Wednesday was a sad, sad day for my home office/man cave/tap room. I removed the beer taps and beer/CO₂ lines from my kegerator so I could use it as a refrigerator (‘cuz, like, one fridge isn’t enough) instead of just an empty storage cabinet/induction burner cooking surface. Although it hadn’t been turned on (let alone used for beer) in over six months, it was still a personally depressing moment for me. But it’s all worth it, because I feel so great now.

Except, not so much. Whether it was all the up and down (the stairs, getting tools and whatnot – nothing unseemly or fun or anything) or something else, I apparently triggered one of the worst gout flareups I’ve ever had. Not that I’m sure about the gout part, but pretty sure. For a while now, I’ve been trying to get more exercise, get myself in shape (nothing major – just trying to stave off death a bit), all that kinda stuff. I even got a fitness tracker thingie about six weeks or so. So I started getting about 7 miles a day walking in, 30 minutes on the rowing machine, and over 50 flights of stairs (up, that is). My resting heart rate was down to 54 (below my age – not bad for an old guy).

I’ve long had some issues with my feet/ankles, etc., and so it wasn’t surprising to me that I had some stiffness in my feet – and more specifically, soreness in my left Achilles tendon. The soreness got worse, and, to make a sad story short, I got to the point where I could barely walk. So much for all my heart-healthy progress.

Things came to head (or foot) on Wednesday night. My foot swelled up like a balloon, I couldn’t sleep, and there was no way I could put a sock on it Thursday, let alone go to work. So, anyway, here it is Sunday, and things aren’t great, but they’re better. I’ve basically immobilized myself, iced my foot and ankle down (the pain, redness, and swelling keeps moving around in a very gout-like manner), and have been living on Ibuprofen.

So, to recap: lose weight, BP good, quit drinking beer, don’t eat anything “bad” (frankly, don’t eat much of anything), get exercise. Result: severe crippling pain.

Seems fair.

At least the weather’s been great. Great, as in, frigid – single-digit temps, double-digit winds and snow. But at least it hasn’t been a lot of snow, right? Yeah, did I mention there’s a Nor’easter coming? Yeah, supposed to get a foot of snow starting tomorrow night. So that’s great. And to think, I had visions of opening up the pool a week or two ago when it was like 77 degrees.

You know, I hate to be a whiner or think of myself as a victim, but WTF?

On the bright side, I have a six-month checkup on Wednesday morning. So maybe there’s something the doc can do for me.

There’s a first time for everything.