AZDonna

(I don’t usually publish posts about my medical problems, but I thought this was interesting so decided to share it.)

Years ago, I started experiencing a sharp shooting pain in the fourth toe of my right foot whenever I took a step. It didn’t hurt or ache when I wasn’t putting pressure on it, and it was sporadic. I’d have the condition for a few weeks, then be fine for a few weeks or months. In the last few years, it’s become more frequent and more painful.

I talked to my friend Glenda’s ex, who is a podiatrist, on the phone one day and he said it sounded like I have a Morton’s Neuroma. Since my most recent episode has lasted over 6 months, I decided it was time to see a local doctor.

There are several treatment options including cortisone injection, orthotics, alcohol injection, and surgery. He said the cortisone is successful in about 50% of the cases, so we went with that first. The first couple of days, I thought I was a success story, but then the pain came back. He had me use a small pad on the ball of my foot (in a simulated orthotic); the theory is to support and round the toe box to separate the metatarsals that are pinching that inflamed nerve. That completely eliminated the pain in my toe while walking, but made the ball of my foot sore. I didn’t like having a lump in my shoe. Last week he gave me another cortisone injection. He says sometimes two will work when one doesn’t. But rarely do three work if two don’t.

Well, I’m in the “two don’t” category, and it looks like I might have to have alcohol injections next. That will kill the nerve and permanently numb my toe, but it is fairly successful in treating neuromas.  I know my brother Don has had a numb toe from a serious cut he had as a boy and he doesn’t fall over when walking, so hopefully I’ll be able to walk with a numb toe, too. 🙂

One expensive fallout of all of this is I’ve come to realize the value of really good shoes. Yesterday I went out and spent $280 on two pairs: Naot sandals and Brooks walking shoes. I hope to be able wear one or the other pair about 80% of the time, and will only have to slip on fashion shoes on rare occasions. If the Naots work well for me, I’ll probably buy a pair of loafers or clogs this fall.

11/22/95 – 4/7/10

Rest in peace, my sweet girl.

Nathan and I went geocaching a couple weeks ago in a large “ghost town” just south of L.I.F.E. It’s an area that had started to be developed a couple years ago as a new home neighborhood, but when the market crashed, the builder abandoned it and it’s truly a ghost town now. There are a few paved streets, some of the water, sewer and power infrastructure started, and block walls half built, but it’s been mostly overgrown with tumbleweeds lately. Anyway, there are about 8 geocaches hidden around the acreage, and Nathan and I parked at L.I.F.E. and walked down into the area from there.

We found the first several caches easily enough, but came to one that turned out to be quite a puzzle, and ended up being one of the best hides we’ve seen. If you have a hankering to search for Modern Day Ghost Town 3.1…6 Feet Under, stop reading now, because I’m going to reveal exactly where it is and what the cache owners did to set it up, plus post pictures below.

The coordinates took us down to an area next to an irrigation canal. We hunted around the several pipes and protuberances using our mirror and work glove, but couldn’t locate it. Nathan wandered about 6-8 feet away and started checking a large metal lid that covered an in-ground equipment hole (I really don’t know what to call it … you’ll have to look at the pictures). I said, “Be careful, Nathan. I’m sure it’s not down there. Close that up.” Famous last words. I’m glad he didn’t make a bet with me!

We wandered around and searched some more, and then read some of the logs. That’s when I realized that hole was exactly where it was. But no way was I going down there, and I sure wasn’t letting Nathan climb down that metal ladder. So we decided to come back later with reinforcements (as in with Brian and/or Daryl).

Last Saturday, we did a tour of L.I.F.E. with Mom’s friend Barb, who was visiting from Pennsylvania, and since we had both Daryl and Brian with us, Nathan and I asked them to drive over to “Modern Day Ghost Town 3.1…6 Feet Under” with us.

When we pulled up, there were three other people there. They were obvious geocachers and confirmed it when I asked. They were also looking around the pipes that had first drawn me, and we tried to be patient while they searched. But when the wife said she had found it a few months ago, we began a little discussion about the hole under the lid. They couldn’t believe it, it had been moved. Daryl was the first one to be brave enough to descend the ladder. Brian quickly followed him. Sure enough, the cache was down there, and when they assured us it was safe, I climbed down, and then we talked Nathan into coming down, too.

The hole was about 6 feet by 8 feet (and about 7 feet deep); it held some kind of water pump equipment. When Daryl reached for the can that held the cache, he startled a rat. EEK!!! Wait a minute, it wasn’t a real rat. It was a fake rat hooked up to a little battery operated motor that shook and rattled when you bumped it. There was a second rat under another piece of equipment that also wiggled around when the first one was bumped.

We all signed the log, climbed out, replaced the lid, and went on our way laughing about the great job “Peasinapod” did on this. Here are some pictures.

Nathan looking down in the “hole”

“babyhum” handing the log back down to Brian after signing.

I got brave and decided to check it out.

Brian helping Nathan down the ladder.

Coming back up out.

Closing it up for the next geocacher to experience the fun.

