How did foot injury and subsequent surgeries make me a recumbent trike enthusiast?

Honestly, it was all my fault. I did it to myself simply because I want to be fashionable down to my feet. I have always been height challenged so I wore the highest high heels I could find. I wore them for so many years, I swore I would never wear flats unless they were sandals. Well, that was the cause of lots of pain and two surgeries to fix an old issue that didn’t seem so bad at the time it occurred.

By now, most people who have read our blog know we love our recumbent trikes. How did this really happen for me? I don’t consider myself a cyclist. In fact, until my recumbent trike, I probably never rode more than 10 miles on a single ride. Now, 10 miles is just a warm up. We have so many stories about our rides on our blog. It is gratifying that I can and do enjoy these wonderful times together but I would still like to take a walk with Mike and Mac.

About 20 years ago, Mike and I were walking in Charleston. As usual, I was wearing the best walking shoes (platform heels) for our stroll in the cobblestones. Well, one of the holes in the cobblestone reached out and grabbed my shoe. My shoe was fine but my foot wasn’t. I broke it along the metatarsals.

For information, the metatarsals are located from the arch to the other side of the foot. At the time, I went to the orthopedic doctor and they taped it and said nothing more needs to be done. From that point on, I was never able to walk for a distance again without some pain.

For the last couple of years, I faced a repeat foot surgery. You might ask why would I have to go through a repeat surgery. I certainly did. Going through it one time was difficult. Going through it again was simply terrifying. Fast forward 10 years later, we moved to California and I was exercising with my trainer. I was pressing a significant amount of weight with my legs and feet. Something went terribly wrong and was very painful. The arch shredded and the spring ligament under the arch was torn.

I found a great orthopedic surgeon who immediately said I had to have surgery. A couple of months later, I had the surgery. It basically rebuilt my foot. He transplanted the tendon from under my toes to the arch, repaired the spring ligament, and put pins on the left side of the foot. It was a painful experience that took some time to recover. It never really recovered as well as I thought it should have done. I had problems standing and walking any distances so my hope for jogging was gone. At that time, I found I loved to bike because that was how I could spend time with Mike (and it is a sport he loves).

Our home wasn’t conducive to recovery. Our bedroom was upstairs so I spent lots of time going up the stairs on my butt. To take a shower required Mike to put on two garbage bags and secure them with big rubber bands. Then he had to help me climb over the tub to get into the shower and I couldn’t put weight on my foot. That was a real challenge.

I was so concerned about work (I thought they couldn’t survive without me) that I went back to work in one week. That alone was a big mistake. My boss didn’t care that I was in pain (and I didn’t expect her too) but she was more upset that I wore very nice exercise pants and jackets. I did my best but I couldn’t get clothes over the cast and splint.