The Return of Doris and My Orthotics: The “Clampetts” are Headed Back to Greece!

We had so much fun soaking up the beauty and history of Greece, that after two years, Bob, our friends Mark and Judy and I decided that it was time to soak up some more.  This time however, instead of island-hopping like we did on our last trip, we are headed north via Athens, to see a completely different Greece.

We did not come up with this idea on our own—we’re just not that creative. Prior to the end of our last Greek adventure, our wonderful tour guide, Doris, recommended that we someday come back and see a very different, less known and even less traveled part of her beloved country.  While it sounded lovely, we all thought that there is a big world to see and what Greek adventure could ever top our visits to Crete and Santorini? 

Well, Doris knows how to be persuasive. What really sealed the deal was that she said that if we came back, she would join us and lead the adventure.  Because other than our mothers, no one IN OUR LIVES has ever taken better care of us than Doris, we are headed to Athens tomorrow. 

But a lot has changed since we last walked (or hiked) the roads of Plato and Aristotle—and most of it is medical in nature and none of it is good.  In order to comply with the HIPAA laws and also remain married, I will disclose no other medical issues other than my own. I am having a lot of issues with my feet and I will leave it at that. I went to see a foot specialist and thought that the doctor could just shoot some cortisone into both feet and I would be ready to put on my hiking shoes again.  Sadly, having never attended a day of medical school, my course of treatment was not in-line with my doctor’s, a man who actually had spent some time at such a school. He advised me, in a language I can only call “Medicalese,” that I needed foot surgery. From what I got out of our conversation/his monologue was that the surgery was nothing but the recovery was long and hard. That would not do, medical school or no medical school. It’s going to be a busy year of travel and I have no time for casts, boots and elevated feet. 

So I’m headed to Greece with a new pair of orthotics, a big bottle of Aleve and hoping for the best.  I also got a new set of Sea-Bands—it looks like this adventure includes a lot of winding roads! 

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