Shoes and orthotics

We take a lot for granted in our lives, but have you ever considered how fortunate we are to have shoes?  After Richard's accident, he didn't need shoes for a very long time.  By the time he did, he could wear his own shoes, at least through the time that he was in HealthSouth.  After the hardware was removed, he needed support for that ankle so he had to have an AFO (Ankle, Foot orthotic) he had engineered his velcro sandals to do the job.  He had to extend the velcro to go around and over his AFO, but he made it work, at least temporarily.

We were told that we could get shoes from Hanger in Santa Fe so we went there.  He found some shoes that he thought would work, which isn't easy when you have to put your shoes on with one hand (no tying!) and one shoe is significantly bigger than the other one.  When they came in about 6 weeks later, they didn't fit so we ordered another pair of shoes. Six weeks later, we went to pick them up and they didn't fit.  This went on for months.  Honestly, I don't know how they stay in business because they never completed the transaction, and it was not because we didn't want to!

We looked for shoes everywhere we went.  We even looked in Florida when we went there in 2011. Finally, we decided to go to a specialty shoe store in Albuquerque and they happened to have a pair of shoes 13EEEEE.  They fit the foot with the orthotic, so we took them.  The other shoes was WAY too big for his foot, but we really didn't mind because he had been without shoes for about 2 years at this point.  He wore those shoes for a long time.

Finally, after we moved to Las Vegas, we went to a new podiatrist.  He was able to order shoes that had velcro straps and he could get both shoes in different sizes.  It was miraclous to us!  Then the podiatrist office explained (after we had those shoes and one more pair that he used for church) that Medicare denied paying them.  They refused to order anymore shoes for Richard.  We offered to pay for the shoes, but they wouldn't have it.  So, here we are in 2017 and we are still not able to get shoes for him!  I told them at the podiatrist's office that he might have to go around bare-footed.  It is not outside the realm of possibility with the way things have been going there!

Orthotics were also a challenge to get.  The first ones he got Tingley children's hospital in Albuqerque.  It took a long time to get it right, but they eventually did.  When we tried getting one elsewhere, Richard would wear it for less than a day.  It would cause tremendous pain so we would end up throwing it away, and it cost thousands of dollars! The one thing we learned is that when you get a good one, just have them put new lining in it and keep wearing it.  It is too hard to get another one that fits properly.

I am truly amazed at how some of these medical supply places do business! I have run my own business, and I can see how these places go out of business.  I am also amazed at how many of these specialty places cannot help us.  We go in, explain what we need, and they can't do it. It is their speciality, but they still cannot meet his needs!  If you can go into a shoe store and buy shoes or orthotics off the shelf, you have much to be grateful for.  If you can't, be persistant. Someone, somewhere will help, even if it takes years to find them!