Come back another day....preferably not in the next 3 weeks!!!!
For those of you who don't know what gout is, it is uric acid which crystalize and get into joint areas (toe, knee, feet). It is a form of arthritis. Normally, uric acid dissolves in the blood. It passes through the kidneys and out of the body in urine. But uric acid can build up in the blood when:the kidneys do not get rid of enough uric acid. What you eat also affects the gout. It was once known as the "rich man's" disease. Red meat, shell fish, sea food, green vegetables all have an affect. If you know Jim.....he has a love for red meat. While we have cut back tremendously, I'm thinking Jim may never be able to eat steak again.
The reason for my post is that today was a very bad gout day. Went to the doctor and 2 large vials of fluid were drained from Jim's swollen, pained knee. The fluid was sent to the labs immediately to make sure there was no infection. Results came back no infection so he was diagnosed with "acute" gout attack.
Was it a coincidence that we had steak 2 days ago? Is it a coincidence that Jim had shrimp a month ago and 2 days later had gout in his toe: I think not. As hard as it will be for Jim, we will not have any more red meat until July 1st. Hopefully then he will successfully be able to walk down the aisle at Jason's wedding (I already told him I'm not walking with him with a cane or walker) and also to be able to enjoy our vacation in Florida in June.
Keep your fingers crossed....and red meat away from Jim!!!!
My Thoughts....I'm thinking as Jim is slowly losing kidney function, they are not processing the uric acid as it should. Unfortunately, the gout will probably only get worse before it gets better because of this.
