My goodness, we live in an amazing time and place. Despite my feelings of disdain for profiteering Big Health and for 90% of the service providers I've had (no, buddy, I will not kiss your ring), medical science is fucking amazing.
I've had recurring hip pain (just a couple times a year, generally ignorable and/or manageable OTC) for the last 8 years* or so. It flared up again this weekend and instead of getting gradually better, it was getting worse. I could barely get in and out of my car yesterday, so I sucked it up and went to the doctor. One X-ray later, they identified some evidence of arthritis in the hip and sent me home with a prescription for Prednisone.
Two pills into a 21-pill regime, and the pain is 80% gone. I couldn't imagine even getting down on the floor to play with my kids yesterday, and today I feel like I can conquer the world. Fuckin-A.
*funny aside: when this first happened 8 years ago, I did go see a doctor, but by the time I got in for my appointment, it was already 90% better. After asking some questions and manipulating the joint, the doctor said, "It seems like a classic case of TMB." I provided the obligatory, "What's TMB?" to which he replied "Too Many Birthdays."