What is Gout?

I have been told that gout is a condition that has a special fondness for the large joint of the big toe in men aged 40 and over. Unfortunately, I happen to be a man, aged 40+, with a big toe. This wasn't unfortunate until I discovered that what I thought was a stubbed toe, was not. I had entered the world of gout.

It started out as just a small ache. I'm sure all of you are familiar with a stubbed toe. It's just a little stiff and sore. Well, I babied it for a day or two and it just got worse. As luck would have it (my luck anyway) it didn't really flare up until a Friday night. So I had the added enjoyment of living with it until my doctor's office opened on Monday.

At this point, I didn't know it was gout. I had no idea what was wrong. All I knew was I was in more pain than I had ever endured in my life. There was absolutely no way I could get a shoe on that foot. Even socks were too much to bear. When I slept, I had to leave my foot out from under the covers. The slightest breeze caused intense pain. I lay in bed how much of my toe was going to be removed. Was I going to have to get special shoes, or just put something in there to take the place of where my toe used to be. Due to the amount of pain, I had already decided that toe was a goner. There was no way that anything could hurt that badly and stay attached to my body.

I called my doctor Monday morning and was told to come in on Thursday. After some poorly thought out comments for which I would later have to apologize, they agreed to see me that day. I drove to his office, which was a new experience since it was my right foot that was afflicted. For those of you with 2 legs, try driving with your left foot. I wouldn't advise doing it on the road. Pick out a very large empty parking lot. It really isn't as easy as it sounds. I drove very slowly, listening to horns blare behind me, praying that someone in a fit of road rage would drag me from my car and beat me unconscious. As luck would have it, no one did and I made it to the doctors office.