2008 - Annus Horribilis

Happy 2009. I, for one, trust it will be.

2008 had some good moments. The easy time at Merrill Lynch. Several tango epiphanies and swift progress as a dancer. Wonderful companionship and support of friends. A nurturing visit from my mother. A new guy friend that looks up to me.

These gems notwithstanding, there was one central theme throughout the year.

My body.

I had pain in the ball of the foot, two throat infections, one of which caused severe pain for several weeks. A fungal infection on my penis that raged on for months. A cold and fever to end the year and start the new one.

Then my back. Oh god, it has been the bane of my existence all of 2008. First, a severe spasm that had me bedridden for a week, and recovering for weeks thereafter. Then, the ankylosing spondylitis episode, that had me running to the ibuprofen at 3 am. Then, a sharp shooting pain in my left side under my ribcage that prevented me from sitting at my office cubicle, and eventually got me fired from my contract job at Wells Fargo. Then, a strange hip flexor problem which caused severe pain, and a dark, black nerve irritation that went on for weeks, radiated a sickening pins-and-needles feeling up and down my left side and stopped me from functioning normally.
From July onward, I took several medications - Indocin, Ibuprofen, Soma, Vicodin, Lidoderm, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Cortisone injections on trigger points, Epidural Steroid Injection.

Then, the alternative treatment - Acupuncture, Physical therapy, home stretching, swimming, heating pads, breathing.
Then, my application for state disability got denied. Here I am, with a host of health problems, a lost job and no financial support.

Life sure can turn on a dime. In September, I was at the high point, and two months later it all came crashing down.

I wonder what I have done to deserve such a torrent of health problems.