Pain in the Heel
by Egina Beldon
English Translation by Courtney Hanrahan and Trudy Suggs
“My heel has been bothering me. I’d say it’s been hurting since… maybe last spring? It really hurt on the edge of and on the heel itself. It was really painful. I happened to go to a chiropractor, and I explained what I was experiencing. The chiropractor thought it might be plantar fasciitis*, which was new to me. The chiropractor gave me a tip for exercising, wrapping my foot in an ABC bandage. I was shown how to stretch my foot by pressing back on my toes. Another tip was to soak my foot in a bath of Epsom salt. I did what I was told, and it did help. But, still, when I get up, the pain is there. I can’t walk, and sometimes I have to go to the restroom so I have to really bear the pain as I limp. The pain goes on all morning until it finally wears off a bit. If I walk all day, the pain is excruciating. I thought I’d go buy a good pair of shoes from Schroeder’s. Are you familiar with that store? So I tried a pair of flip-flops, and it really helped in a way that other shoes couldn’t. I had to go through several pairs of shoes before I found these flip-flops. They’re soft and you know the shoes that are everywhere now? They have rounded bottoms. I think they’re called Tone-Ups by Skechers. I can wear them without much pain, although I can’t go all day wearing them. I have a lot going on, and I have children I have to chase. What can I do? It’s really painful. I’ve tried different things and nothing works. Tell me what to do.”
* Food for thought: Egina’s difficulty in spelling “plantar fascitis” raises a question for translation and there was some discussion among the translation team as to how to present this in English. As an interpreter, what choices would you make in managing this? Would you interpret the complete phrase, or would we say, “I’m not sure how to spell/say it, but it’s something like plant…” because Egina says, “something like plant… fasciitis? Or would you have another option of handling this in an actual appointment?