So one question that’s sure to come up from readers of this blog is, “Tim, where ya been?”
Let me tell you. Lately, it’s been like A Tale of Two Cities in that it’s been the best of times – it’s been the worst of times. Of course, that opening line is considered cliched hyperbole now. In my case, the challenging part over the last few weeks has been the worst attack of gout I’ve had in 5 years. One day: normal. Next day: pain. The day after: crutches.
I spent a few weeks on those metal helpers alternating between needing one and two depending on the level of pain at that particular time. But each of those days, I made it to my day job and was able to help people all the way through quitting time. One of my co-workers asked why I came in when I had that much pain. The rationale is pretty simple. I could sit around at home and hurt or I could go to work and sit around and hurt. At work at least, I could earn some money.
That went on for a few weeks with Misty dropping me off and work and coming back at the end of the day to take me back home. It’s hard to overstate what she did for me in those weeks. She took over the driving, the cooking and the running of the house while I tried to rest myself and get ready to deal with the pain of the next day.
In a couple of weeks, it looked like I was going to put this painful lesson about bad nutrition behind me. I was walking better, a lot of time with the crutches, and felt like I’d be able to get myself back and forth to work again.
That’s not exactly the way it happened. On a quiet weekend spent on the couch getting my rest and watching back to back sports events, my knee started to hurt like it did when this whole escapade started. I reached for more ibuprofen. It didn’t work.
In not time at all, I was back to two crutches and being in the passenger seat on the way to work again. I wanted to scream and sometimes I did as the frustration brought more tears to my eyes than the pain. I was nearly there only to have normalcy ripped away. I’ve done the research and yes, I know it’s from diet and I’m trying to find a happy in-between that suits me and the other members of my family. I’ve been pretty good. After all, it’s been 5 years since I’ve even had a whiff of an attack.
Thankfully, I seem to be really on the back side of the episode now. Which means you’re probably wondering why a photo of my daughter Talia is attached to this blog post. I’ll explain that when I get to the other part of my Tale of Two Cities story. Stay tuned.
Girton Images 