Trying to decide...

[gabowman]

Hope you find a remedy that works for ya. It's gotta be tough hurting all the time.

[Fishaholic]

As it ends up, the pain in my ankle might not be from arthritis...My wife rushed me to the hospital the other day as I had a stitch in the left side of my chest, shortness of breath, sweating and turning pale - she thought I was having a heart attack. The afore mentioned symptoms were the result of a virus...but, when they had me strip and get into a gown they asked about the swelling in my ankle and redness on my lower leg - I told them that the doctor said I had arthritis and I had just finish 10 days of Keflex for celluitis. I asked if it was possible that I've been walking around on a stress fracture in my ankle rather than having arthritis, so they decided to X-ray the ankle - no fractures, no arthritis! The attending doctor was very concerned about the swelling, so they gave me an ultrasound on my leg - end result, they found a blood clot in my lower leg/ankle area. They then wanted to do a catscan to rule out that any clots had travelled into my lungs or heart - that test came up clear.

So, now I'm getting two injections into my stomach every day and I'm on blood thinners, and, I have to wear compression socks and stay off my feet until I'm released for work. Looks like I'll be on a Family Leave of Absense with no pay until I'm able to return to work...

I definitely plan on continuing to fish, just today my grandkids asked when we'd be going again...and I'm anxious to take them too.

[fishingpox]

How long do you think you will be off work? Good news they found out.

[DENNIS WILLIS]

Hope all turns out well Fishaholic will keep you in our prayers, the grandkids will keep you going. I have a bad back and the doctor said to keep fishing and I have to do what the dr. said.

["G"]

Glad they found that out.......hoping and praying for the best for ya.......hang in there you will be back fishing soon.

[Cane Pole]

I misdiagnosed. I used an "as seen on tv" ad.

[Crappie Reaper]

Hope everything gets better for you. How are they treating the blood clots in your leg? Anything other than blood thinner? I had two stints put in my Left Anterior Descending on March 5th. I can feel them daily and sometimes they hurt. There's been a couple of times since they were put in that I had to really slow down as it felt as if I was about to have another attack. By the way, not be able to work the way I'm used to is going to really effect my bottom line in the future. Although I love to fish, keeping the bills paid is the most important thing. Rather I like it or not, I've got to change my work ethic to a slower pace so as not to over do anything. The 86 degree days we had a couple of weeks ago showed me that this summer could be very tough.

Good luck with your recovery!

[SirBob]

Fishaholic, glad you had a doctor that kept looking and got to the main problem. Sounds like you needed some rest and recovery time. Will keep you in my prayers that you are up moving, back to work and fishing with those grandkidsreal soon.

[Fishaholic]

How long do you think you will be off work? Good news they found out.

I have no idea, more blood work tomorrow and another follow-up exam...I'm still pretty weak from the virus, hopefully no more than an additional week, but in my sisters case (similar) she was out of work for 2 months - if I'm out that long we'll be living in a homeless shelter before it's all over.

My wife has had 9 major surgeries in the last 5 years, so we live month to month on what little money I make at Wal*mart - no savings, no IRAs, no stock...just what comes in every 2 weeks from working...but, we have faith, God will provide.

[Cane Pole]

Things will be fine. You mentioned the magic word, "GOD".