Honest and forthright doctors

With many years of dealing with many different doctors I have found that honest and forthright doctors has always been a blessing. I may not like what they have to say at the time, but I always need to hear what they have to say. Sometimes they knock me off my island ofcomplacency and denial and that does not feel good. Getting dunked into the cold water and again realizing I'm on an island can be quite a shocker. That's what happened to me today. I went to the third doctor about the swelling in my ankles and legs. The first saw it and diagnosed it. The second doctor, my primary care doctor confirmed the diagnosis. Both told me to keep my feet elevated, and wear compression hose and I would probably be fine. Well I knew that keeping my feet elevated would cut into my computer time and I certainly was not looking forward to wearing compression stockings, but the consequences were to great. As a diabetic I already had poor circulation which was contributing to my neuropathy and eventually could lead to amputation (not a pleasant thought). Having the small veins in my legs deteriorating was adding to this possibility. Well today I went to the foot doctor because my efforts were not working well. Now this is were the honest and forthright comes in; he told me that the reality of the situation was the compression socks were very difficult to put on and most people who had them gave up wearing them because of the difficulty. Since I have neuropathy in my hands and have had past surgeries in my hands putting the stocking on would be impossible and he went out to show me what they were like. Okay so in honesty that option was out. Then he told me that I needed to keep my feet raised above my heart level for at least an hour at least 4 times a day. Well that was a little longer than I expected; a little more than try to keep your feet up. He also wants me to avoid sitting at a desk for any length of time. Okay, okay that really cuts down on editing and being on a site or writing a blog. Tom is currently looking to see what we can do about a laptop for me.
On top of that I keep spraining my ankle because I have permanently stretched out tendons. I can't have surgery because of my health and I can't wear a brace because of the poor circulation and swelling. That certainly cuts down on my forays to take photographs. Unless I am on a completely flat surface, I can feel my ankles shift while I walk. I have already started to work on that problem; I'm learning to take pictures from the inside of the car or on streets and sidewalks. All the pictures that I have posted tonight was taken one of those ways and for the most part they came out. I'm glad I have a telephoto lens. A lot of the shaking I've had problems with has come from the car shaking. I did some art edits with some of the picture since they were just for fun so I had some fun with them.
I've cried some (well quite a bit) from the reality check but thanks to the family grapevine I was able to talk to Sarah, my eldest daughter, for quite awhile and get some good advice and felt much better afterward. She grew up pretty smart and I'm thankful for all my family. Our grapevine works well and Emily, my youngest daughter called too and wanted to know if I wanted to talk. Pretty nice family, huh.
All in all I will survive and I will develop more coping skills so I can go back to enjoying my life again.