Four ways into
Susan & Tom’s story.

It started with a wrinkle in my left sock that wasn't there. Within a week, my feet were waking me at 2:40 in the morning.

My husband thought I should stop looking for answers. I was still sitting on the bathroom floor with my feet on the cold tile.

Then a woman named Dolores called me. She told me to get a pen and my hand mirror, and draw a circle around the spot that burned the worst.

After six weeks of trying creams, I wanted to know why that little circle mattered.

Before another jar goes on the nightstand, read what she told me about where to put it and which balm she meant.

My husband went from telling me I was "turning into one of those people" to asking if he could use my balm.

Two weeks later, he ordered three jars of his own.

But before any of that, there were nights when I sat on the bathroom floor with my feet on the cold tile, furious that he thought I should stop looking.

He saw the creams. He saw me on the laptop late at night. He thought I was being unreasonable.

I wanted to be asleep.

I'd tried a magnesium cream, then three more creams from Amazon and the pharmacy. Six weeks later, I was still waking up.

Then a woman in a diabetes group called me and told me to get a pen and my hand mirror.

Her name was Dolores. She wanted me to draw a circle around the worst spot on my foot.

After all those jars, I wasn't ready to believe in another one. I read the balm's page three times, checked the ingredients and looked at the return policy before I ordered.

When Tom finally asked what I was using, I showed him the balm.

I put Dolores's advice and the balm I chose here. Read them before you buy another cream for the nightstand.

I wanted to scream when my husband said I was "turning into one of those people."

He meant the creams. He meant the laptop open late at night. He thought I should stop looking and do what my doctor said.

This was the man who'd built the ramp on my mother's porch. He'd watched her life get smaller right alongside me. He knew why I was scared when a wrinkle I couldn't find in my left sock turned into burning that woke me at night.

And he thought I was being unreasonable.

I wasn't enjoying the search. I wanted to be asleep.

I'd bought the good shoes. I walked every morning, kept my sugar down, took the B12 and checked my feet with a hand mirror.

A magnesium cream from the pharmacy took the edge off for about an hour. Then I tried three more creams from Amazon and the pharmacy, every night for six weeks.

I was still sitting on the bathroom floor at two in the morning, with my feet on the cold tile.

By the time I found Dolores's comment in a diabetes group, I was ready to give up on finding anything else.

I sent her a message. She called me that night and told me to get a pen and my hand mirror.

She wanted me to draw a circle around the spot that burned the worst.

"That's where the jar goes," she said. "Not your whole foot. The circle."

Mine was the ball of my left foot.

The jar she meant was Nurovita's Natural Comfort Balm. I read the page three times. I checked the ingredients and the return policy, because I'd already bought enough jars on hope alone.

Later, Tom asked what I'd been using.

That night, I caught him with his socks off, pressing his thumb into his own toes. He'd had pins and needles he hadn't mentioned to me.

The next morning, he asked if he could use some of my balm.

I've put Dolores's advice here, along with what I checked before I bought the balm. Read that part before you spend another night searching for another cream.

My husband had pins and needles in his toes. He hadn't said a word to me.

He'd had plenty to say about my feet, though.

He thought I was being unreasonable. He saw the creams I'd bought and the laptop open late at night. He told me I was "turning into one of those people."

I was the one on the bathroom floor at two in the morning, trying to get comfortable on the cold tile.

So when Dolores called me after I messaged her about a comment in a diabetes group, I listened.

She told me to get a pen and my hand mirror, and circle the spot that burned the worst. Then she told me which balm she used before bed.

I checked it for myself. I read the product page three times and looked at the ingredients and the return policy before buying.

Later, Tom asked what I'd been using. I showed him the balm.

That night, I caught him with his socks off, pressing his thumb into his toes.

The next morning, he asked if he could use some of mine. Two weeks later, he ordered his own jars.

If someone at home has opinions about your search, this part may sound familiar. Here's what Dolores told me and why, after all those creams, I gave that jar a chance.