So I got my x-rays.

The people at Brooke Radiology were their usual awesome and efficient selves. Whole thing, from walking in to walking out again, took less than 20 minutes.

Trust me, kids, things were not always so.

I was in a lot of pain, though, Kinda confirmed that my legs are, in fact, getting worse.

Every day the pain builds faster. Like I keep saying, eventually I will not be able to walk at all, or for no more than a few agonizing steps.

Talked this over with Joe and Julian last night. Had to make sure Joe was up to speed on the fact that I might lose the ability to walk soon.

I really hope it does not come to that but I have to be prepared for the worst.

During said discussion, I pretty much figured out that it;s going to have to be crutches. Wheelchair’s not possible and I refuse to use a freaking walker in public, so that pretty much leaves those gods-damned crutches.

Luckily, I know where to get them, There’s a place on the first floor of the medical building where a couple of my specialists have their offices called Regent Pharmacy and they have loads of that kind of thing.

Crutches, walkers, wheelchairs, canes, braces, insulin pumps, compression socks, orthopedic shoes, colostomy supplies, and all the other medical gizmos that modern medicine might require of the ill.

I understand it’s quite a profitable product line due to the fact that nobody who buys any of the products has the slightest choice in the matter.

$200? That’s outrageous! I’d rather die of liver failure!

As I recall from a time very long ago when I hurt my leg, Regent will rent me a set of crutches. That would be the right way to go seeing as I hopefully won’t need them forever, knock on wood.

If it did become a permanent thing I would serious consider the massive lifestyle change that getting a wheelchair would entail.

Because I really do hate crutches. When I used them before I hated every minute of it. They are brutally painful on the armpits. extremely cumbersome, present constant little spatial riddles for you to solve, and frankly, I am already quite clumsy with the limbs I was born with, thank you very much.

The last thing I need is to introduce a tool into the equation.

But I do kind of want to continue to be able to move around. My life would suck so much more if I had to rely on others to get around.

If I could even secure said others.

So it’s crutches for me. I suppose I can assuage my reluctance by reminding myself that the crutches will also be saving me from the pain I experience when I am on my feet.

I dunno, though. Somehow it doesn’t seem like enough.

Guess I will just have to learn to levitate.

More after the break.

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There needs to be a “Should I go to the ER?” line.

I don’t feel qualified to make these kinds of decisions.

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Do you smell smoke?

So I am lying in bed making a futile attempt at sleep when I notice something peculiar.

My legs were on fire.

Or at least that’s how it felt. I has a distinct burning sensation all through the muscles and joints of my legs.

It was not hot enough to be painful, but definitely hot enough to be uncomfortable.

Felt like I had a sauna in my pants.

After pondering this for longer than I would care to admit, I realized it was inflammation of some sort and I had the cure.

So I took a couple of Aleve, and that damped down the flames. I can still feel the heat but I can ignore it quite easily.

Of course, now I feel feverish. Did the heat just move?

I feel like I might be coming down with something. I say this knowing that most of the time when I say it, whatever it is goes away on its own.

So consider this my pro forma medical reportage of my suspicions.

Hell, maybe the act of writing it down kickstarts the healing somehow. Like my ailments go, “Shit,. he’s on to us!” and skedaddle.

It would explain all those futile trips to the ER.

I feel quite feverish, plus I have a runny nose and a somewhat suppressed appetite and that good ol’ feeling of general malaise.

I hate that guy. I should bust him down to Captain Malaise.

I hope Doctor Chao gets back to me about those x-rays soon. I am eager to move my case forward whatever that takes. Plus I want to tell him about all the latest developments and maybe suggest that he get this fixed while I can still walk.

The idea of just blithely going to the ER and pretending like all my symptoms are brand new and acute keeps crossing my mind.

Just to get my answers and attention much faster. Like I said before, if I had gone to the ER instead of my GP, we would be WAY further ahead on my case.

Unless they still didn’t find anything. In which case I would lose my shit.

Because my symptoms are not ambiguous. I am in brutal pain every time I stand up. My muscles tremble and my joints ache like the dickens. Sometimes my body does this fun thing where I spasm to the floor.

So I would most definitely not take “we found nothing, go home, kthnxbai!” as an answer this time.

At least if the x-rays show nothing, I can tell Doctor Chao to check for cartilage damage instead. That’s the most likely culprit in my opinion.

I suppose I could say that at the hospital too.

But I would be saying it a lot louder.

Now I have gone and made myself all angry over a theoretical.

It’s so complicated being me.

I will talk to you nice people again tomorrow.