Almost 4 Weeks!

“Success is the sum of small efforts -

repeated day in and day out.”

~ Robert Collier

Yes,it has been almost 4 weeks since the last time I wrote to you.

Not that I haven't wanted to,I just couldn't.

You may be wondering why.

Well let me share what has been going on.

Let me backtrack to 10/29/2014.

It was the morning of my 60th birthday.

As was my practice at that time, I was at the gym at 6 a.m with my daughter Becca.

I pointed out to her that my right elbow seemed swollen.

It felt like there was a ball of fluid wrapped around it.

By late afternoon that day, the swelling had spread all the way down to my fingertips.

The pain was excruciating.

After a few days,I couldn't stand the pain anymore and went to the doctor's office.

"Tennis elbow!" he proclaimed assuredly.

No treatment offered,just stop using the arm until it heals up.

He said it may take 6-8 weeks.

He was close .

I lost over 2 months to this mallady.

Over the next 4 1/2 years, I had multiple repeat episodes of this tendinitis,each lasting almost 2 months.

During that time period, I have lost over a year of my life to this.

On the morning of April 14th, I had felt another bout coming on.

A week later,I found myself at the local urgent care facility.

I related my past experiences with this and the accompanying diagnosis from each of the doctors I had seen on previous occasions.

The doctor took one look at my swollen hand,touched her's to mine and noticed just how hot my arm was.

"This is not tendinitis" she said. "Tendinitis would not get hot like this.....have you ever had the Gout?"

And there it was!

I had been suggesting this to each of the doctors I had seen on previous occasions each time being told no....tendinitis.

She did blood work to confirm her suspicions but wasted no time starting me on meds.

With in a few days, the pain began to subside.

It's a very slow process and while I still don't have use of my left arm, I am well on my way to recovery.

Well enough to at least be able to rest my arm on the desk while I hunt and peck at the keyboard with my good hand!

I'm back.

That makes me happy.

And hopefully in the next few days life will become normal again.

Have a great day!