I’ve been obsessed with watching Lily the black bear. Bear researchers from the North American Bear Center (NABC) in Ely, Minnesota have been following and researching Lily since her birth. She is a wild bear who has become accustomed to the researchers, and allows them to get close. She wears a radio collar, so they can locate her and check up on her. She turned three years old last week, and that is the typical age female bears have their first litter of cubs.

Lily really cooperated this year by choosing to hibernate in a den close to a power and internet location. The researchers set up a web camera at the mouth of her den, and began broadcasting Lily’s activity (and inactivity) 24/7.  Some things I didn’t know… bears do not sleep all the time during hibernation. They sleep about 22 hours a day, but spend periods off and on in lazy activity, grooming and attending to their den. They don’t eat, drink, urinate or defecate in the den, but might leave the den for a few minutes from time to time to defecate. And female bears have their cubs during hibernation.

I found Lily through an online news article and made my way to her Facebook page, and from there I linked to the webcam broadcast. The first time I checked on her, she was sleeping, but the next time, she was more active. That’s all it took for me to become hooked. Watching her dig and nest in her den, wash herself, climb outside each day, and be perfectly oblivious to “Charlotte, the spider” constantly running across her back and the world watching through a web camera, was quite intriguing. And the expectation that she would probably have cubs really added to the excitement.

After watching for about a week, last Friday morning it became very apparent that Lily was in advanced labor. I logged on as soon as I got to work and had the webcast going while I did layout. At about 10:30, her activity increased, she rolled over, grunted, tucked her head under her belly, and then suddenly a cub’s squeal was heard. I felt so invested in this that I actually teared up hearing it.  What an incredible experience, to watch a wild bear give birth in a den in the woods of Minnesota! Live! On the internet!

Almost 50,000 viewers were watching that morning, and we all waited expectantly for more cubs to come. But alas, it was a litter of one. That’s not unusual at all for a first litter. (See how much I have learned about bears?) The researchers are interested in seeing how the relationship between a mother and a single cub develops. All of the bear families they have followed have been multiple cubs.

So far, the only glimpses we have had of the cub have been a tiny paw now and then. But we have heard it. Oh! we have heard it! That little thing can put up quite a fuss when Mama lets a little draft of cold air in, or when the nipple is not exactly where s/he wants it. But when s/he is nursing, the little cooing/purring sound is the cutest thing ever. (Note: the day old newborn at left is NOT Lily’s cub.)

Lily’s Facebook page has become quite an internet community. When I joined, there were about 4,000 fans. She has over 70,000 fans now, and it grows every day. Unfortunately, people use the Status Wall as a chat room, so it fills up faster than you can read it. Luckily, you can filter the feeds to see just Lily’s updates. The researchers have posted some incredibly interesting updates, and the information and videos on the NABC website are also excellent. Their goal is to educate people about these animals that need not be feared as folks have always thought.

If you haven’t seen the video of Lily giving birth, I recommend you watch it on YouTube. And gather the kids to watch it, too. They’ll love it. And then head over to the live webcam and check in on how Lily and her cub are doing right now. Right this very moment.

I’ve posted my annual review and Christmas newsletter here.

First, a quick update on my couponing adventure. I’ve been saving money all right. I took Sara’s advice (she left a comment on my last post) and joined Coupon Sense for a trial month. I think I’m figuring out what the real savings strategy is — use coupons when something is on sale. I have been saving as much as 30-40% on each grocery shopping trip, but hopefully my savings will go up and my grocery bills will go down even more as I get my pantry better stocked.

Now for the main subject of my post. When Dale was here in October, he told us about geocaching, an adventure activity he participates in. Here’s how the geocaching site describes the game:

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

That sounded like a really fun activity to do with Nathan. So a couple weeks ago, we headed out on our first geocaching trip. We selected an easy cache just a block from my house. We hunted and hunted, but could not find the cache. Nathan was very disappointed (as was I!), but we had to give it up. (Note: I’ve since discovered the cache was taken and the owner is planning to replace it. I don’t feel like such a dud that we couldn’t find it.)

My neice, Karen and her three boys are visiting from Pennsylvania this week, so we decided to try again. I had my eye on a multi-cache site near LIFE, that was supposedly hidden by a leprechaun. Heather, Mark and Camden joined us and we drove over on Wednesday afternoon. We all hunted and hunted in the little park area, until Karen finally located the first cache unit which sent us across the street. We had Nathan check a spot that required small hands and he came up with the second unit. That took us back across the street to a different area of the little park and Camden found the treasure! It was very cleverly done and we allowed the boys to take a little souvenir from the cache box, but we were sure to replace it with treasure of equal value.

This was our first find, but it will not be our last. There are nearly one million geocaches hidden around the world. I think we will not run out of free fun as long as we can get outdoors and hunt for treasures. There are thousands of caches hidden in metropolitan areas, but also thousands hidden in wilderness regions. So whatever kind of adventure you are looking for, there’s a cache for that.

I have not revealed the exact location of each of the cache clues because I don’t want to spoil it for any of my readers who might decide to try solving the Leprechaun of Shamrock Estates.