I can walk the dog again! 30 minutes and no pain anywhere! If I go past 45 minutes, though, my left ankle really starts to hurt, so I have to be a bit more patient. My right ankle doesn't hurt at all anymore, so I figure in 6 more weeks, neither ankle will bother me at all. Wow!
One strange thing I have noticed is that the second toe on each foot is really sore. At first I thought it was in-grown toenails - there's a first time for everything, after all. But then I remembered back to my first visit to the podiatrist, where he showed me my x-rays and how my body was aligned, as opposed to how my body was *supposed* to be aligned. In properly aligned bodies, the weight is aligned over the second toe. Mine was doing weird stuff that was resulting in the bone of my big toe starting to get deformed into what would eventually have become a bunion. Is it a coincidence that proper alignment puts more stress on my second toes and the fact that my second toes have started to hurt? I think not.
My second toes are actually the most painful part of this whole journey at this point. If they don't start feeling better within the next month or so, I'm going to see if my podiatrist can do something to help me. But I feel pretty confident that the toes will soon get used to their new role and the pain will recede.
