all right let's keep this one brief a lot of you had asked about an update on Sam's foot how's he
doing it's nice to see it back on your feet well it's time for an update so what better place to
have this conversation than the place where the first video took place out here in my workshop I'm
out here doing some cleanup and organization stuff seeing the comments roll in and think
you know what why not turn on the camera do an informal video and give some people some update
about your broken feet to get you up to speed if you don't know what's going on I've had foot
problems for the past six to eight months where I would have flare-ups of the bursitis on the
back of my heels right where the Achilles tendon attaches to the calcaneus or your heel bone and
it would cause it to where it would be painful to walk wear shoes or do anything until that
flare-up ended I had seen my primary care doctor got referred to a foot specialist saw them for
a long time didn't really get anywhere decided to go to physical therapy out of pocket spin it
probably two grand on that didn't have help and was actually at the point where I was going to
see a foot surgeon so I met with a new surgeon actually twice now and talked with him did a
lot of X-rays and he informed me that my personal issue was just me it's not like anyone in general
it's just me that my achilles tendons are actually Too Short that for whatever reason whether it be
how I was programmed genetically made whatever or you know hereditary or just development whatever
my tendons are a little bit too short and that has caused more tension and pulling on my heel which
has caused my issue one of the things I asked him though he says well if this is genetic and
you know I was kind of Born This Way why am I having issues now he then asked me questions to
answer a question with a question well how what's your lifestyle been like what have you done in
your adult life I said well you know worked 13 years at a desk in it decided hey that quit that
job then I've been doing this ever since and by this I mean homesteading gardening projects DIY
stuff and in 2022 building our entire Homestead as you guys have seen there's been a lot of stuff at
that point he said well there's your answer for the majority of your adult life you were sitting
at a desk you weren't taxing yourself you weren't working and flexing and really doing much but over
the last year to two years you've really been doing that after a while that pooling of that
tendon over and over the bone will create the spur to try and hang on to that tendon it's getting
pulled away and therefore causing inflammation and problems when he put it that way it kind of
made sense oh okay well I can understand now while I'm having issues and yeah yeah cool well doc what
do you recommend what's the fix for me his reply was that there are basically two things we could
do one would be a surgery right on your heel pull the attendant back off of your bone cut the tip of
the bone off and everything is sculpt it and then put it all back suturing it stapling it screwing
it and just fixing it that way he also said that that would be a recovery time of probably
nine months or more before I can walk normally option two is also a surgery but it doesn't touch
the foot itself since my issue is with the Achilles tendon what they would do is make a
decision in my calf muscle and where the attendant attaches to the muscles there they would cut and
lengthen it there effectively making the tendon longer the surgeon told me this is a procedure
he's done a lot of and it's one that has a fairly quick recovery of up to eight weeks until you're
back to normal and that he's seen great results with patients with my issues and other issues and
it's a really really good thing that he likes to do at that point I was pretty sold and said
you know what sounds good I don't like the idea of surgery but it does sound like it is a pretty
low risk one and something that you're telling me I do trust you that will fix my issue book
me fast forward about two to three weeks and I'm now finding myself second guessing things
so I went through the whole rigmarole of pre-operative labs they do a bunch of blood
work make sure you're good do a full EKG I guess basically making sure you're not at risk that they
don't want to lose you and after those were done I then got scheduled which was about a month a month
and a half later down the road I wanted to make sure it was in the new year for deductible health
insurance reasons but also in a time period that fit more for me and also worked for the schedule
of the surgeon so there was a certain amount of time that passed from yes book me I did my labs
to today and then from today I'm still about three weeks away from the scheduled surgery
date in that time period I guess I've started to develop cold feet of sorts thinking about surgery
and everything involved and also not having had a foot flare up for a while as I've been
waiting for the surgery to show up and the date to finally arrive I've been thinking okay surgery
is pretty pretty invasive for me I mean hey we're cutting me open here is there anything that could
be causing inflammation swelling Pro problems in the feet that could be exacerbating things
I went through a whole list of things and found that there could be some supplements that I was
taking for immune support that might lead to some inflammation so I decided to stop those it's been
about three weeks since I stopped them and I've not had any foot issues in fact as the videos
you've seen us put out you can tell that it would appear like I don't have any foot issues at all
this has kind of made me question stuff I still have the tendon tightness I can still feel like
I'm not I don't know not fully stretchy and limber or Gumby town down there but I've not
had any foot flare-ups I have been on ladders I helped my brother install a wood stove at a house
and I was on a ladder all day no flare-up I dug The Trenches ran that trencher no flare-up I've
been shoveling and digging for the greenhouse hydrant repair no flare-up so I don't know in
all of those instances I've been very adamant of wearing my new okay they were new they're pretty
broken in now but wearing good quality work boots that have full support steel toe but also like a
steel bar in the bottom of the sole for where your foot doesn't Flex I've been making sure
to wear those anytime I'm outside working so I don't know it is a combination of stopping those
supplements and wearing these shoes enough to make it to where I don't have the flare-ups anymore
honestly it's kind of seeming that way once I spent an entire day on a ladder helping install
wood stove came home that night woke up the next morning and had no foot issues that really got the
gears turning my mind of wait a second I normally would not be able to walk for a week or two after
this in fact this is exactly what happened in our storage building we installed the drywall getting
up and down just on that scaffolding I literally couldn't walk for two weeks but I could do the
wood stove I wonder so here I am currently January 3rd and I think I'm gonna put off the surgery I
think I'm gonna call the doctor's office and say look something's come up I need to put it off for
about two months go ahead and put me on the list two months ahead in advance and let's go from
there in the next two months I'm going to continue to try and cause a flare-up I'm gonna continue
to try and not baby my feet at all like I haven't done the past two and a half three weeks but also
do things that I normally I would shy away from more latter work more digging more I don't know
using the feet I want to see if it's going to cause issues or perhaps for whatever reason the
shoes plus supplements is enough for me to be fine surgery is always an option it is always going to
be out there that I can do but if in the meantime I can make do and not have problems I'm going to
put it off I'm not really eager to be put under and get cut open and go through all the recovery
if the end result is just well I'm a little more stretchy in my right foot but no big difference
otherwise so that's where I'm at that is the real life update I know a lot of you have been curious
and wondering and that's where I'm at I don't know what else to say there's the recap and
the story of part two of Sam's foot journey maybe it's the end maybe I never have to talk about the
subject again and it's never an issue ever again or maybe in two months I'll be telling you how I'm
ready to go in surgery that I really flared it up big time and I regret being mean to my feet
I don't know either way you guys can always ask in future videos let me know or if the
day comes I do the surgery yeah I'll do another video let you guys know otherwise all the same
that's gonna be it for this video hopefully you enjoyed it a little bit of update not a lot of
actions just me moving around my workshop trying to make interesting camera angles but otherwise
giving you all an update because I know a lot of you do care have been wondering a lot of people
have sent emails as well I really appreciate that it is very cool it is very touching as well that
people who don't really know us would be so interested and concerned and engaged that's
cool so I appreciate it all the way otherwise if you got any questions or comments you know
what to do looking for us down below we've got some project videos coming up we got part two
of electrical I got to finish up and show you guys actually I just have to edit that
video and some more stuff planned while Sam tests his feet but we get projects done too
all right guys thanks for watching as always we'll see you on the next video bye
option two okay place in the calf muscle what would you what he does yeah option two is a
surgery option two um as of the making as of yeah in those couple of weeks I have
so in this couple weeks I've been no whatever I want to say [Music]
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