Day 241

I walked all day yesterday with no foot brace.  I have been getting so sick of the thing, I thought I would see how my foot does on its own.  The brace was molded after my left calf and foot.  It sits underneath my foot, goes up my calf, and straps to my shin.  I have been wearing it for its intended purpose; to keep my left foot up at a normal position so when I walk my toes don't drag and make things harder. 

Now that I am feeling more, it itches, hurts, makes me sweat, and is just all around annoying.  I don't feel when things itch, but it still creates an annoyance for my nerves, which then make my muscles spasm.  So, while wearing the brace and sitting, my leg spasms and hurts.  This gets to be quite a pain in the foot!

I figured if I can feel more, perhaps the muscles move more.  Afterall, whenever I walk barefoot I don't have much problem with that foot unless it's early morning, or late at night.  So as a true test, I ditched the brace yesterday and did some walking in my sneakers without it, and I did great.  I'm so excited!  My foot eventually got tired and it was harder to walk, but the idea that I can do it at all means great progress and I just need to keep on and it will only get stronger.

It hasn't even been five weeks of solid walking and I am already contemplating removing my foot brace for good!  I no longer use a wheelchair in my home at all, and I have only used my outside chair three times in the last two weeks, and that was just for long distances. 

Step count today:  815

Steps I'm ahead:  6,439