he will tell me, “Grammy, you have all the same stuff as the antique shop. You could open your own store.” LOL He is exaggerating a bit, but it’s pretty cute that he always reports to me everything he saw that was just like something I have. ~Suzanne
So sorry you experienced that with your feet and ankles! I hope the meds the Mayo gave you help. Glad you found a new salon and I agree with the above commentors about reporting that salon – it could happen to others!
Mary, Please try to find a medi- pedicurist in your area. This is a person who is trained to properly trim your nails and care for your feet and hands , properly filing and removing rough skin. Often this pedicure will not require getting your feet wet! No soaking or shredding skin. Best wishes for happy feet soon!
Mary, I’ve had similar problems with my feet from a previous salon. I never knew what caused the flare up, but I found after all the medications I was prescribed Aquaphor cleared mine up. I have psoriasis & have had a lot of skin problems. Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease, but something triggered it. I’ve been with the same salon for 6 yrs now & no problems. Interesting the use of products with lots of chemicals, I wouldn’t have thought of that. I do have a pedicure faithfully every 6 wks, worth every penny! Hope your meds clear your feet & ankles up quickly!
I hope Mayo figures out what’s going on with your feet. That looks very painful. Zealan is adorable. What a fun find with the vintage baby picture-no, I don’t remember seeing your collection. I have a framed one somewhere. I no longer have it hanging up and don’t even remember where it is.
Mary,
I had similar problem with my legs and feet. I no longer let them put the lotions on my legs or feet. There are sooo many chemicals and perfumes in the lotion it was causing an allergic reaction. I have no issues now. I have found that the spray on itch relief works better than most other things for the itch.
As for your cats, if you dropped dead tomorrow, someone else would take them. Probably not all of them to the same person but, like you, they would give them a home. Hopefully your going to hang around for a long time yet.
I could comment from my phone. First time in forever that I didn’t have to go to the blog. I don’t see anyone else having commented, so I may have to go to the blog to read them.
Brenda in N Calif
Brenda – I agree that the spray itch relief works best. My feet rarely itch at this point – thank goodness. Thanks for your encouraging words about my cats. I have yet to figure out the comment issue. I have given up.
Mary!
I am a retired hair stylist. My Cosmetology state board inspector told us years ago when I owned my salon that they were on a mission to shut down if necessary, nail salons who used illegal chemicals not approved by state board on people! They are notorious for having the correct named bottles but filled them with these dangerous illegal solutions. You very well could be a victim of this very harmful practice! If I were you I would contact your State Board of Cosmetology & report what has been going on with your feet. I would just about bet money on it after seeing your foot! . State Board needs to go inspect that salon. You might save someone else from going through the terrible painful symptoms you have been going through! State Board always does surprise visits which is a good thing. They once wrote me up for having dirty money in my drawer so I had to get a money bag. I had never given it a thought but of course they were right,
I do hope you get healed quickly! Hugs!
Karen – I agree with you but I cannot be the one in the news and this would be NEWS! It was all I could do to tell my readers about it. I am so uncomfortable going to a salon whose staff speaks a different language – I imagine they’re talking about me as I sit there. A good friend told me that her grandmother was hospitalized many years with a foot infection like mine – from a pedicure. Sigh.
So sorry about your feet, makes everything miserable. Hope the various meds help. My husband is from Indiana so naturally we rooted for Indiana. Game started off slow, but sure made up for it in the second half. Beautiful kitties and quilts.
We have always had kitties at the farm. One of my Mother In Law’s friends gave her this “ugly” kitten. We called her Uglum. She was such a sweetheart. Then the woman wanted her back, and MIL said no. I was too attached. I loved that little baby. I loved the sweet baby on the quilt. Took me a minute to see the quilt. My skid loader is plugged in, so the engine block is warm, I have a regular cushion of kitties hanging out there. Snow again tonight more cold, I was to go out tomorrow but I think being home will be my reality. Take care.
Mary so glad you sought medical help for your feet. This will take some time to heal no doubt. Yes I have read about problems that can happen from a pedicure but hadn’t seen the results before. Thank goodness you aren’t a diabetic, that would be even more serious. I hope your feet heal quickly with the medications. I would report this to the health department too as I do believe there are inspectors who visit. Also, in my nearby town at the Senior Center they have nurses who do pedicures. Maybe they do this in your county health department. They do charge for this, but they do these all the time. . It took my spider bite over 6 weeks to heal. I went to the wound clinic at the hospital for help. I never knew there was such a thing. I am working slowly on my #12. I don’t like the instructions and refuse to give up tho. The cutting instructions is what I am having issue with. I am making another Mary Engelbreit ‘Attitudes’ quilt top. This is for a friend. Her birthday is in November. I have another one to do too, so I am forcing myself to hang in there with the dirty dozen. At my age I just gotta get my ufo’s done. It is intriguing on the next group project, I will give it a try! Feel better soon Mary.