The evening after my first session with Dr. Cooley, my hands felt better. The next day they were okay but toward evening they started to hurt again (8.5 out of 10). I went to Rob’s office in the morning and they drew seven vials of blood and I was hopeful that something could be figured out. The results came back on Wednesday and it seems like I have gout (unusual in both hands) since my uric acid level is 11 and it is supposed to be below 5. It also turns out that the blood pressure medication I was on contributes to gout so Rob put me on another medication and on Colchicine, which should help reduce the pain. I started it on Thursday and my hands were better on Friday, good enough to let me play at Gillie’s with Justin and Luke. We played quite well and got a lot of applause. I also went to see Jeff on Friday and he worked on my hands and that also seemed to help. We talked about alternative approaches and he suggested the Kripalu institute and I am going to get some info and see if such a place could help me. I certainly don’t like all the drugs I am on now and I would like to explore alternatives.
Today I rode the exercise bike and then after a couple of naps took a long hike but each step was difficult and when I returned I had to take another nap. Now, at Barnes and Noble, I am feeling better although I think my exercise for the day it over. My hands are okay, about 5 out of 10 on the pain scale, and I think a slight bit worse than yesterday.