Someone, Please Cut Off My Left Foot

I never went into detail about my stress fracture. The actual bone involved was the 5th metatarsal (the one by the smallest toe.) That actually started to heal fairly quickly. By day four, it was feeling better. However around that time, I noticed that the base of my first toe (the 1st metatarsal-phalangeal joint) was starting to hurt. My original assumption was maybe the pain was from walking funny (you know, compensating for the pain of the fracture.) Within 12 hours it became red, swollen and extremely painful, and before I knew it, I had podagra.

Yup, I developed gout. At least, that was my clinical diagnosis. I was in complete disbelief. I thought it was unlikely that I had two unrelated, painful conditions in my foot. But look at it! What else could it be? (Warning: very unpleasant picture to follow.)






Notice the partially grown toenail on the big toe. That was from an injury over the summer when I stubbed the toe and lost the nail. Seriously, this foot has become more of a problem than its worth. Somebody, please take a saw to it!