Every day - I repeat, every day!

I yawn, and stretch. Stretch my feet, that is, and wriggle my toes.

First thing in the morning, before touching my feet to the ground, I am meant to use a heat pack under my feet, and then do several minutes of feet and ankle exercises, in order to improve my several painful feet conditions. Before getting up! The podiatrist, (Number One), said I must never miss a day of this morning routine.

Therein is a problem. Sunny is beside my bed, needing to be escorted outside. I take him to the back door and wait until he is ready to return. Don’t ask me why he can’t manage this little excursion on his own, when he has a doggy door provided for his convenience, but it seems he can’t do it without me watching! So, yes, I am up. My feet scream.

Then of course I must attend to my own needs. Yes, of course, my feet are touching the floor. Next I take the opportunity to use a hairbrush to tame my unruly head of hair, noting that my stubborn hair will never sit the way I like it – symmetrical.

I then return to the kitchen to warm the heat pack in the microwave. Of course I don’t have a microwave in my bedroom! How do I heat it up in the kitchen without my feet touching the floor en route? Why would Podiatrist Number One not even think of that?

I also heat up the smaller one for my eyes. They also need to have a hot poultice and eye drops before I start my day, and again before bed. I saw the eye specialist on Wednesday for a check-up. He reminded me of the importance of never missing a day with this twice-daily routine. Every day, he again insisted. Don’t miss.

While I am in the kitchen I might as well make a cup of tea to help me wake up. I take all three hot helpers into the living room.

Good. Feet are done, eyes are done. No, wait. I have to roll golf balls under my foot arches for a few minutes. I try to pat Sunny while doing this. Why must he lie down a metre away? My back aches while I am trying to stretch that far.

That reminds me to do my back and shoulder exercises for the physiotherapist. I have a hot shower first to loosen everything up. He said I need to do these back and shoulder exercises three times a day. I must be consistent and regular. Don’t miss a day! Of course.

I return to the kitchen to make breakfast. My neck is very stiff. I spend a few minutes trying to rotate it gently. Then my neck exercises follow. My neck clicks and grinds alarmingly. It moans.

Breakfast is very welcome.

I decide to do a load of washing after breakfast, and I think it will be good to hang it outside in the sunshine. Should I bend my back or my knees to lift the washing basket? The choice is not an easy one.

Darn. I dropped the peg basket and the pegs went everywhere – mainly into the garden. I try to be positive. This gives me a fine opportunity for some squats, and for reaching. Exercise is good!

I went for a skin check-up yesterday. The skin specialist said I must wear a hat and sunscreen every time I go outdoors, and long sleeves – because of my fair skin. Every day, without fail. He stressed the importance of getting into the habit of doing this – every single day, he repeated, for emphasis. Despite his words, I forgot. But the washing is out.

Next, I will take Sunny for a walk. Oh yes, I also forgot to do the heel raise exercises for my feet, another part of my morning routine I must not miss. Would it look too strange if I walk on my tiptoes while we are walking on the footpath around the large park? That would certainly be able to count for heel raises.

Too many people today – seems that all the local dogs are being walked at this precise moment! No heel raises.

I wear a cap, and long sleeves, but no sunscreen. I think about summer coming. I really can’t wear long sleeves through our long hot summer. Then I think about more surgery for (hopefully) minor skin cancers. I’ll have to do better, I resolve. “Every time” rings in my ears.

I must do some housework today – I have been putting it off for a few days, but last week I noticed some cobwebs near the ceiling. Miss Three will notice – she always looks up to see if there are any, because she loves to use the cobwebbing broom. However, being only three, she is not very skilled, and the last time she helped I had to duck out of the way to avoid losing my head. Housework is definitely good exercise.

Lunchtime. My husband suggests lunch out at an open-air café. It’s a lovely spring day, so we can take Sunny, and sit in the courtyard. There are no tables in the shade – and no sunscreen. Lunch was very enjoyable – but Sunny wanted another walk after lunch, as the café overlooks his favourite path around the park.

My legs are aching and my feet are burning by the time we get home. Another heat pack for them will help. Walking is both good and necessary, I remind myself. And when my feet feel better, I will do the calf stretches I also forgot to do this morning.

I need a break from the computer. My fingers are getting stiff and painful (arthritis) so I need to flex them and rest them for a while. I’ll be back.

Where was I? ( Seems my brain also needs more exercise!)

Sorry, I need to go again. My back is aching even though I am trying to sit up straight. I’ll just get that heat pack again, and then do a few stretches.

By now it is mid-afternoon, and I haven’t written my story yet. I also will now have to decide whether to skip my lunch-time exercises (feet, legs, back, shoulders, and neck) and just do them a bit early tonight, or whether I have the energy to do them right now. I don’t have the energy.

Why all this? Am I suddenly falling apart? I don’t know in which order all these problems started. But yes, I have that syndrome called "Falling apart due to old age".

An inflamed nerve is pressing on the already painful plantar fascia. With my narrow feet and high arches, (which I always thought were "dainty"), it has become apparent that I have never walked properly as my feet tend to roll incorrectly. My toes turn under (which they shouldn’t do) to “grip”, so I don’t fall off the planet, and the tendons in my feet are very prominent (showing stress) working excessively to keep me upright. I always thought my "chicken feet" were because I was skinny. (No, I am not skinny now, I am cuddly. There's another issue, since we are talking about exercise!) I think of the Chinese practice of foot binding as I tightly strap my feet.

It doesn’t help that one foot is half a size longer than the other, (which makes it hard to buy appropriately fitting shoes) and my legs are different lengths by about a centimetre or a little more. Not noticeable by others, but it tends to make me swing slightly as I walk, landing more heavily on my right side. It’s a slightly lurching gait. (Of course I have NOT been drinking!)

Podiatrist Number Two agrees with Number One about all the foot exercises – he in fact gave me a few extra ones. He also says I need tighter fitting and more rigid foot support in my shoes, and better more snug orthotics to make my feet roll into the correct walking position instead of doing my self-invented solution. My eyes are seeing dollar signs. Am I contributing to his next overseas holiday? Does he know how limited a choice of shoes that offers? Horrid, frumpy old-lady shoes which cost a fortune. I won’t be able to afford to have lunch out for a year! However, with such ugly shoes, it’s hard to dress up and look nice, so perhaps I’ll be going out less. However, podiatrist Number Two agrees with Number One that foot and leg exercises three times a day are important. Every day.

Podiatrist Number Two also noted that my aching back was very likely a result of not walking evenly – and did I know that one shoulder was slightly lower than the other? Yes, I did. As a child and as a teenager I always carried my heavy schoolbag on the one side, attributing my uneven shoulders to that.

He also noted that my head was slightly tilted to the left – all the time. I should make an effort to hold it straight. Yes, I knew that too. But when I try to hold it straight, I feel like I have it turned to the right. That, of course, probably explains my stiff neck.

I don’t know what you imagine I look like. To me I look just like an ordinary person of my age. These professionals apparently see I have all these awkward asymmetrical features, and each has a solution for the various bits and pieces they are trying to help with. But at my age, everything has been done wrongly for too many years to correct all the problems. I won’t be alive for another several decades to undo the damage and then fix it all up.

No wonder my hair isn’t symmetrical. None of me is.

Anway, I had better go. There’s housework still waiting to be done – sounds like exercise to me. I’ll have to finish it before my nightly exercise routine begins. I’ll write my story tomorrow – if I have time, for I am a busy lady! I’m into self-improvement. Every day. When I remember, of course. 

There's so much to fit into my day, so I can "live" well, if I have time for anything else!