I was wondering if any of you have had to deal with lower extremity edema whereby you can't even wear tennis shoes/sneakers or anything but sandals that stay open and there is only a Velcro strap that allows the top of the sandals to close or buckled straps to allow for the stretching/lower extremity edema in my feet?
This began with me probably 3-4 years after I began to work and was in the chair by 8 AM and did not lay down until 8 PM or 9 PM on weekdays. But it has gotten much worse since then and then in 1998 I had to stop wearing shoes or tennis shoes/sneakers and resort to what I spoke about above. The only thing that helps it is me laying flat with my feet straight up and down against a pillow whereby my lower extremities are equal to my heart. In other words, they go down overnight but not always. Yes, I will wear compression stockings and did so before moving to Arizona in the summer of 2001. I wore Jobst stockings for the first couple of years after moving away from the humidity of the Northeast but I eventually did not need them. When I moved back to the Northeast to be with family after losing my husband my lower extremities became worse so I thought when I moved back here they would get better but nope! Yes, I tilt back my chair several times a day because that is all I have time for and I am not up in my chair all that long anyway. Now, I do not have any heart problems or anything. It is all because of gravity. I very much wish I could go back to wearing sneakers but even with my compression stockings... my feet and ankles swell and I can't risk any skin breakdown. Best, ~Lori C4/5 complete quad, 36 1/2 years post Tucson Arizona -- "Petting, scratching and cuddling a dog could be soothing to the mind and heart and deep meditation and almost as good for the soul as prayer." ~Dean Koontz
