Push with forefoot

Stand on bathroom scales with left forefoot. Keep heel raised and bear as much weight as possible. Place a block in front of the scales to prevent the heel from dropping. Do not touch the block with your heel.

Learning to pee the bed

My first night in hospital was spent in emergency on a gurney. They had me on a morphine drip so my leg wasn't bothering me much. The only thing was the peeing, which I hadn't done in 14 hours.

Overcoming 4 decades of training in mattress preservation is not a simple matter. Mind tricks are needed.

One thing that helps is headphones, both to block out physical surroundings and as a focus of attention.

But especially that first night I needed something conrete. I needed familiarity but also engagement. For a while I tried being in my bathroom at home, but I think it was either too boring or not believeable. Eventually I found something that worked.

All the male patrons of La Hacienda will know this painting well. If you had to, you could probably remember how many towers there are on the island castle.

Now whenever I go to the gent's at La Hacienda I remember trying to pee into a bottle at the emergency ward.

Dry foot

Ever since I got out of hospital the skin on my left foot has been very strange. It has been dry and scratchy. I put lotion on it but the dryness remains. So I finally got around to realizing that it was not coincidental and that it must mean something. I did a little web searching on "nerve damage dry skin".

Since diabetic symptoms include neuropathy, especially in the feet and legs, and since diabetes is such a common disease, all the hits were diabetes education sites. They are practical and use simple language, e.g. This lack of feeling is caused by nerve damage, also called diabetic neuropathy (noo-ROP-uh-thee). They explain that nerves tell your sweat glands when to sweat. Sweat helps keep our skin moist and soft.



So my left foot isn't sweating. Which I find slightly creepy.

Dream

I dreamed that I was at a party with friends and acquaintances. I put my crutches down for a second and realized that I was walking normally. I was very excited about this and started calling attention to it. But nobody thought it was of interest. I was annoyed.

GABA

I am taking pregabalin which promises to moderate the transmission of nerve signals in my body. It also makes me vague and dizzy. For now. Apparently the side effects of the stuff settle down after a few days. I am still getting plenty of nerve excitation in my foot. Who knows how much there would be without pregabalin? After all, the exact mechanism of action is unknown.