I would be lying if I said the past 13 months has been a breeze.  In reality, it’s been a bit of a hurricane.

 

July 15th of 2025, while gardening barefoot, I stepped on a rock.   Thinking I’d just bruised my right heel, I continued working, vending, and even yoga classes for 3 months until I just couldn’t take the pain anymore.  A trip to the orthopedic emergency room showed I’d been walking on a fractured calcaneus, I’d shredded my plantar fascia and had developed bone marrow edema inside the heel.

 

I was placed in a boot and scheduled with a surgery consultation where I was told to off-weight immediately. 

 

Try telling an artist in peak season to off-weight when there were shows scheduled!  

 

I did everything I could to vend every show I’d committed myself to, while seeing my clients for bodywork, while wearing an air boot from my knee to my toes.

I did my best, but had to back out of one show and two weeks of scheduled clients once the pain became too intense to push away.

 

I went off-weight just before Christmas, and was scheduled for an injection of steroids that would hopefully create enough scar tissue to glom my shredded plantar fascia together enough to save it in early January.  My dear daughter-in-love came from Chicago to support me through as I couldn’t put any weight on my right foot, and we hunkered in while ICE descended upon Minneapolis.

 

Hours after the injection, I experienced a ripping pain in my foot, and another doctor visit confirmed that the injection had ruptured the plantar fascia.  The next step was surgery, and that was scheduled for January 27th, with 4 weeks of zero weight on my foot for recovery.

 

Removing the plantar fascia does not come without consequences.  While the tearing pain was relieved after the surgery, the bone marrow edema in my calcaneus still throbbed constantly.  Once I was able to begin walking again, it got worse.  I was also witness to the importance of an intact plantar fascia, as its removal began an ongoing change in the structure of my foot.  My arches have been dropping, my instep is widening, and I’m still dealing with pain in my heel if I stand or walk too long.  

 

While in physical therapy for my heel, I was struggling with intense pain in my left hip and low back that really became unbearable while sleeping on the couch in my living room, since my bedroom is up 15 stairs in the attic.  I knew I had been walking funny for a year with my injury, and I believed the pain in my back and hip was from accommodating my foot, sleeping on a horrible couch and maybe even that menopausal hip pain many women my age complains about.  

 

My physical therapist ordered hip and back x-rays and had me schedule with a hip and spine doctor.  The news was not good.  I was completely bone on bone.  The hip socket and greater trochanter were riddled with bone spurs and I had a large cyst in the socket.  My lumbar spine scans showed moderate to severe stenosis, ruptured discs, a vertebra that has shifted forward in the spine and two cysts.  I was not a candidate for a cortisone injection, because I could not wait the three months it would take for the injection would wear off enough to allow surgery.  I wouldn’t be walking in three months.  

 

It was agreed upon that I would address the hip pain with a complete replacement of the ball and socket, and that if the hip replacement didn’t ease the back pain, I would return for a surgery consultation with the spinal surgeon.  My surgery was scheduled for as soon as possible, and the surgeon apologized for not having an earlier opening.

 

On July 17th, Adam took me to the hospital for my surgery.  They could not place a spinal tap due to the stenosis, so I underwent general anesthesia.  When I awoke, my dysautonomia from my long covid presented in full force.  My heart rate plunged into the low 30 BPM, the entire room was spinning, and I experienced full body tremors that would build slowly until my entire body would shake.  These symptoms continued for about 15 hours, making me miss my first physical therapy sessions in hospital.  I was kept in hospital for 2 1/2 days, while the nurses, therapists and social worker debated if I would need transitional care.

 

I was allowed to go home the afternoon after my second night in hospital, and I was so relieved when my son picked me up.

 

While it felt good to be home, I was still in a lot of pain from the incision, and had very little strength in my leg.  I couldn’t stand up without support.  I needed help lifting my leg into the daybed set up in the living room.  I needed help bathing and dressing.  I couldn’t stand long enough to prepare a meal. On top of all this, my dysautonomia symptoms weren’t cooperating. 

 

My son, Jakob and my dear friend Amy from Denver cared for me for the first week.  Adam was in and out as his work and kid’s schedules allowed.  When Jakob and Amy had to leave after the first week home, Adam and a plethora of friends and neighbors made sure I had a visit or two each day, and that my needs were met.  By then I was walking with the aid of crutches, and able to bathe and dress myself.

 

It’s been 22 days since my surgery, and I’m getting a little better every day.  I still need the crutch or cane to walk, and I still feel incision pain with each step, but the searing hip and back pain I lived with for so long is gone.  My foot is still recovering, and there are days it throbs in rhythm with my hip, but it just shows me that healing is on its own timeline, and that there are things that just can’t be rushed.  

 

After my foot surgery, I had to close my bodywork and yoga studio.  This was a painful decision.  Opening my studio was an accomplishment I was so proud of.  I loved the drive around Lake Minnetonka each day, and my studio had a beautiful view of a woodland full of wildlife.  It also had 19 stairs to climb multiple times a day, and the drive itself had become a painful ordeal.  Even now my foot throbs when I drive short distances.  

 

I’m lucky I have a bodywork studio in my home, and I was seeing clients there right up to my hip surgery.

 

I’m finally at a point where I can return back to bodywork again.  Adam let me give him a session last night to see if I could endure the full 90 minutes, and I did ok.  

 

I’ve decided to ease back into work on Monday, while scheduling enough time to do some serious selfcare between sessions.  I’ll take this weekend to straighten the house back up, and prepare myself for a slow return to seeing clients.

 

I’ll be easing back into my vending schedule with Strange Times Market on August 23rd, Twin Cities Pagan Pride on September 12th, and The Women and Spirituality Gathering September 18-20th.  

 

Because I was out of work for a little over 3 months with my foot surgery, and almost a month with my hip, things have been a little tight.  My savings was drained at the beginning of the year.  The little I was able to scrape together to endure more unexpected recovery time is about gone.

 

That said, if you’ve enjoyed my work in the past, or have wanted to try what almost 40 years of bodywork experience is like, please consider booking a session with me.  If you’ve seen my artwork in person, or at a show, my Etsy store is almost fully stocked, and I’ve got shows scheduled through the end of October.  I’d love to see you there.

 

And for all of you who have called, texted, sent messages and cards, delivered gifts, put money in my Venmo account, or driven me to a doctor appointment, please know that your names are engraved in my heart, and I am eternally grateful to you.