One of the aggravating things about going to a doctor is not coming away with a specific diagnosis. You go in with a pain right there and the doctor mumbles, "uh umm," and looks at the spot you're touching and causing nearly excrutiating pain. The doctor looks up at you and says, "Well, there's nothing there that should be hurting as you describe."

No matter how much you plead you can't make headway against medical science. If it not supposed to hurt there, there is no way you can convince the doctor.

Luckily, in my case, I pointed at the bony spur where the iliotibial tract connects at the knee. I had no idea what I was pointing at, but the doctor (actually a PA-C) knew exactly what it was.

Iliotibial band syndrome is a common cause of knee pain in runners, but in my case it was caused by inactivity. I run my truck on cruise control for hours and a time, which means the right thigh is stationary all that time. Eventually, muscles, tendons, and ligaments start to tighten from nonuse and now I'm laid up doing exercises and taking oxycodone (which I can't take and drive at the same time).

As a result, I'll be home for the next 30 days trying to decide if I want to go back to driving or not. I'd like to use some of the money from the inheritance to go back to school to get a certificate in something (I'm strongly considering becoming an LPN), but I've got a month to decide what to do. If anything, I hope to have more time to write, except right now I'm doing a lot of sleeping due to the oxycodone and the rest of the time is mostly a fuzzy blur. :wacko: