The continuing saga of my stupid right ankle

My ankles have never been good. I’ve always had a tendency to twist them more often than seems reasonable. After noticing they hurt more than usual (as did my wrists and hips) and after whinging about this to P, he gently suggested that it might not be normal, even for me, and that I might want to go to the doctor.

Which I did. I was delighted to discover that my problems were due to Scotland being miserable and not having enough sunshine. The result being that I wasn’t getting anywhere near enough vitamin D and should take supplements. I do love an easy solution and I have taken a vitamin D supplement every day since, with great results.

Observe as I carefully disguise one ankle so you can’t see that it’s swollen. That’s cunning, that is.

My hips and wrists don’t hurt anymore. Neither does my left ankle. My right ankle, however, is stubborn. It hurts sometimes, but not all the time. It’s almost always slightly swollen compared to the left one. Once or twice a week it will send me a pang of pain, as if I had twisted it (but I haven’t) and will swell up some more, becoming painful to walk on. When I’d been taking the vitamin D for a couple of months and my right ankle had clearly not noticed, I went back to my GP.

He sent me for an x-ray and asked me to make an appointment with the nurse for a blood test. I got the x-ray that same morning, the blood test I got the next week*. Then I got a phone call saying could I come back for another blood test because they hadn’t been able to test for one of the things they were interested in. In the meantime, I took the anti-inflammatories I’d been prescribed and waited. Eventually, all tests were done and all results were in and I went back to hear what I should do next.

Good news: I am normal. At least, the x-ray says my ankle is normal. The blood tests say my blood is normal. Except for a very small possibility that there may be (but probably isn’t) something rheumatoid-y going on. Really though, my GP was saying, “I’m sorry, but we have no idea what is wrong with you. I’ll send you to a rheumatoid specialist just in case, but they might tell you that this isn’t the problem.”

Joints are overly complicated and badly designed. 2 stars. Image credit: Wikipedia.

Ah well, it’s good to know I’m normal. Especially because that means I’m not aggravating anything by gallivanting about. I’m not a high priority patient for the rheumatoid specialist so I can expect to wait a while for an appointment but I’m ok with that. I’m just glad I don’t need surgery and that the doctor didn’t tell me I have to sit still and not move for the next few months. Maybe I’ll just hobble about forever.

*God bless the NHS. For those who don’t have a health service that’s free at the point of use, I don’t know how you do it. I haven’t paid a penny for any of these services, not even the medication. I won’t pay for any future services either. This is in spite of the fact that my student status has meant that I haven’t paid any National Insurance contributions for 9 years. When I do start paying next month, you can bet I’ll do so gladly.