Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

Rode my bike to Dr. Kingston's and back.

Today I had my second K-Laser treatment at Dr. Stucky's. So far I haven't observed any benefit, but I'll do a couple more treatments before I pass judgment on the laser. I'm totally off ibuprofen (which I was taking at night to help me sleep), so I should have a completely unfiltered assessment of pain at all times of day. Right now the foot hurts worse in the middle of the night and in the morning. Once I walk on it for a few hours, it is at least "serviceable", in that I am only mildly limping by evening. At no point does it stop hurting though, and it seems to "reset" the pain every evening. Before people start commenting about "plantar fasciitis", the pain I am talking about is all in my toes and in the ball of my foot. It is not PF.

I also got my arthritis blood tests back today. Four of the five tests were negative, but I was positive for the HLA-B27 gene. This is a not a proper diagnostic, but merely means that I am at higher risk of having Ankylosing spondylitis, or "A.S." Over 95% of people with A.S. have the HLA-B27 indicator, but not all people with HLA-B27 have A.S. (less than 5%, I think). So a blood test can only serve as a piece of the puzzle, rather than a full diagnostic. I don't care to describe it, but you can read more about A.S. here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankylosing_spondylitis

I had already read up on A.S. quite a bit, because several other pieces of the puzzle point to it as well. When I called the dr's office this morning, the tech said that I tested positive for IGG for something like that. I was confused and asked her to double-check what that meant, as I totally expected to hear "HLA-B27" instead. She came back, apologized, and said that she wrote down the wrong one. "Sorry, I meant 'HLA-B27'," she said. "Well, duh," I said. Here's why I already thought I might have A.S.

1. The sports doc I saw a couple weeks ago suggested it as a possibility just from listening to my injury history. No blood test needed for that.
2. It would explain my chronic SI joint pain over the last three years.
3. It would explain why my second toe is swollen a good quarter-inch thicker than its counterpart on the other foot
4. It would explain the joint inflammation on the ball of my foot, and other toe inflammation.
5. It would explain why my neck and upper back hurts, and why it hurts a little bit when I take a very deep breath.
6. It is most common in males in their 20s. I am a male in my 20s. I had no problems of any sort until I was in my mid-20s.
7. It can also cause plantar fasciitis.

But really, I can't know for sure, at least not at this point. I was referred to the local Rheumatologist (Cory Walker), and can't get in for an appointment until June 25th. I'm not sure what else he can do. Perhaps order an MRI, as that's really the only diagnostic tool left. And most likely prescribe lots of prescription drugs, since that's generally what doctors do. sigh. The Pettibon stuff will definitely help my back and neck, but I don't think it can reduce the swelling in my foot. I may consider trying a starch-free diet before drugs, but I need more info first.

Until then, it's back to laser.

Ran to the gym. Not because I felt better, but because I didn't feel like biking or driving. Did 20 minutes on the elliptical and then 2x10 4-way hip @ 90 lbs. Ran home.

Rode my bike to Dr. Kingston's office and back. Fortunately, it stopped raining. My neck continues to improve and feels pretty good these days. Still a ways to go, but so far the treatment is quite effective in that respect.

Last night I had my 3rd K-Laser treatment with Dr. Stucky. This time I could feel some improvement in my foot when I walked out, but I still had the morning pain going on by 3AM. I would say the laser has had some positive benefit, but nothing earth-shattering for me. I have just one more next week. The lady before me yesterday walked out of the treatment room smiling and saying, "Wow, I can walk normally again!" So apparently it works better for some than others.

My latest quack scheme is to try the Three-Day Apple Fast. This one doesn't cost any money though, aside from the cost of apples. In a nutshell it is a detox fast where you only eat apples for three days, along with a tablespoon of olive oil. Hence, the "Three-day apple fast" name. How many apples can you eat? As many as you feel like.

Here's a blurb about it: This Apple Fast provides not only the benefits of the malic acid in apples, but also gives you large amounts of natural pectin fiber to cleanse the intestinal tract. The pectin leeches toxins from the blood stream and intestines and will leech anything with food value so do not eat anything else and do not take vitamins at this time. (Edgar Cayce suggests 3 week breaks from vitamins anyway so that your body doesn't become dependent on them and stop making it's own vitamins)

It's called a fast because, by eating only apples, the body is fooled into a fasting mode, where it starts dumping toxins from the liver, kidneys, and other internal organs, into the bloodstream, where they can be leeched by the pectin.

http://www.astrodreamadvisor.com/Body_Apple_Fast.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_12675_apple-cleansing-fast.html

Many people with AS have said doing an apple fast every few months can get rid of flares. Nothing to lose (other than hating apples as a result), so I'll give it a shot. 

Apple fast update:

Day 1 went fine. Got pretty sick up apples by noon, and was hungry for the rest of the day. Ended up eating 10 apples total for the day. Only other thing consumed was water. No change in how I felt by the end the day, but none expect.

Currently halfway through Day 2. Still sick of apples, but feel over the mental hump of fasting. Supposedly the second day is the worst, as all the toxins being released causes headaches and generally grouchiness. I do indeed have a headache, but am in a fairly good mood. The headache could actually be from no coffee in two days, but probably a combination of both. Apple hangover.

Some improvement in how I feel. My foot didn't hurt as bad when I got out of bed this morning, and I noticed around 11AM that my hip/SI pain has magically disappeared. This is a good sign. Neck is about the same. I look forward to more apples.

Postedit: just did Pettibon exercises, and it's very noticeable how much looser my lower and mid back are. I mean, I haven't had this much range of motion in months. The only thing that could be throwing up my assessment is that I've been lifting things all morning for our yard sale, plus pulling some weeks, so perhaps my back is just extra "warmed up". But I doubt it.