The other day, I was doing some searching for some water shoes, so I might be able to go swimming in a pool. If anyone knows me, swimming in the ocean is out of the question for me, as they freak me out and are probably not a good thing with my immunosuppressant drugs. This includes rivers and lakes. I won’t swim in them, they’re dirty, and no thanks. I know a pool is probably just as bad, but at least there’s usually chlorine in those. Anyways.

So I was looking for recommended water shoes for diabetics like me and I discovered something Really intriguing to me. A lot of people don’t know about foot care for diabetics. I can understand this. There’s no reason for anyone to know about unless you have diabetes or know someone who is. However, it just seems like everyone is getting diabetes these days because of various reasons. Everyone thinks it’s just all about pricking your finger and testing your blood. Sorry, it’s a bit more than that folks.

For those of you who in danger of becoming diabetic, this post is for you. If you get diabetes, this is what you will have to live with, FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. (sorry for the caps)

For me, it’s a routine. I know what I’m going to do, and it’s Really automatic for me. I’ve been doing it for so long I guess it’s second nature. I’ll use the bullet method:

• Inspection of the feet – Any Thomas Covenant readers out there? Remember that routine he did where he’d visually inspect his entire body? What did they call it, VISE or something like that. Anyways, that’s what I do with my feet at the end of the night before I go to bed. However, I take it one step further and feel my feet just in case I missed anything.
• Never go barefoot – ever. Don’t do it. Why? Because you can cut your feet, you can accidentally step on anything that might just burrow into your foot. And the clincher here is, for some diabetics (like myself), you can’t feel anything with your feet. Yeah, it’s kinda weird walking. That’s why I walk with a cane. I lose balance Really fast, and if I fall, that’s a bad thing too.
• Dry your feet after a shower – I know this may seem like a duh moment, but honestly, for many diabetics (like myself) we get neuropathic pain in our feet. That means you have the tingling sensation like your foot goes to sleep all the time. You know for everyone it just go away after you wake it up? Well, it never wakes up for some of us. And just the touch of a towel can be excruciatingly painful. Even sheets! You know, I don’t remember the last time I went to bed with the sheets over my feet. I always leave them out.
• Be very careful when clipping toenails – because the numbness is there, you won’t be able to tell when you clip off toenails or your own foot. I know some diabetics have someone cut their toenails for them, but I can’t bear anyone else touching my feet. It’s just too painful. Hell it’s painful just to take off my socks.
• Keep them moist but not too moist – Use some kind of lotion. Again, this may be a duh moment, but you don’t want them too moist because then you might get a fungus. (or something worse!) If your skin cracks, then you’re in trouble. Remember, diabetics take longer to heal, and because it’s on your feet, you might not know about it! Especially if you don’t do your visual checks!
• Watch for heat and cold – As a diabetic, you may as well forget about heat pads, icy hot patches, things like that. These are all bad things for you. Because of any numbness that might occur, you might not know if it’s too hot or too cold. Especially on your feet.
• Always wear socks – Did I mention this before? Yeah, it’s that important. If you don’t wear socks, then at least wear a non chafing slipper that will encase the whole foot. i.e. no open heel slippers.

What are the complications if you don’t do these things? Well, there are plenty of them. And I’ll tell you oh, they’re horrible. But you know what’s the worst? AMPUTATION. That’s all you need to know. If you don’t take care of your feet, they’re gonna eventually cut them off. It’s as simple as that. Have you heard of people losing their toes or feet to diabetes? Yeah, this is how it happens.

So hopefully, if you’re a newly diagnosed diabetic who happened to find this page and learned something, then my job is done. If you haven’t learned anything, then either you already knew about it, or you’re ignoring everything I say, in which case, you’ll find out sooner or later.

I just hope you don’t have to lose a foot to learn something.