Heeling (healing) well?

If you’re an empty nester, chances are you’re of a certain age … middle age. This stage of life requires you to be more thoughtful about your physical activity. I forgot this fact on Friday, July 12.

At the time, we were watching our friend Matt and Cindy’s adorable Shih-Tzu, Tiny. While she is incredibly cute, Tiny is rarely energetic. She’s normally what most of us would describe as a “cuddle bug.” But that afternoon, Tiny had a rare case of the “zoomies.”

If you’re a dog owner, you know what I mean by the zoomies. She was racing around our house with pure glee, panting and wiggling her cute little self all over the place. I was delighted to see this and proceeded to chase her … while stomping my feet on our hardwood floors … without any shoes on.

I didn’t think anything about this until I woke up the next morning with painful heels. I didn’t see bruising and figured they’d get better eventually. I even went on three-mile walk the next week – and my left heel began protesting afterward.

Our columnist fell under the spell of this adorable dog and learned a valuable lesson this summer. (Photo provided)

I consulted Dr. Google, saw that bruised heelbones can take two to six weeks to improve, and didn’t worry much more about it. Fast forward six weeks later … the right heel was fine … the left, not so much. I began walking more on the toes of my left foot, which of course got my body all out of whack.

Finally, I decided it was time to see my podiatrist, Dr. S. But I was so embarrassed. It’s not like I could tell him and his staff, “Yes, I hurt my heel when I had this accident while doing (such-and-such brave/awesome/amazing) activity.”

When I visited Dr. S and his wonderful nurse last Tuesday, they did not burst into laughter and say, “Wow, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard” as I had expected. They were kind and sympathetic. Dr. S is a fellow dog owner, and he told me he actually understood my behavior.

Thankfully, my heel isn’t broken. He declared that I have some tissue damage and prescribed icing my heel throughout the day, ibuprofen, and always wearing my walking shoes with orthotics plus a heel cushion during the day.

I’m fortunate that I can still do most everyday tasks, although walking a 10K and working with horses at Agape in Cicero won’t happen for a couple of weeks.

Happily, I’ve learned my lesson. Thanks to this experience, when I decided to take a bike ride a couple of weeks ago to check out the Nickel Plate Trail, I kept it to a nice seven miles vs. the 10-plus I really wanted to do. I enjoyed my ride, got some exercise, and was NOT sore and miserable afterwards.

Heed my words, empty nesters – be cautious about any new physical activity and do things gradually. Don’t let cute little dogs make you throw caution to the wind!

Amy Shankland is a writer and fundraising professional living in Noblesville with her husband John, two sons, two dogs, and a cat. You can reach her via email at amys@greenavenue.info.