Here’s the story: I went to meet with the surgeon again two days prior to my operation. Understand, this was not going to be arthroscopic, which is relatively minor surgery. This was the old “cut him open like a turkey” surgery…and that always carries a risk of blood clots.

My father more than likely died of a blood clot, although peacefully in his sleep. Still, he was diagnosed with a clot in his lower leg a few weeks prior.

So, why risk it.

Oh, right — the pain.

Well, I had a theory, and it turned out the doc agreed (wow.) I theorized that my knee pain for the past several years may have been low-level gouty bursitis under the Osgood ossicle rather than the ‘normal’ pain of the ossicle itself.

You see, I’ve dealt with this demon for 30 years. I know the Osgood pain all too well — and trust me, this was Osgood on steroids and in a really pissy mood.

So, I’m attacking this bad boy with numerous natural herbs that drain uric acid (the cause of gout) and help prevent a substance called arachidonic acid from forming in quantity. This helps form prostaglandin-2, the inflammatory prostaglandin (there are three: 1 and 3 are good guys), which leads to — you guessed it…arthritis. Gout is the most painful of the rheumatoid arthritic conditions.

Finally, gout is very common in kids. So much for arthritis being localized to “old people”.

I will keep you all posted — but I’m quite optimistic that my diet, continued (and improved) supplementation, and exercise plan will do the trick.

Thanks again for all your heart-felt concerns. {10}