The Saga of Jake's Feet...Pt. 1

Jake hanging out with Chester, after his turn at piano lessons.

About two years ago, we started noticing that Jake walked strangely. Other people started noticing it, too. Also, he was wearing out his shoes in an unusual way...basically, the insides would sheer off so the soles of his shoes were slanted inward.

We set up an appointment for him to see the podiatrist. He agreed that Jake was not walking normally, and told us he was extremely flat footed. He took some impressions to order a set of custom orthotics. When those failed to improve his feet, his wife (also a podiatrist) cast his feet for a more precise measurement. We gave this set of orthotics about nine months. By this time, he was going through a pair of shoes a month, and could not spend much time on his feet without pain. He went from being an active kid, running around the neighborhood...to a kid who spent most of his time indoors. When Jake became a Boy Scout a year ago, he had an extremely difficult time with the hikes. A five mile hike sent him to bed for a couple of days. An hour of racquetball with the Scouts meant being out of commission most of the next day.

In November, we contacted podiatry to set up another appointment, and learned that since there was a new podiatrist, we'd have to wait FOUR months, because Jake was now considered a new patient. I threw up the BS flag. Jake was not a new patient, the Dr. was a new (to us) Dr...and whatever kind of coding they needed to do with their whacked appointment system was irrelevant to us...we were not waiting another four months to be seen. Of course, I didn't use words like "BS" or "whacked"...I just thought them...and asked to be transferred to the head nurse, and firmly but politely listed the steps in my proposed course of action, including getting Cliff's command and the patient advocate involved. Only then did the nurse review Jake's record and found the magic words, "good candidate for surgery." {Thank you, Doctors Frank!} Based on this information, we were able to get in two weeks later, and the Dr. went off of the other doctors' recommendations.

Since we are limited in some medical services here, Jake would have to be sent to Hawaii for the surgery. Four months later, we are finally making our way across the ocean for his appointment. It's a bit of an odd arrangement, though. Since the type of surgery Jake will receive is "surgeon specific," the podiatrist could only give us a brief overview of three possibilities...but very little info on what would be involved as far as recovery, etc. Also, we have to be prepared to stay for weeks, but we may very well be only meeting with the surgeon for an initial visit, and turn around to come back to Okinawa and wait to return to Hawaii for a future surgery date. It is so weird to be going into this blind on so many levels.

Well today, it got weirder. Since we are supposed to leave on Monday, we were instructed to come into the aerovac office today at 3 to pick up the airline tickets. We knew something was wrong as soon as we walked into the office. Apparently, 30 minutes before we got there, the Air Force decided no more aerovac tickets would be issued due to the precarious nuclear situation in mainland Japan, and the fact that all flights from Okinawa were routed through there. We asked to be sent through another country and they said they weren't prepared to do that. We had waited SO long to get this surgery consultation...at this rate, we'd be waiting at least another 4 months, setting back his recovery into the next school year.

I won't drag you through all the "firm but polite...with a hint of desperate" dialogue that followed...including their admission that only the Air Force was adopting this policy, not the other branches of service...and the fact that we were welcome to buy our own tickets and go on our own (so it's safe if we drop our own money, but not if the military pays for it?!). The pieces just weren't making sense. Finally, we left with our e-tickets, and the admonition that although travel through mainland Japan was not recommended, I was an adult and could make my own choice. {THAT'S what I'VE been trying to say, thank you very much.}

So now we are on our way...hopefully. Still a little gun-shy after today's adrenaline-filled meeting, where all of our progress went flashing before my eyes. I'm just praying they won't change their minds about letting me make adult decisions before Monday. After our horrendous experience with government travel back in October, where Cliff almost didn't make the plane, I am all too aware of the fact that government-purchased e-tickets can easily be turned off.

Here's hoping we're Hawaii bound come Monday morning!