Dear LPG, 

I think of myself as a fairly active older person. I always think that routine is the secret and I have created one which gets me out of the house at least five days out of seven no matter what season we are working our way through.   That leaves me one day for visitors and one lazy day a week.  I have always been aware that as you get older, it can be easy to just not bother.  It can be so easy to talk yourself into sitting, thinking and giving your outing a miss because the getting ready, taking a good look in the mirror before leaving, and practicing what I preach is just too much bother.   

I don’t have many visitors these days but there is one friend who knocks at the door every Thursday morning without fail.   A few weeks ago I found myself with an itchy foot and thought very little about it, but when you itch you also scratch. It is a natural reaction and I hardly even noticed just how much I had been doing that even though I managed to create one of those little tears that scratching can make on your skin.

I found my tube of antiseptic cream which improved my little self-inflicted scar and helped with the itching, and I thought little more of it until my weekly visitor pointed out that, in her opinion, one of my feet was a little more swollen than usual and indeed a little more swollen than the other, although I did not really see the difference until it was pointed out to me.

It was not particularly painful or that much bigger than the other although there was that itch and I suppose that the one comment that my visitor had made, got me thinking enough to take a look at the internet.

I was surprised to learn about all the different things that could have been causing it and after having read similar information on more than three websites, I followed the advice that I found there and got onto my GP straight away.  I did not understand a lot of what I read but the mention of thrombosis and how swelling feet and legs might be an indication of problems with blood pressure and diabetes got my attention.  

As we get a bit older, for some of us, getting a really good look at your feet can be a challenge as the expanding bits of your torso get in the way.  So now, when I take that look in the mirror before I leave the house, I have learned to look down a little more carefully.   In my case, it was not that serious a situation but, having learned just how serious it can be I would like to advise all readers who don’t, that looking down is not a bad thing to do every now and then. 

CW, St. Johns.

CW shares what she found…

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