S01.E02: Looks Bad, Feels Worse

[Guest]

Airs January 9, 2020

Quote

A woman with giant springs on her shoes enters Dr. Vincent's office; a man with a rare disease has the largest feet Dr. Schaeffer has ever seen; an athlete with two different-sized feet becomes a difficult surgery.

Oh please, oh please let that woman be wearing these:

 

[StatisticalOutlier]

I have to say that the Louisiana woman's feet weren't that bad.  She obviously hated them and was ashamed, but honestly, appearance-wise, it was one hammer toe and one toe with really bad fungus. 

Hammer toes are weird, but I can't imagine people running away in horror upon seeing one. 

She also had plantar fasciitis, which causes pain (as would the toenail that was digging into the other toe), but her "story" was mainly about what people thought when they saw her wearing socks and sandals.

She did have one pair of Mary Janes (with the spring on them!) that could be worn for important public appearances, and honestly, I don't think that many people are super-judgmental toward people who wear socks with sandals because you have to really look to even notice if the socks and sandals are the same color.  But she didn't always do that, and I swear in one photo the two socks were different colors.  Yes, she has the "right" to not try to make her socked-and-sandaled feet look not like she's wearing socks and sandals, but to me, if it bothers you, you ought to try.

Plus she was obese, and I wonder if her plantar fasciitis would be improved by her feet not having to support that much weight.  And at this point, I don't think she can reach her foot to administer the daily care the doc said will be vital to a good outcome on the fungus.

I don't mean to sound mean.  Her condition clearly upset her, and I felt terrible for her when she was crying.  But come on--do what you can.

In other news, I was happy to see the elephant man foot guy get some shoes.  Not to compare misery, but an incredibly rare and incurable and even untreatable condition that causes one's feet to continue to grow forever in misshapen form?  Yikes.

And the guy with different sized feet.  I wonder why he didn't buy two pairs of shoes and use the pair from each that fit.  Hell--there are probably websites these days that match people with different sized feet just for that purpose.  I'm cheap, but even I would pony up to avoid wearing a size 11 shoe on my size 7 foot, and the doctor did say that trying to walk with a big shoe on a little foot was affecting his other foot.

[Celeca]

5 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

In other news, I was happy to see the elephant man foot guy get some shoes.  Not to compare misery, but an incredibly rare and incurable and even untreatable condition that causes one's feet to continue to grow forever in misshapen form?  Yikes.

I wasn’t sure about this. The guy shows up to explain that he’s interested in getting his feet amputated (to, I assume, eventually get prosthetic feet?). The doc explains I won’t do that - you would have to go somewhere else - but I’ll make you more comfortable. Then he comes out with these giant ass sandals. The guy already explained he can’t walk more than a few steps at a time because of pain. And he doesn’t want to show his feet because they are ugly and they stink. How is this helping him? It was a nice gesture, I just think it was not what he needed. Though, admittedly, I don’t know what would have been helpful

[Rickster]

Yes, this show seems to be going out of it's way to find patients with shocking foot conditions, and the guy with Proteus syndrome they likely knew they couldn't help even before they put him on the show.

IMO, the woman with the hammertoe and fungus really needed to deal with her weight more than her feet if she was so concerned about her appearance. I noticed the doctor said they couldn't use general anesthetic on her because of pre-exisiting health issues.

[BengalKitty]

Amputation wasn't an option for the over growing feet.  If amputated, the leg bone will still grow and would pierce the skin of the stump.  That's why amputation wasn't the best option.

I agree Louisiana Lady wasn't bad compared to what we usually see on these shows.  I'm sure her feet were painful, but not bad visually.  She had cortisone shots during surgery.  Why was still wearing spring shoes at f/u appt?  Didn't work?  Physical therapy can do wonders for plantar fasciitis. 

[SuzySmith]

The spring shoes confused me, too.  I remember the week they were the "in" shoe and and didn't realize that they were now supposed to be orthopedic.  YIKES.  I cannot imagine how that would help PF.  

