Oh the pain ...

This new svelte body of mine is causing me trouble.

You see, now that I have it, I kind of like to show it off (wouldn't anyone?).

And certain outfits require certain shoes, otherwise the "look" would simply not be there.

Yesterday, I had to go into the big city for my physio session, and I am back to my old self of being able to handle many errands again.

And of course, because I "can," I "do."  That is my nature.

So, I planned a very full day of errands, leaving home at 10:30am.

First stop, the bank on my way out of Almonte to make a deposit.

En route to the big city is a major shopping venue which includes a sports shop, so I stopped in there to check out compression shorts.  Got the information I needed (they are essentially biker shorts without the padding) and went on my way.

Once I hit the big city, I stopped at my sister-in-law's workplace to pick up yet another MedicAlert bracelet that she had improvised for me (and to deliver the others to her for yet another fix -- we'll get them figured out eventually).

Then it was on to my favourite computer shop to pay the tab for the installation of John's new system (remember the techie came out to our place a couple of weeks ago and spent the day on that task?).  We could have called in the Visa number, but I like to visit them and get hugs and chat.  I spent about a half hour there, standing all the while (got extra hugs when the founder's son came down to say hi -- hadn't seen him in quite some time).

From there, I stopped at my little chickadee's workplace to pick up a cheque from her (long story, our business, won't go into detail here).

Then I finally got to my physiotherapist's office.

In our discussions about my search for the proper compression clothing, she was intrigued to learn that I was considering Spanx (and/or Flexees -- of which she was not previously aware).  She suggested that Spanx reportedly reduced a person by one full clothing size, so they might actually provide greater compression than biker shorts since as far as she knew, biker shorts didn't reduce a person's clothing size.  She encouraged me to check out the Flexees and the Spanx as possibilities and report back to her.  She had not previously thought of them as providing therapeutic benefit, so she was quite excited at the idea of having more ideas to offer to her clients.  She decided that she needs to think outside the box more often, like I do -- apparently I keep giving her ideas!

So when I left her office, I continued on may to Sears to check out the Flexees.  And that involved a lot of trying on of clothing (which I absolutely hate at the best of times!). 

By the time I finished there, it was 3:15pm and I was facing a 45 minute drive home.

And I still had one stop to make before I got home:  pick up a prescription refill at the pharmacy in Almonte as I went through town.

I arrived home at 4:30pm -- twelve hours after I had risen for the day (my lack of sleeping aid at night is taking its toll!).

That was a six-hour day and I was very tired, to say the least.

And I had been wearing a new pair of sandals that I bought to wear with one of my new dresses.  They just happened to set off my new capri outfit quite nicely so I wore them instead of my usual "therapeutic" sandals.

Big mistake.

Today, my feet are in agony, along with my legs.

And I woke with serious leg cramps again, almost like I was taking that damned blood pressure medication (not quite as bad but close).

Lesson learned:  Except for short, special outings, only wear my therapeutic shoes -- that's what they are for!  Most especially, don't try to be fashionable when going on one of my famous "many stops" outings.

Anyway, turns out that the Flexees won't suffice at all, for my purposes.  They might be perfectly adequate for short term use, but unfortunately they have a rubber-like band around the leg that would not lend itself to long-term wear.   Of course, the purpose of that band is to prevent riding-up of the legband and I understand that, but eventually I would react to the material.  So while they won't serve my purpose, they might very well be suitable for my physiotherapist to recommend to some of her clients, depending on their needs.

However, I need to find a garment that can be worn almost full time.

And I need to find a garment that can be worn overnight because I intend to wear one while I sleep. (My sleep was greatly enhanced whilst I was wearing the athletes' taping.)

I haven't yet seen an actual pair of Spanx so I don't know if they have the rubber-like band on the leg; hence I can't yet rule them out.

The compression shorts that I saw at the sports' shop will serve my purpose quite nicely.  Thus far, they are in the lead but until I check out Spanx, I'm not making a final decision on what to buy.  But once I do decide, I will be buying several pair.