Gout

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water... or at least that I'd found foods that were both tasty and gluten free.

Woke up one morning with a sore knee.  Figured I'd hit it on something, or slept on it wrong, or dislocated the stupid kneecap again (long story).

But it just kept getting worse.  In fact, it got bad enough that I asked quack to look at it.  (And I never go to him when I'm actually sick.)  He did.  One look, one very painful squeeze of the muscles around the knee, and he pronounced the verdict. Gout.

He sat down on his little stool and wrote something in the medical record.  I explained to my lovely (and worried) daughter that gout is the accumulation of uric acid crystals in the joint.  He said "exactly!" (He thinks I'm an idiot.)

Then he walked out the door.

And walked back in with the biggest needle I've ever seen.  Sucker was huge!  And full of cortisone.  It hurt going in.  And it hurt a hell of a lot more coming out.  He took a sample of the fluid in my knee after he injected the medication.  Felt as bad as getting a bone marrow sample taken.

But... I could bend my knee.  Right away.  And it didn't hurt.  Well, it didn't hurt anywhere near as much.  What hurt was his next sentence.  Two servings of chicken per week.  Period.

Stupid me, I asked him what I could eat.  "Salads and vegetables," was his quick reply.  (Ugh was my immediate thought.)

So the diet just became much more restricted.  At least I'm losing a bit of weight.