shoe wear and stroke rehabilitation

I bought new shoes about a month ago. They're from Payless with the velcro straps, I pulled out the insole to accommodate my AFO. just yesterday I noticed I had scuffed a hole by the left toes on the sole. My previous shoes had lasted 5 years. Because I switched back to wearing my AFO again - I had gone a year without it - My gait has gotten sloppier. I can walk faster but I am not paying as much attention to lifting my foot. I have also started evening walks around our block without the cane. Because the AFO really constrains dorsiflexion it actually is making parts of my gait worse. I end up having to hip hike a lot more and will eventually have to go to therapy to correct that flaw. Oh well, live and learn and file that away in your library of stroke info.