avatarRené Beauchemin - [he/him]

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DIARY OF A SEPTUAGENARIAN

What? Again? What the Hell!

Mexico Musings 24

A female grackle on my deck in Mexico — photo by author

The title uses pretty strong language. For the time being I am grounded from walking. It all began a couple of days ago when I stubbed my big toe while on a long jungle hike. It didn’t turn blue or show any signs of trauma, so I just continued on. The truth is, I would have had to continue on regardless as we were in the jungle with no other option. So, it hurt a bit. It happens and life goes on.

Yesterday we were on another long hike and I could feel the area being a bit tender, so all was well. Then, at the end of a beach, I stubbed a toe on the opposite foot. This time it really hurt. Before the afternoon was over, it was turning colour to let me know that it had been unhappy with my clumsiness.

Climbing on rocks at the edge of the beach — photo by author’s wife

Curiously, it was my big toe which was injured previously which began to cause me grief. The pain made my recently injured and now-colourful toe seem insignificant by comparison. This morning, it was swollen and hurt as if on fire. Fuck! I was having a gout attack!.

I had my first gout attack about a year-and-a-half ago. I had no idea what caused it but the diagnosis was clear — it was gout. What caused it? Well, my wife thought it might be the wine we had the night before the gout attack. She also thought it might not be gout, but an issue of clumsiness while in the hotel pool — we were en route to our daughter’s home and had stopped with a few hours of driving left, to spend the night in a hotel with a pool and hot tub.

Regardless, it was gout. We ended up blaming it on the wine. Medication helped clear up the issue and I stayed away from wine and a few other items the doctors told me might trigger another attack. All was well.

A few months later, I got another attack. No hot tub, no swimming pool — but there was a Margarita involved. Blame the alcohol. In the background, I also stubbed my big toe.

A few months later, back in Canada, I began to drink wine again, testing the water to see if I would have another flare-up. Nothing! Life then returned back to normal. I remained hesitant about eating seafood which is considered a prime culprit. I love shrimp, lobster, and good fish. But, you do what you have to do. I have now had shrimp twice during the past six weeks and had no adverse reaction. Something just wasn’t adding up.

Confused, I did some research about trauma to the toe area being a catalyst for a gout attack. Yes, it is. Trauma aggravates the uric acid crystals. That then lead me and my wife to rethink, to remember. It seems as though I have been having issues with this toe for almost ten years when I seriously injured in while walking the Camino in Spain.

So now, I go back to drinking more water with an increased focus on protecting my big toe. It sucks, but then again, I am getting older and my body isn’t what it used to be.

Previously

Journal
Daily Life
Mexico
Naturism
The Outlier
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