When I Sought Treatment for Pain, All the Doctors Saw Was My Size

As told to Erica RimlingerI was walking to my college class when the top of my left foot started to throb with pain. When I took off my shoe to investigate, it looked like a ball had appeared on the top of my foot. Had I banged it? Did I drop something on it? The skin wasn’t red and I wasn’t bleeding. What was going on? It didn’t go away after several days, and the pain made it hard to walk.Over-the-counter pain meds had no effect. I went to my general practitioner, who gave me a steroid shot for the inflammation, which helped. And that, I thought, ended the story of my mysterious pain.The story was actually just beginning. Shortly after the foot swelling, the skin above my forehead developed raised, red flaky patches. I visited a dermatologist who diagnosed me with plaque psoriasis. “Do you have insurance?” she asked me. It’s a good thing I did. I started using tar shampoo, creams, medications and expensive injections. Only the injections helped, but never for long.Meanwhile, the mysterious pain and inflammation returned. It swelled my left knee, then my wrist, then my back, then my right elbow. It seemed to be moving through my body with no reason or predictability. Was this stre...