Trench Foot

Sounds shitty right?

It is painful, it is waxy, it is pink, and I have experienced it first hand. This fact seemed to impress a few people in my WFR course.

The thing is, not only because it was a long time ago, but also because I don’t remember it being that big a deal when I was actually in the field, I don’t think it’s very impressive. It did hurt a lot when I got back to town and my feet, “thawed”. It fucking hurt. The quality of pain was that it burned. My big toes burned. As in the fire type of burning. I have not forgotten that.

But mostly I think about having had trench foot because it was written in my evaluation, it counted against me. And that bothered me. I felt like there was nothing I could do about it. I had done everything I could with the gear I had, the gear they told me to bring. I slept with socks in between layers, on my person, i kept them anywhere I thought might get them dry. But ragg wool socks don’t want to dry unless it’s warm or sunny or they are in a dryer. I put my feet on whoever had a willing belly. I did everything they told me to do. It just didn’t work. I needed more socks or different socks. Or?

What was not taken into account when we were gearing up is that my feet are horribly sweaty. Or maybe not. But sweaty enough that I got trench foot in our 21 days winter camping in Yellowstone. I wasn’t alone, 3 others also got it. One pretty badly as I recall, but she did not need to be evaced. And neither did I. No one was sent out of the field because of that condition.

Success!