Old age ain't for sissies

I've been quiet because not much is happening, since my bike ride on Sunday. 

And speaking of Sunday, sometime during that day I noticed a bit of a tender spot on the sole of one foot. It felt something like what we used to call rock bruises. I didn't really think too much about it, because I've had a lot of those over the years.

By Monday, however, it was hurting a good bit more. I took a look, and there was a small round red/blue bump surrounded by red skin. I thought it might be a blood blister, though I've never had one.

By yesterday, it was still there, still sore, showed no signs of going away. My doctor couldn't fit me in this week at all, and I sure didn't think it warranted a $40 copay for urgent care.

By this morning, after a rough night of little sleep (not because of the foot, though aggravated because since my attention was on the foot I felt discomfort whenever the foot encountered the bedding), I opted for another option, a walk-in clinic at a group where I used to have a primary care physician.

It's a good thing I went. Great doctor who probably spent an hour with me. First used a needle to try and drain it, but the pain was really intense. He tried some numbing cream, which really didn't help, then a numbing injection that also really, really hurt but didn't numb it enough. A second syringe of the stuff did the job and after that I didn't care what he did. He was able to drain it quickly and lo and behold, a blood clot emerged. Not a huge one, maybe a little more than pinhead size, but enough to make the surrounding tissues very unhappy.

Fortunately it was not a dangerous kind of clot -- the DVT kind that can break loose and cause havoc in the heart.

Hopefully I'm now on the mend, and hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight because I'm really, really groggy and tired. Just wanted to say hello. Is anybody listening?