Category: Podiatry

I had the best date. We had a great conversation and I was very attracted to her. She mentioned that she found me attractive too. I really gussied myself up before this date. I got a fresh new haircut and wore my best clothes – freshly ironed clothes might I add! I really did put my best foot forward. 

I’m not sure how many of you out there have struggled with a nail fungal infection before but it’s definitely something you don’t want. Take my word for it! Any type of foot fungus is simply uncomfortable. For me, I was experiencing a chronically itchy toe and pain when I walked. While my date and I were eating, I had to slam my foot down on the ground from time to time to ease the itch. I don’t think she noticed this. I do think she noticed me sticking my hand down my sock. The itching got so bad I had no option but to tuck my hand into my sock and start itching my foot directly. She didn’t say anything but I did notice a weird expression on her face. I don’t get why she was so offended. It’s not like I put my foot on the table for that long! Ten seconds to two minutes tops!

After dinner, she told me she needed to head home as she had an early morning. Being the gentleman I am, I walked her back to the apartment. She was so flattered by this gesture that she invited me upstairs. We sat down on the couch together and I saw her take her shoes off. I took this as a sign to take my shoes off. 

We spoke for two hours and then as I got up to leave, she discreetly handed me a card for the best podiatrist in Cheltenham. What an absolute gem of a human! She saw I was struggling with a problem and found a way to help me without embarrassing me. It’s been three weeks and I’ve been calling each day. I’m still waiting to hear from her.

‘Hold up, hold up,’ I winced, flagging down Lynette with a hand. My walking partner of the past few weeks stopped, looking back at me with concern.

‘Jill?’ she asked. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘Oh, just my blasted feet,’ I swore, hobbling over to a nearby bench and shooing away the pigeons that had claimed it. ‘Get out of here, I’m in pain!’

‘Has this been happening a lot?’ Lynette asked with a frown.

‘Just the last day or two,’ I said. ‘I’ll be fine – just need a bit of a rest, that’s all.’

‘We’ve barely made it to the park!’ she said. ‘You’re only a couple of blocks from your front door!’

‘Yes, thank you, dear,’ I said, trying to be courteous behind gritted teeth. ‘Well noted.’

‘Have you spoken to a podiatrist?’

‘A what?’

‘You know, a foot specialist,’ Lynette explained patiently. ‘Someone who can help you with foot pain, get you back to walking again.’

‘I’m already back to walking,’ I said with a smile, getting to my feet. ‘See? Just needed a little break.’

‘I think you should still speak to someone,’ Lynette said, nervously. ‘Just promise me you’ll track down the top foot specialist based in Cheltenham?’

‘Sure,’ I lied. ‘Promise.’

‘Okay,’ Lynette said, a little bit of her usual smile returning. ‘It might be something little, you’ll see.’

‘What, like I walk too much?’

‘Hardly,’ she rolled her eyes, as we took back to the trail. ‘But it might just be the way you walk, or the type of shoes you’ve got.’

I nodded along, trying desperately to ignore the shooting pain in my feet.

‘Hell, you might just need arch supports to help with foot pain, I don’t know,’ Lynette laughed. ‘I’m not the expert, am I!’

‘Nope,’ I grunted. ‘You most definitely are not.’

We strode in silence for a few gruelling, hellish minutes, before Lynette piped up again.

‘I was thinking we could try Bonachelli’s for coffee this morning, they make a mean sticky-date—’

‘Bench!’ I gasped, thundering forward to the first seat I could see. ‘Need a bench!’

‘Jill?’