Just wanted to give everybody an update on my mobility. I recently started moving away from the walking boot on my left leg, and am wearing my pre-surgery shoes more and more these days.
In the next couple of weeks, I will be fitted with an orthotic for my left shoe, which should allow me even more mobility.
In other words … I’m sorta back to functionality.
I say “sorta.”
Because now I’m running into a new issue.
During my convalescence, I purchased some $50 gift cards for L.L. Bean clothing, and I figured that once I was totally functional, I could celebrate by buying a pair of hiking shoes en route to another stint in the Adirondacks.
I stopped at the L.L. Bean outlet in Colonie Center, and looked through various options for hiking boots and shoes – and found a pair that I really liked. They looked comfortable, they looked rugged, and they looked as if they could support my feet through long hikes.
I asked the clerk to bring me a pair of the shoes in my size. She quickly returned with a shoebox. I put the right shoe on. Fits nicely.
I tried to put the left shoe on.
Notice that I said that I “tried” to put it on.
Apparently from the surgery and the broken bones and the healing … my left foot is now a bit wider than it was previously.
I asked the clerk to bring me another pair of the same shoes, only one size larger and in a wider build.
She quickly returned with another shoebox. And sure enough … the left shoe now fits perfectly.
Uh-oh.
This is not good.
If I look at this the way I think I can look at it…
My left foot is now wider and bigger than my right foot, which means I would either have to buy the larger shoes (and stuff something in the right shoe so that it doesn’t fly off my smaller foot), or I would have to buy the smaller shoes (and hope I can find a way to stretch the left shoe so that it doesn’t clamp on my foot like a vice).
“We can sell you both shoes,” the clerk cooed at me.
Now how would that work?
“We would sell you the left from one box and the right from the other, but we would have to charge you the retail price plus 50%.”
And what happens to the mismatched shoes? Surely there’s not another person in the Capital District with a larger right foot and a smaller left foot…
“We donate the leftover shoes to an organization that provides footwear for amputees and the handicapped.”
Okay … that’s kinda nice…
But it still leaves me with a complicated issue. If I want any chance of hiking through the Adirondacks this year, I need good solid hiking shoes. Not cheap sneakers from Walmart like last time.
But do I buy the mismatched shoes, or do I buy the big shoes and stuff the right foot with something, or do I buy the small shoes and try to stretch the left shoe out …
In the end, I decided to wait until I received my othotic. No sense in paying 1 1/2 times the price of a pair of shoes if they won’t even work with the orthotic.
Dang it…
If it ain’t one thing, it’s another …
Chuck The Writer 
I think that was a good idea to wait on the orthotic so you can bring it with you to try on shoes. I also think it’s great that LL Bean does that and donates/provides shoes for others less fortunate. What a great idea. Best of luck with your continued healing.
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