Ever since that accident my left ankle has had chronic
edema. The swelling starts by mid-morning and steadily gets worse throughout
the day. At first, I just thought it would go away…I really wasn’t too
concerned as I had no pain. Eventually, I saw an orthopedist who took x-rays.
Nothing was broken, so he recommended physical therapy. I also did yoga.
Exercises didn’t seem to help.
Acupuncture, lymphatic drainage and compression stockings
came next. Intuitively I felt like there was something structurally wrong that
these alternative therapies were not addressing. Losing weight seemed to help
the ankle, but I wanted a cure.
A week ago I was referred to a chiropractor who specializes
in feet, Dr. Roxanne Smith. She uses laser therapy and an Activator which is a
hand held device that applies a direct force to your joints. She apologized for
any pain she may cause before slamming my talus bone back into place. “This guy
has his own zip code!” she exclaimed in wonder at how far up and away the bone
was misaligned. She was laughing in astonishment at my predicament and calling
my foot bones “guys.” It made me chuckle.
Dr. Smith was also amazed at how well I was taking the
treatment. It actually felt good to have the Activator hammer my bones back.
Finally, someone understood exactly what was going on with my left foot! With
my face pressed against the treatment table, I was grinning with happiness. Once
the swelling abated, the pounding started to sting. But I felt so filled with
gratitude for her work that I didn’t complain.
The swelling was down but she wasn’t quite finished. I will
have to go back again within the week and then she believes it’ll be fine. It’s
interesting to me that Dr. Smith and her husband moved to Austin the same year
we did, and opened their office just a few blocks down the road from our first
apartment. It took me sixteen years to get me and my wayward talus (and the
other guys) to her door.
I’m glad we found the way.
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