I have tried every position five times over, but the searing pain in my big toe won’t go away. I can’t sleep. The pain pulses as if my heart has migrated to my foot, but instead of blood it is pumping razor blades. I have had my fair share of pain over the years. I have broken my back and had impacted wisdom teeth, but I have never felt anything this excruciating.
“How have I done this?” I ask myself over and over. I went to bed with a normal toe; now, it is purple and has doubled in size. I assume I must have knocked it in the night and broken it, so I visit my local hospital, where a nurse takes one look at my bulbous toe and says: “It’s gout.”
