David Gillon

With the weather so hot today I inevitably opted for shorts when I went out into town, but that meant showing off my latest disability-related accessorizing.

I think I've mentioned that the ankle I trashed this time last year has been aching for the last few weeks, well this week it's really been throbbing constantly, the ankle joint in particular and all up and down the outside of my shin, as though the muscles there are out of balance (and bear in mind I'm already on opiates, so if I can feel it all of the time then it's really not happy). I don't remember doing anything to it, so last year's incident is the obvious smoking gun, and it isn't the first time I've trashed that ankle, which is part and parcel of being hypermobile. The only thing that seems to work for keeping the pain down is keeping it fixed at 90 degrees, which means splinting it. I really don't want to go back to wearing the boot (see icon) - the leg-length issue from it's three inch thick rocker sole is a literal pain in the backside, I do have a night splint, but that's not meant for walking in, which leaves me with my AFO (ankle foot orthosis). That's a plastic brace with a footplate that fits in your shoe, and which then runs up the back of your leg to a cuff just below your knee, there's a lighter strap at the ankle to hold that in. Wearing it really needs a long sock on, so I'm having to wear knee socks for the first time since I was six. And if I'm wearing one AFO then I may as well wear the other, because if I do end up spending a few days in Athens then using the AFOs is probably my best bet if I end up needing to walk any distance without my crutches and I might as well get used to it and identify any problems now (while hopefully avoiding making myself dependent on them - being bendy is a balancing act between too little bracing and too much). I got them to use on days when I was on my feet for a long time, as I tend to get an increasing amount of footdrop as time goes on, but it's one of those issues that's impossible to demonstrate to a GP, and rare enough it's simpler just to sort out your own solution. Only now wearing shorts means all the hardware is on display - I've worn the AFOs before, but always with long trousers covering them.  It's hardly the first time I've worn a visible brace - I wore a hard collar 24/7 for about a decade in the late 80s and 90s, but I guess even when you visibly use mobility aids all of the time you still need to adjust to changes in your bodily image.

Tomorrow should be interesting for imposter syndrome, one of the friends I have lunch with wears a full-length calliper due to polio. She'll probably be fine with it, it's me I'm not so sure of....