My husband Grizzly lives every day with severe gout, rheumatoid
arthritis, and chronic kidney disease from having only one kidney. Even
simple daily tasks can become a struggle, yet he still pushes himself to
work because bills don’t stop and disability can take months to start.
Some days he can barely move, but he keeps going.
He currently has
a tophus on his toe that popped, became infected, and started draining.
Tophi don’t truly heal once they open — they may scab, but the scab
often lifts off with medical honey, leaving the wound exposed again.
Wound care was supposed to see him, but that never happened, so we’ve
been cleaning it ourselves. It looks better than when he was
hospitalized, when it was purple and black, but it’s still a constant
concern.
Because his kidney can’t filter uric acid properly, the
crystals build up in his body. When there’s enough, they rise through
the skin and form visible white bumps. They can appear on toes, fingers,
elbows, knees — anywhere gout decides to attack. And when they pop,
they drain and can easily get infected.
Gout is brutal. One day
he’s okay, and the next he’s in so much pain he can’t walk, move, or
even get out of bed. It can hit any joint — toes, knees, ankles, hands,
ribs, back, shoulders — and when it flares, it puts him down for days or
even weeks. His flare‑ups come every month or two, and when they hit,
he needs help with everything: eating, getting up, using a urinal,
cleaning wounds, and managing pain.
Medications barely help. They
increased his allopurinol to 300 mg and it made everything worse. He’s
on daily colchicine, prednisone, and other meds, but the relief is
limited. The only treatment that could truly change his life is
Krystexxa, an infusion that breaks down uric acid — but insurance keeps
denying it. Every approval attempt is a fight.
We’ve learned what
triggers him: fish, seafood, and certain foods. Tart cherry helps some
people, and black walnut or cayenne tinctures may offer relief. A
heating pad, elevation, wide‑toe shoes, easy‑on footwear, and staying
hydrated all help him get through flare days. Ice makes the pain worse.
Gout
is not “just joint pain.” It’s life‑altering, exhausting, and
unpredictable. Watching him suffer through it is heartbreaking, but he
keeps fighting, and I keep supporting him however I can.
