Photo and graphic by Maria Wulf.

Today is happy foot day and happy Jon day. With any luck, the stitches in my foot will come out, and my longest-running health care drama will come to an end.

By next week, I should be walking, going to the gym, doing my Mansion visits and classes, and visiting Bishop Maginn High School with Zinnia.

Six or seven months ago, I cut my big toe. The wound wouldn’t heal, and I went to a podiatric surgeon. She said it was an ulcerated wound and tried to treat it for months.

It wouldn’t heal and we couldn’t figure it out.

Then I had an x-ray taken, and she found a bone spur.

I had the surgery two weeks ago, and today I’m supposed to get the stitches out. The process took months. I had to wear a special boots. I had to keep the wounds dry. I couldn’t go to the gym or walk long distances.

For the last two weeks, I was barely allowed to move.

The good news is that it had nothing to do with my diabetes, the circulation of blood to my feet is strong and healthy. But it took a long time to figure it all out, Maria has been changing bandages for many months.

The other good news is that the surgery was disruptive, but not painful. The surgical wound and the original wound were healing beautifully.

And the other, other good news is that my life can return to normal, and Maria will have fewer distractions for her artwork.

I’ve learned all kinds of ways to stay clean without taking a shower. The bandages kept coming off. It was hard to sleep with a surgical boot on my foot.

Today, I’m bringing an Amish pie and some cookies for Dr. Daly and her nurses. We will hopefully have a celebration. This afternoon, I’ll be walking up my favorite hill with Zinnia.

P.S. I slept for five hours with my apnea mask.