Last Tuesday, I walked around our school track several laps, equaling about 1 mile, with some other teachers. I was wearing crummy shoes & knew better than to do too much in them, but I walked at a slow pace & felt like I'd be OK. (If you young'uns don't understand this....as you age, you have to be more careful about walking long distances in bad shoes. It can cause all sorts of trouble.)
The next day, my foot was sore. I figured I'd just irritated it by walking in bad shoes. Thursday it was worse. By Friday, I was limping.
I went to the grocery store late on Friday night and felt like I would croak before I left. I was white-knuckling the buggy, doing some serious lamaze breathing and trying to take very slow steps because every step was excruciating. It was all localized to the joint where my right big toe meets my foot. I almost walked out of the store & skipped the groceries but like most mamas, I knew I'd just have to go back later to get them, so I went ahead and bought them, hobbled to the car and took them home.
I was up most of the night with a throbbing foot. I got a blanket from the closet & folded it up to prop up my foot. I thought maybe elevating it would help. Around 2 AM I took some Ibuprofen & prayed that it would quit hurting. By 8:30 AM I would've cried and punched you if you even breathed in the direction of that foot. Larry asked if I should let him take me to the urgent care clinic. Determined not to be a bother or cost us extra money, I said no....but about 30 min later I was asking if he still had some Vicodin left from his back surgery. In 2006! When he said he didn't, I said maybe we should go to the clinic. I figured they'd Xray it, determine that I had a broken bone or a sprain or something & give me some PAIN MEDS. I was dying!
Folks, I should stop here and remind you that I am a pioneer woman. At least that's what my husband calls me. I birth children without drugs. I have a very high pain tolerance. And this foot thing was like a 7-8 on the 1-10 pain scale. I just wanted to go get some drugs from the doctor & call it a day and sleep my Saturday away! But, no.......
When the doctor walked into my exam room, the first question she asked was "Do you have gout?" Larry and I looked at each other & started laughing. Um...NO! I'm 38, not 88! At this point, the Lunchlady Song (Adam Sandler & Chris Farley) was playing in my head and Larry & I eyed each other and started making jokes about hair nets & sloppy joes. Here, you'll be googling it later. Just click THIS to watch the video.
The doctor laughed with us, but then assured me that young people can get gout, too. She ordered Xrays just to be sure. When I went into the radiology room, I told the young tech to please find a broken bone. ha ha! I guess I should've slipped him a twenty because he only found an inflamed joint and some extra little boney things in my foot that were completely unrelated & probably have been there since birth. See? (This is my copy of my Xray.)
After a quick lesson in things I should or shouldn't eat with my new diagnosis, I was released with a prescription for a mega-dose of anti-inflammatory pills. (Guess I didn't look pitiful enough for the good drugs. ha ha)
Tomorrow I am taking a day off work to try to locate a primary care doctor who can help me manage this. I don't have one right now because I tend to go 5-6 years (yes, YEARS) in between illnesses that require a doctor's care. By the time I need to see a doctor again, I've been dropped because the doctor doesn't think I'm coming back and I have to start all over and find a new doctor each time. I need a few questions answered regarding some conflicting info I'm finding online. Hopefully I can find someone who can get me in ASAP to help!
Folks, if you know someone who has gout, hug them & offer them help.
Or Vicodin.
Day 2: The pain is significantly decreased from yesterday, but it still hurts really bad! It swells if I'm up or sitting where it's dangling down too long.
Oh...and to add to the fun of the weekend, our area got TONS of rain today & our bathroom flooded. Again.
Can I get a weekend do-over?
