God does it again!

I have suffered for over a year now with severe pain in my left foot. Maybe someone else out there has some sort of pain like this. I tell this because I had given up on my feet. I lost faith that I could be healed. I had decided that I was like Paul, and this foot was my thorn.

Giving up hope for a healing on my foot was due to the diagnosis I received last June. I was diagnosed with "old people feet." I was told that my arches had fallen and I had become completely flat footed as well as I had worn out the fat pads on the outside of my little toe. Nothing could be done. I accepted this and just kept dealing with the pain. I even accepted the fact that I might have to get a scooter and a handicap sticker for my car.

This pain ran very deep. You see I had lost fifty pounds a few years ago because I started a walking routine. Three to five miles daily. I never missed a day. It was good for my soul. I think that is why I was crushed by the diagnosis. I knew I would not be able to control my weight or my stress levels with my exercise routine anymore. I knew when the doctor said no more walking or impact exercise, my life would change. Exercising like this was so therapeutic for me. I would put on my music and lose myself in my walk. It hurt my soul to know I couldn't do this anymore. Even though I tried water walking with a friend and enjoyed it, it still wasn't the same as my daily walks. I missed them greatly. So did my hips! HA!

Going to Charleston the other week was a blessing on top of a blessing. Having Melissa with me helped push me to a new level. Because I had given up on my foot, I really didn't know how I was going to make it through the weekend. I just kept trying to relieve the pain with Tylenol. Accepting the "old people feet" diagnosis, kept me from living or even trying to live my best life.

As Melissa and I were walking through downtown Charleston touring, I had to stop at one point and remove my shoes because I was in so much pain. When I removed my shoe, Melissa looked at my foot and said, "What is wrong with your foot? Why is it so red? It looks sunburned." My response was "I don't know." She said with authority, "You need to see a new doctor. You have to call on Monday." She was right. Had she not been with me, I would never have made an effort to see someone else. I had already accepted my thorn.

On the drive home on Monday, I called the new doctor I had found that specialized in difficult cases of the foot and ankle. I had an appointment in two weeks! I could not believe how quickly they could see me. We discussed what we thought they might find on the drive home.

The day before my appointment, I wrote in my journal that morning about Paul's thorn. I prayed to God that if this doctor was able to bring healing and a diagnosis that could help my pain level decrease I would be so grateful. I also prayed that if this foot pain was to be a thorn like Paul's for God to give the me the strength, courage, and wisdom to deal with it for the rest of my life. I would learn to live with "old people feet."

Explaining to the new doctor everything I had been through over the last year and a half took a few minutes. She pushed, she pulled, she poked, she prodded. She reviewed my x-rays and MRI. She did not agree with the diagnosis of "old people feet." She gave me hope in that moment. She made me feel like I might be able to live with less pain, maybe even pain free, which was more than any doctor had said over all this time. Tarsal Tunnel. That was the new diagnosis, like Carpel Tunnel in wrists, this was just in my foot. My first thought was that I might not need a scooter just yet!

A completely different view and now the hope that she gave me made me feel like I no longer had a thorn. My foot could be healed. Improved for certain! Hope came in the form of a friend telling me to find someone new to look at my foot. Accepting the fate I had been given wasn't necessary.

I left that doctor's office with a prescription that could help the nerve pain that I was dealing with not the worn out feet that I thought I had. I was so excited to hear this news. Over the next few days, my feet started to have less pain. Now that is a #pecanreport for sure!

I have other things to face with this new diagnosis, like possible neuropathy, but I have a diagnosis that I can work with because it offers me hope. If you are hurting in any way, seek help. Seek God and beg him to heal you through a doctor or through his own hand. Ask Him to bring people into your life that can offer you hope. If you have a thorn such a Paul's, may God bless you. May He give you the strength, courage, and wisdom you need to face each day with your thorn. May that thorn carve your character deep and may you grow stronger than you ever thought possible by carrying your thorn. May you be able to see your thorn as a pecan.