Own Time Own Target

It started when i felt a nagging pain in my right foot when driving last week. I was aware of it only when i stepped on the pedals or when i flexed my foot, just at the metatarsal (if it sounds familiar to you, it might be because you heard about David Beckam fracturing his a couple of years ago...).

I dont remember falling in anyway that might have sprained it, and what a strange location it is to suffer a sprain.

I thought nothing of it and went for the CCF walk-a-jog on Sunday anyways.

By Monday afternoon, the foot was tender and i could not walk fast or flex it much. By the same night, the foot has swelled to 2 sizes larger width-wise and I could hardly walk when carrying the kids.

By Tuesday morning, when i woke up, the foot was even more swollen and the pain was so intense that i walked with a real limp. The swelling was extended to a larger area and i could no longer flex/ arch my foot or toes. Even the big toe had swelled so much that my toe nail felt like it was bursting at the seams. The whole area went warm to touch and the pain has radiated to the lower calf.

Went to the doc as soon as i could, walking gingerly and so slowly that ah-mahs with their shopping trolleys were tsk'ing at me for blocking the way.

Thankfully, it was a short wait before the doc attended to me. He first thought it was a sprain by the way i walked, but after examining where the pain was most severe, he said "gout, because the big toe is the most common joint where it attacks"
"no! i'm too young for gout! besides the pain is lower than the big toe"

he smiled kindly "well, it is unusual for females to have gout..., have you been eating a lot of nuts?"
"no...." the last time i had any was maybe 2 weeks ago when i had ikan bilis with peanuts
"peanuts, walnuts, any kind of nuts"
"no..." i know what nuts, in any form or shapes are....

"have you had a lot of seafood lately?"
"no... not more than usual anyways, once or twice a week as a side dish"
"hmmmm... sotongs?"
"no..." i know what seafood are too

"i'll say it is acute arthritis, and hopefully it is a one-off incident which will go away by itself in 2-3 days. In the mean time, stay away from seafood and no vigorous exercise for 3 days."
vigorous exercise? sheesh, i could hardly WALK...

"er... am i going to get a shot for the pain?"
"no, i'll just give you some strong painkillers, any allergies to painkillers so far"
"no shot? ok. no allergies"
"i'll give you more, so that you can keep the extra for the future"

faintz