Day 15 - I need to push it.

I spent the day yesterday, again in my ratty old mock crocs, sockless. I forgot to put on my pedometer, so I didn't count steps. It was cold and dreary yesterday!

I walked a short distance down the street (Pugnacious pup in tow, sporting his new yellow harness) to pay my water bill. It was cold, and as I said, not a long way - but I got no burn and no blisters. It occurred to me that night (I left the shoes on even when I didn't have to) that my feet are not sweating the same way they once did. In the past, these crocs have gotten all icky/slippery FAST on the inside due to excessive sweating. Even though they are well ventilated, they are plastic, essentially; and that's why, before recently, I always wore them with socks.

I still haven't gotten into doing any real, pointed walking yet. Time constraints have interfered with my plans for that big time. I must get on it - the JDRF walk is coming up fast, and if I can't make the distance I want it to be because of my skin - not my total lack of conditioning!! Heh.

Perhaps the good weather will be more conducive to my getting up and out. It'll be cool this week, but sunny - perfect time to get going. Onward!

Day 13, 14 - Yuck.

I say yuck, not because of anything nasty going on with my skin - but because of the weather. The teasing sunshine is mocking me, winking through the clouds in between the chilly drizzles. Supposedly, there'll be sun tomorrow. Oh purty please!

Dampness usually makes my skin blister more. I'm having a hard time thinking of a way to describe how my feet feel today - I didn't record steps yesterday because I barely walked at all. Today I've done about 430 steps so far, in mock crocs with no socks (heh).

I have a little soreness - like the beginnings of blisters - on the ends of my third and fourth toe on my right foot. It's not going anwhere worth taking a picture of; only slightly red, slightly sore. The rest of the skin on my feet is in good shape today. Onward!

Easter Weekend - Day 11, 12

Saturday: 1895 steps.
Shoes & Socks: Nike tennis shoes and thin nylon socks.

I took the young'un to an art show on Saturday, and walked around quite a bit. After the art show, I grocery shopped at a small store, then went home and did some cleaning. By the time I left shopping, I was feeling a good bit of 'burn'. That night and the next day, my feet were still sore - but no visible blisters; I really thought I would be able to take some pictures!

Sunday: 607 steps
Shoes & Socks: Mock crocs w/cotton socks

Sore this fine sunny Easter Sunday, but no visible blisters. Is very odd - this is the stage where I really expected to see some flat blisters under calluses or some bubbling up on my toes, but nothing. Stayed sore most of the day, through egg hunting and socializing - but not crippling.

I may have been too ambitious in my fundraising walk pledge, but we'll see how it goes! I will address this in a new post....Onward!

Day 10 - and, I must be nuts.

565 steps today - in mock crocs with no socks. Not much walking - and no new blisters.

Hmm... I feel a poem coming on!

Mock crocks without her socks
Counting steps and watching clocks
...Walking helps with writer's block.
Hoping hard that Valtrex rocks!

Okay, that's over!

Now, for the nuts part. I've signed on to do a 5k walk on May 2. An ubertest. Possibly overly ambitious. Details tomorrow!

Day 8, 9

I'm encouraged - I traipsed WalMart yesterday when I went to pick up my pedometer, and did a lot of extra walking - just because. Had particularly lousy shoes on yesterday; broken down purple Kangaroos. I managed to twist my ankle up pretty good within five minutes of putting them on, but it wasn't sore enough to keep me down. By the time I finished window shopping and NOT coming home with doughnuts (hooray for me!) my ankle was complaining and I had the 'burn' on the bottoms of both feet; but there were no new blisters. It was a cool day here in Tennessee yesterday, so I'm still reserving judgment on the efficacy of the Valtrex.

I have fired up the pedometer and it works great. I have, however, been chained to my desk again, and so at this hour have only recorded 313 steps for day 9. I'm surprised my butt hasn't blistered in my chair, nor my fingertips from typing. The evening's still young, though!

Onward!

Day 6, 7

Wildly unexciting news at the moment! Nothing new to report - except my pedometer finally arrived, I just have to go pick it up. The icky weather should be done by tomorrow, and then I'll be counting steps. I'm excited!

The pedometer I chose:

Omron Premium Pedometer

Onward!

Days 3, 4, 5

Sorry for not updating daily these past few days; I'm having mad internet connection troubles.

Things I have noticed the last few days: The dry mouth issue seems to be abating. I still wake up parched, but not having thirst-attacks so often anymore!

My face has cleared up - that hormone-induced little acne breakout I mentioned is gone, and far faster than anticipated. I also didn't get any blisters on my face this time around - which often happens during my period. I notice my skin is a bit drier than usual; I have been using a good deal of moisturizer on areas of skin that don't normally blister - arms, legs, shoulders.

Here's a weird little thing - I have some small scars on my right hand and right calf from rambunctious pet play; not old enough to fade but fresh enough to still see them - they appear to be changing color. Could be my imagination - but healing wounds like that for me usually stay pink for a long long time; I'm very fair skinned. All the little bumps and healed scratches now seem to be a bit more pigmented; not darker, exactly, just a different color - more of a tan/brown. As I said - I could just be nuts, but I thought it was worth mentioning. I'll keep an eye on that as days go by.

I've been obsessively cleaning house this weekend, which usually means broom blisters. I have only a tiny one on the palm of my right hand so far. My feet are holding steady; still a little sore from the shopping excursion, but no new blistering yet. I haven't really taxed the feet since then; and usually do not experience much if any blistering when I'm running around in stocking feet, which is what I've done all weekend.

Price paid for snazzy pedometer: $26 plus way too many waiting days for shipping. Argh! I'm really anxious to start walking with a purpose, counting steps and posting those results. Onward!

Day 2 - Post-shopping

Here is an image of my left foot this afternoon. I walked for about two hours yesterday in Hanes plain cotton socks and a pair of mock Crocs. The blisters weren't quite as bad as I expected. They are mostly flat and stingy, and under calloused areas - which means they'll probably hurt more tomorrow than they do today. I strongly believe it is too early to credit the Valtrex with the blistering not being as many or as severe as anticipated; it was a cool day yesterday and I wasn't moving around very fast. I have circled the areas where the blisters are the most painful. I shall try to get rid of some calluses for future shots. Discovered the hard way that I need a better camera; closeup shots I tried to take did not resolve well.

Physical things I have noticed today: My mouth is still dry. I woke up with a medium-severity headache that went away with a single dose of ibuprofen. I'm having a mild rashy acne-looking breakout on the right side of my face, but due to the day of the month, that is probably unrelated.

I will probably not be walking any more today, as I have desk work to do for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Onward!

Official Day One!

I took my first 500mg dose of Valtrex with breakfast this morning. Based on others' experiences, my understanding is that it may take as much as 30 days to notice positive effects, so my initial posts may be a bit boring!

I am traveling out of town for a sushi and shopping voyage today; after which I am sure my feet will be decimated. I don't have my pedometer in hand yet - wish I could count steps today! c'est la vie.

The only noticeable side effect 4 hours after my first dose is that my mouth is really dry. I didn't drink much yesterday or this morning, so this may be unrelated, but it's unusual for me to feel so parched *after* breakfast, water and toothbrushing.

Onward! More later.