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!