Me, My Joints, and I

I'm off to see the rheumatologist in the morning. It's just a check-up, but I'm hoping to find out whether there's any way to tell how long it might be before my arthralgia resolves on its own. I'm guessing that the answer is no.

That's the problem with being an outlier—no one can tell you what to expect because you are already a case study in the unexpected.

What I wouldn't give to be a textbook case of something instead of a parenthetical in the small print of a footnote.