I’m home from spending two days and a night at Kettering Hospital. Yesterday morning, I was totally unable to use either foot, which means I couldn’t use the walker or the knee scooter. Fortunately, the physical therapy person was here in the morning. She helped Virgil get me out to the car and off to the ER. This time, I think Kettering did everything right. They’ve decided that it’s gout, or at least probably gout, even though it doesn’t look like, feel like, or anything else that’s typical of gout. That’s how they’re treating it, starting with a much larger dose of prednisone. Again, not my favorite thing to take, but there doesn’t seem to be any option. As of about mid-afternoon today, I could walk a short distance with a walker. Neither foot hurts now. I really hope they’re on the right track. I won’t be seeing the rheumatologist after all—at least not the original one. We called her office yesterday morning (before PT got here) to beg for an appointment yesterday. They were 100% unhelpful. We both got upset talking to them, asking what in the world we should do. I couldn’t even get to the bathroom yesterday morning. So their response was to cancel my appointment and refuse to see me. The doctor who treated me at Kettering really thinks that between my regular GP (who’s an internist) and the orthopedic surgeon (who is following me by doing regular x-rays), and the medications that the Kettering doctor prescribed, we’re on the right track. The disadvantage to all this is that the medications that prevent gout attacks (such as Allopurinol) are ALL processed by the kidneys. I have only one kidney (after kidney cancer years ago). Doctors don’t want me to use any medications that are processed by the kidneys, as it adds to the wear and tear on my already limited kidney resources. Many medications are processed by the liver, which is what is preferred for me. However, none of the gout preventatives are liver-processed. So I will probably have to take Allopurinol or something like it, for the rest of my life, at one-third the usual strength. I hope it’ll be enough to work and not damage my kidney. I hope so.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 00:58:57 +0000
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