Thank you, everyone. Nice to know I am not the only one. I cancelled my appt. for this afternoon; just told them I wanted to think about it some more.

No problem on them fitting my Birks, doc already said they would AND I could interchange them with all my Birks, as long as they are the same size, which of course they are. And, I've bought the widest Birks available for the past 20 years.

I can feel that a lot of it has to do with my need for exercise, which is now being met; and also an old injury from playing volleyball, barefoot, in the sand; wrecked all of the soft tissue in my left foot. Took 2-3 years for the severe pain to lessen to a dull nag.

Again, thanks very much. I really appreciate all of your input.

kat