PSEUDO-GOUT STRIKES AGAIN

This posting is all about personal catharsis.  I cancelled out of yet another race due to injury. This time it was the Minneapolis LIFETIME triathlon, held on Saturday July 13th, the largest and most competitive race in Minnesota. Its purpose in my seasonal planning was to give me a benchmark going into the Racine Ironman 70.3 the following week.  I have raced this course previously so whatever I might have done would have given me a good reference point for pacing the 70.3.

Instead my worst pre-race fear happened.  Pseudo-gout appeared with no warning.  Thursday was a solid 2000 yd swim workout followed by a 5 mile run followed by walking 18 holes of golf. Great way to spend a day when retired in Minnesota.  Absolutely no pain anyplace.  Friday was a short swim and short bike as a pre-race taper day.  By supper I had developed a severe pain in my left knee.  This knee pain forced me to climb stairs one step at a time dragging the left leg.  I had a tough time getting to sleep even with the Advil. Woke up at 2 am to the loudest clap of thunder and lightning imaginable, so got up to make sure the house wasn't hit.  Couldn't lift my foot but a few inches off the ground.  I immediately knew that my race was toast, so took the early wake-up off the alarm clock and went back to sleep.

STARS IN THE JOINT

I was diagnosed with pseudo-gout (see picture on right) a few months prior to my 2010 Kona Ironman race.  The orthopedic doctor who had performed the 3 arthroscopic surgeries on my knees to remove torn cartilage took x-rays to help diagnose my severely sore knees -- I assumed I had damaged some cartilage again.  But no, mixed in with the cartilage in my knee joint were all these tiny white specs that made the joint look like the stars in the sky on a particularly clear Arizona night.

Those stars were crystals made up of calcium.  No known cause.  Incidence increases with age. Possibly genetic.  No known cure.  No treatment except NSAID's to ease the pain. And even worse, the bouts of pain come and go at random with random intensity and random duration. My doctors personal experience was that the more surgeries you have, the greater the incidence.  My left knee had 2 surgeries and more stars.  My doctor said I could take up to 12 Advil a day and exercise as the pain permits. I can take a lot of pain, but even at the 2010 Kona Ironman I had to walk the last 16 miles of the marathon.  At 2 am in the morning of July 13, I was not about to suffer through a less meaningful race, so another race bit the dust. Blogging about this worked, I feel better now.  So does my knee.

For the truly interested, below is a link that provides a more clinical description.

PSEUDO-GOUT LINK