A little self pity...

...ok maybe quite a lot, but hey I deserve it I'm sure.

About 3 weeks ago my foot became very sensitive, with what seemed an irritated bunion. For the first week I did the true Brit thing, gritted my teeth, moaned a bit, and got on with day to day life the best I could.

By the end of that first week, the final trip home on the Friday night had me near to tears. Taking tiny steps I hobbled through the park to the station and got on the train to go home. Once home my trainers came off the second I walked in the door... and they have sat there ever since.

Some days walking is agony, others days it's just very painful! Since that Friday the only footware to come near my foot has been flip flops (Nike of course lol) It took a week to even get those on, and that was just for a trip to the doctors. 

With the foot heavily swollen for the first trip to the doctors, it was obvious that I had gout in the joint, so I was prescribed tablets to deal with this. Instead of my usual Diclofenac I was given Indometacin which is similar in its treatment of gout. With some quite strong side effects, for the first week I mixed the Indo with Paracetamol to keep the pain down. Strangely, unlike usual flare ups of gout the pills seemed to have very little effect at all. The swelling went down a bit, but the pain remained.

By that weekend I decided I was going to have to see the doctor again, so the following Tuesday I went to see the doctor again. With no swelling left, but heat and tenderness in the joint I was told it's still gout, and told to keep taking the tablets. This time to counter the side effects I was given Omeprazol to calm my stomach a little. If they have worked or not is a matter of opinion.

So here I am gone is the end of the second week on medication and here is the third, and I have to say..... No different really. Occasionally I will get an afternoon or evening of little discomfort, get my hopes up, the POW it's back like a mofo! So this morning I booked an appointment to see the doctor again, and this time will ask for Diclofenac if they wish to continue treating me for gout.

This is effectively the 4th week of a single flare up, 6th if you count the occurrence shortly before. For me this is unheard of. At worst I have had 10 days worth at this level before.

So now I am left in a predicament. This is the start of my 3rd week off work, and I honestly am sick of it. Sitting around all day every day, from bed to settee and back again as a daily routine, it's driving me frickin mad here. So I have ordered some crutches off the Internet, and unless explicitly instructed by my GP to stay resting, I will return to work on Wednesday.

The biggest issue for me is footwear. I physically cannot get any form of closed footwear on. A flip flop right now is pushing my luck due to the swelling.  Trying to put a very soft Nike trainer on yesterday left me punching the bed in pain. The slightest amount of pressure on the side of the joint of the big toe reduces me to a sobbing mess (almost). Walking out and about in flip flops is unnerving, especially the thought of being on a busy train with my toes exposed. Yes I know people do it daily, but more fool them I say!

It's not impossible, and people with far greater mobility issues manage on crutches daily, so I'm not saying I can't do it. But my biggest issue all along has been having the leg vertical. Be it sitting or standing, a prolonged period with the leg not elevated starts to hurt like hell. Including the commute to work, and the 6 hours at work, that will be about 8 hours a day of NON elevated leg. Hopefully the Diclofenac can ease the issues this will cause.

So fingers crossed tomorrow the GP will give me the pills I'm more familiar with, they will start to work, the crutches will turn up on time, and by Wed I will be back at work :)

Speaking of delivery of the crutches... they are being delivered by Yodel... God help me! I have instructed them to be left should I be out at the doctors, but im confident that some issue of sorts will arise to mess my plan up. I just don't want to have to hobble the 3/4 of a mile thru the park each way, as that's what starts to cause a bad day. The thought of hobbling all that way, then not being able to elevate my foot is making my foot ache! 

Right, thats all that off my chest. 

Oh re the pic at the beginning. On any given normal day, the veins in the foot are visible to the front, running into the toes and around the big toe... you can see from the pic where the swelling currently starts as the veins disappear. 

I'm done :)

Regards
Michael

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