I was a very athletic kid. I played basketball, football, baseball, I wrestled, skate boarded, snowboarded, surfed, etc. And then out of the blue I started feeling numbness between my toes on my left foot. I didn’t really think much of it, I just thought it would take care of itself and go away. Well then a few years went by and I started noticing that my balance and coordination were not what they used to be. I became clumsy and would trip over cracks in the side walk or stumble just walking on flat ground. What the heck? I was frustrated.

I thought it was kinda funny at first and just played it off as funny when I would fall or trip. It was my way of coping with the embarrassment. Well then a few more years went by and I didn’t think it was funny anymore. I was sick of it. I would go out to bars with friends and be cut off or kicked out of the club because of the way I was walking. Not because I’d had to much to drink. I knew it was from my habit of trying to favor my right leg and staying off of my left leg. Because of this habit I formed over the years, to try to relieve the pressure in my left foot, I lost my ability to even walk normally. Not only did this effect me physically it was effecting me socially.

After dealing with this embarrassment for years I decided I had to fix this. I had a visit with my general practitioner and described the problem to her. She brought me some literature and thought I had what was called Mortons Neuroma She recommended a podiatrist who gave me a cortisone shot. It immediately cured the problem. I was on cloud nine, thinking this is all I had to do all of these years. Then after a couple of weeks it wore off and it came back. I continued to stumble. Then my wife and I discovered we were going to have a baby.

My first thought was I can’t have a baby and be able to hold it and walk with it safely, so I opted for surgery. Well its been almost 5 months later and it feels the same. So not only am I clumsy I’m afraid to hold my own daughter in fear of falling down with her. In fact I did fall with her but luckily, like anything you do a lot I was good at falling. I protected her by putting my elbow through a wall. We went to the ER to get her checked out and she was fine. Close one.

I’m determined to find an answer for this. It’s ridiculous. I’m sick of the embarrassment and fear of falling. Can anyone help me? This thing is getting on my last nerve.