Update

I survived a hike in Discovery Park Saturday. I thought I my legs were going to collapse and I felt nauseous but luckily my stomach was empty at the time. It was the second major test of my health since coming here the last week of June in 2012. I walked all the way from the south parking lot to the beach near the lighthouse and back again. The first test, I managed to get to the top of the steps heading down towards the beach and I almost didn't make it back then either. I've been really sick for very long time with Chronic Gouty Arthritis diagnosed years earlier.

When I packed my car to move out here I injured my back. It didn't really surprise me that my subconscious was fighting me enough to psychosomatically relax the wrong muscles at the perfect moment. I thought to myself 'I'll be damned if anything was going to stop me from getting the hell out of that place!' The drive across the country was very painful. My gout was flaring up at the same time. When I finally made it to the hotel in Mountlake Terrace I was there in pain for two weeks already and it got so bad I couldn't get out of bed but to use the bathroom for a third week, the last four days without food.

It finally subsided enough for me to go to the emergency room. The doctor prescribed for me what turned out to be a slightly higher dose of Aleve which is available over the counter, and some other drugs which only treat the pain and not anything that deals with uric acid for my Gout.

Through most of my previous blog posts since I've been here my pain has been a constant background noise that gets louder or quieter for no known reason at all. It made walking very difficult most of the time and impossible on about five occasions since I've been here.

There were times when I thought it was completely gone for a couple of days and this past Saturday was one of those days so I went to Discovery Park. When I finally returned home I was soaked in sweat, nauseous and trembling, but my left knee, my ankles and my toes did not hurt at all. I was afraid to sleep because I usually become painfully stiff when I get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. It didn't happen this time. I waited through Sunday for the pain to come rushing back into my joints but only my calf muscles were a little sore.

It's Monday afternoon and everything seems fine. It's hot though. I'm beginning to suspect that the warm weather has something to do with it, but it's absolutely amazing. The only thing to do now is adapt my behavior back to a normal lifestyle. I've been stuck here for so long I've gotten used to it. I'm still fearful of aggravating the pain again. I want to go outside more. The park was a good start.