One of my biggest healthcare pet peeves is The Foot Issue I have to deal with as a 23 year veteran of life with type one diabetes.
People have been checking my feet for 23 years.
Every time I want to kick them.
It’s not about my feet!!
I can reach my feet.
I can physically feel my toes from the outside and from the inside.
I only have cold toes when I’m standing around in 40 degree weather.
I’m more ticklish than anyone else I’ve ever met. I can feel a feather on the tops and on the bottoms of my feet.
Leave my feet alone.
Check instead for whether I have infections at the sites of my pump catheters or continuous glucose monitor sensors.
Now there’s an idea!!
Ask me if I ever get lumps under the skin from a painful site. Ask me if I’m using the right catheter for me, and if I’m rotating my sites to prevent buildup of scar tissue.
Stop going down your list and LOOK AT ME, the person/patient in front of you.
Listen to what fills my daily life.
Ask me if I do yoga in bare feet, if you want to check the health of my tootsies.
BUT, please don’t ask me if I can put on a pair of those Vibram five-finger shoes. Because the answer to that question, sadly, is: not so much!
I kept putting toe #2 in slot #3 and then I'd get a bunch of toes all squished into one slot. I don't think that's due to my diabetes!