[crazycatlady58]

2 hours ago, SuzySmith said:

The spring shoes confused me, too.  I remember the week they were the "in" shoe and and didn't realize that they were now supposed to be orthopedic.  YIKES.  I cannot imagine how that would help PF.  

I think the spring absorbs the shock of your heel hitting the ground. Hopefully they have great arch support also.

[StatisticalOutlier]

15 hours ago, crazycatlady58 said:

I think the spring absorbs the shock of your heel hitting the ground. Hopefully they have great arch support also.

I assume they'll also strengthen her ankles from the workout they get trying to keep her from falling over when wearing shoes on springs.

 

On 1/10/2020 at 11:17 PM, Celeca said:

Then he comes out with these giant ass sandals. The guy already explained he can’t walk more than a few steps at a time because of pain. And he doesn’t want to show his feet because they are ugly and they stink. How is this helping him? It was a nice gesture, I just think it was not what he needed. Though, admittedly, I don’t know what would have been helpful

I didn't pay close attention, but I thought I heard the guy say something about walking around in the house, and that doing just that hurts his feet--maybe the soles are sensitive?  But I came away with the impression that they were for indoor wear, to make that part of his life easier.

[ethalfrida]

Maybe it was just me but Louisiana lady talked too much and perhaps exaggerated other people’s reactions. Maybe. But toe pain is hard to tolerate. My second toes are longer than my big toe. Making it necessary to keep second toe nails clipped. If they aren’t those toes are sore for days. 

Did she say why she hadn’t trimmed that nail before it became misshapen?

[Guest]

On 1/10/2020 at 7:54 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

I have to say that the Louisiana woman's feet weren't that bad.

Yeah, I didn't think they were that bad either. Then again, they're not my feet -- and I think if they were mine, I'd be horribly embarrassed. As for her spring shoes? I thought they were really cool and stylish -- I was honestly expecting something super awful when I read the description. I'd totally wear a pair of those. 

My heart broke for the man with Proteus syndrome. I surprised myself when my eyes welled up when the doctor gave him the custom Birks. He seemed like a very sweet man who got dealt a bad hand in life -- and I hope, like he said, that in the next one, he'll be a soccer superstar. 

That being said, when the doctor made the casts of his feet, I thought he was going to deliver some highly customized shoes. I wasn't expecting the really wide sandals. But at least they'll help give him some stability as he walks around his house.

I really like this show. 

[lightninggirl]

I was totally over the extended air time the family in NJ got. Kid, you have a bunion like 23% of people in your age bracket, and you have two different-sized feet. You're opening like 3 more ax-throwing stores, so it's doubtful you're hurting for money (plus it looks like Mom is guilt-ridden about not knowing he had 2 different-sized feet after all that time - I'm sure she'd pony up some cash for the extra pair of shoes). Why are you running around in a shoe 4 sizes too big? It seemed like he was living at home and working with his family, so I'm wondering how that was even possible that they were that clueless.

[Jadzia]

I really like Dr. Ebonie but I can't stand the other doctor on this show (I can't even remember his name.) He seems like such a "bro" and I can't really take him seriously as a doctor. His bedside manner with patients seems a little condescending as well. 

I think it is weird on this show how the doctors don't work together or they don't even try to give the appearance that they do. I think it would be better if we saw them interact with each other and discuss the cases, like they do on Botched.

[sixlets]

5 hours ago, Jadzia said:

I really like Dr. Ebonie but I can't stand the other doctor on this show (I can't even remember his name.) He seems like such a "bro" and I can't really take him seriously as a doctor. His bedside manner with patients seems a little condescending as well. 

I think it is weird on this show how the doctors don't work together or they don't even try to give the appearance that they do. I think it would be better if we saw them interact with each other and discuss the cases, like they do on Botched.

They are not in practice together.  Dr. Ebonie works in Orange County, CA, and Dr. Bro works in Jersey.

[sempervivum]

On 1/10/2020 at 6:54 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

Hell--there are probably websites these days that match people with different sized feet just for that purpose

This is an older article, but it looks like this exists: Sources for mixed size shoes