Shortness of Breath

The gout is pretty much under control now but it kind of spawned a new problem. 

A week ago, I weighed 222 pounds all of the sudden. Sure, I ate a bunch of crap on the Fourth and drank about seven or eight beers throughout the course of the day.

The real problem was that I was suddenly sucking air. I became very short of breath with very little activity.

I got in to see my Cardiologist this past Tuesday and he thought I was wet. That's Cardiology talk for retaining water. I started taking a diuretic and this morning I weighed in at 211. Best of all, my stamina is coming back. I'm not all the way back yet but I'm improving.

I was also told to cut back on my alcohol intake. Apparently, alcohol is just about the worst thing you can take when you have cardio myopathy. So, I'm trying really hard to get my weight down to 200 pounds and limit myself to two drinks a day.

That will be difficult on a hot sunny day like today, but it is important if I want to experience many many more hot sunny days.

Health Issue Du Jour

It seems to me that I only post here when I have a health issue. It also seems to me that I have mentioned before that it seems to me that I only post here when I have an health issue.

So that leads us to what the health issue is. It is Goat! I have goat in my left big toe. It is the same place that the goat rears its ugly head whenever the goat attacks me.

I'm told now by my Producers that it is spelled "G-O-U-T". I still like to pronounce it goat.

Anyway, it began coming on me last Thursday morning. I had some left over Indomethacin, which is the meth that treats goat. I had five pills remaining from when I got goat a year ago in May. They must have lost their potency over the year because it did not prevent the goat from getting goatier.

I did myself no favors yesterday by leaving my fresh bottle of Indometh at work. The goat really flared up over the night. The picture below is from this morning. The toe and right side of my left foot are pretty swollen and tender.

So I'm back on the methacation and hoping I will feel better soon. July Fourth is two days away and I would like to be somewhat mobile by the time it arrives.

I'll try to post an update in a couple of days.

3:31PM: What a difference a couple of pills make; to the point that my pain is virtually gone.

I think that's a pretty good update!