A Word (or Several) about Blisters

October 4
Okay, so the first blister doesn't show up today, but the trouble with blisters does.

Ever had a blister underneath a nail?  That's a new one for me, too.  Then there is the blister on recovering blistered skin. At this point, most of the tape on our feet is preventative.  Then comes the surprise one on my right heel, which had already shed most of the affected skin.  Oh, ever had a blister under callused skin?  You don't want one.

Almost as soon as one enters an albergue, your boots/shoes must come off.  When I remove my boots and socks to put on my flip-flops, Michelle spots all my Band-Aids, tape, and the bloody tape covering my right heel.  Plus, I can barely stand to put weight on my left heel.

After I shower, Michelle ushers me into the reception room.  She wears an apron and we sit facing each other.  She puts each foot on her aproned lap and removes all the tape and Band-Aids.  She tut-tuts over the open wound on my right heel, but what she sees under the preventative tape on my left heel has her looking at me with pity.

I will not describe the wounds, nor the process of tending to my blisters.  Just imagine a needle, thread, iodine, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, and mercurichrome.  Imagine she asks you, through Jerri translating, if you have kids.  You wonder what that has to do with anything at this moment until she says, “Then you know this pain is necessary." Uh-oh.

I do a lot of Lamaze breathing (fitting, after her comment), clenching of muscles, gripping Felix's hand--while, I believe, he is telling me to focus on the large crucifix hanging on the wall across from me--and holding back screams.  The tears I let flow, but I'm ashamed to say a few strangled noises escape as well.  And, when it is over, I succumb to the throbbing and ask Jerri for some ibuprofen.

I am sent out to sit in the sun with my feet up.  No more walking than is absolutely necessary, for the rest of the day.   As I look at and feel the condition of my feet, I wonder how I will ever put my boots on in the morning.