Sunday, June 14, 2009

Diagnosed!

Yesterday morning, Bob took me to our local urgent care clinic with an infected toe. When the nurse was looking at my foot she asked "What is this?" about what I had been told several years ago was a bunion that would probably need surgery some day. Told her it was a bunion.

The doctor on duty that day was luckily an orthopedist. He came in, took one look at my foot and said, "That is not a bunion, it is gout." It turns out that what I had been thinking were bunions on my feet, my bad knees and lumpy fingers that I thought were arthritis are all gout! I am a very bad doctor.

He was very impressed with the gouty toe (the infected toe was another one - also gout) and asked if he could take X-rays (free!) so he could show them to the guys back at his regular practice (a Sports Medicine Institute.) I said sure.

While the X-rays were being taken, he printed out some info on my gout - Tophacesus Gout - and the names of some rheumatologists that I would need to see.

He showed me perfectly awful pics of other gout victims and said with glee - that I was worse! I felt so proud. Coming in first in the uglies feet in the World competition is quite something, apparently.

He prescribed antibiotics for the infection. Then said he would take my X-rays back to his people and maybe there would be something they could do surgically to "improve the quality of my life." We'll see.

Anyway, the upshot is that tomorrow I have to start calling Rheumatologists in the area (and surprisingly enough, for a place where the aged abound, there are very few rheumatologists. So I have to find one who A) is taking new patients B) accepts our health plan and C) works within an hour or two away. Wish me luck!

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