Saturday, September 19, 2009

Physical Therapy, Back to School

Late last spring I did something that twinged my shoulder. No recollection of what it was. Tried ice and heat, popped a bunch of ALeve, tried to give it a rest. It felt almost (key word here is almost I guess) like tendonitis so I treated it as such. It really only hurt when my arm lifted over chest level, and since most of my heavy lifting is not that high I wasn't that worried. When I went on vacation in July it really calmed down, so I figured it was going away. Well, now it is at the point when getting coffee filters out of the top cabinet causes a sharp pain that then stays sore for a while. If I move my arm when I sleep the pain is actually sharp enough to wake me up. The problem here is that I am seriously right handed. My left arm allows my shirts to fit better, and offers moral support to my right arm. So even though my right arm hurts. it is hard to make myself use the left. When I went for my physical last week, I 'fessed up to my doctor about it.

Turns out I don't have tendonitis, I have an impingement syndrome, which is pinching my Bursa sacs. great. My arm is moving wrong, and instead of rotating nicely in the joint it is coming up and pinching the bursa. Thus pain. Then like a balloon, when you pinch one end the other end expands, and the expanding side is pressing on the end of the tendon causing some of the same symptoms of tendonitis. Then the doctor tells me there is a fast way and a slow way to stop the pain. Well, duh, what's the fast way? Three giant needles!!! And when the cortisone wears off, the pain may be back. EEEK! What's the slow way? Physical Therapy. OK, sign me up.

My insurance co, approves up to 60 sessions per calendar year per joint on impingement. At three visits a week, the therapist and my doctor figure I should be good in 8-10 weeks, So right now I'm scheduled for 12. I cannot tell you how bad I hurt after the first visit (wednesday) My whole arm and shoulder (including my shoulder blade) was sore Thursday. Friday I kept telling myself no shots, no shots, no shots. Today, I'm sore but not stiff and it's not as bad as it was on Thursday. I'll let you know how Monday goes.

hills

Thursday night was back to school night. As we were walking up to the school (with my coffee in my LEFT hand) Curt makes a comment that we made it to our last back to school night. AAACCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!! Last back to school night?? I'm not old enough to have been to my last back to school night!!! The rest of the night was somewhat surrealistic. I found out why Angie suddenly likes literature - 20th century literature and composition is taught by the baseball coach. Youngish, not bad looking guy. Mmmhmmm yeah I get it now. her Statistics AP teacher reminds me of the funny little man that plays the asst football coach on Evening Shade (please tell me you remember that show. A lot of people at work sort of gave me blank stares on that one.)michael jeter really hyper dude. She's had her french teacher 3 out of 4 years. her french IV is being taught as a gifted and talented class because there are only 7 kids (and 2 haven't taken their test to skip french 3 - the actual gifted kids - if they don't pass the class will have 5) and doesn't make the minimum sign up numbers. The kids all qualify for GAT based on test scores, class selection, grades and recommendations, so yes it is a loophole. Otherwise she would have had to travel across town to the "evil" knolls to take the class. She had her sociology teacher for World Civ and Hist 2A so this is her third time with her also. ( we were the only parents to show up for that class) The teacher was all - I'm so happy Angie liked me enough to take me a third time. (Angie wasn't totally thrilled, but figured she needed the class and since that was the only teacher sucked it up- although Angie says she's a very different teacher for an elective) Her adv calculus teacher she had last year for calc, she's happy about that because when she moved up from college prep to honors math she had lots of issues first marking period last year, and that teacher spent a lot of extra time with her. Also she knows exactly what Angie and three of her friends learned last year. Her physics teacher - looks like a stereotype of a physics teacher (mind you I love physics) his shirt and tie even didn't match!! Gym is gym, and her Art of Film teacher wasn't there.

LAST BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT!!! sigh.

4 comments:

  1. I've had many a bout with physical therapy for my shoulder, too. But for subluxation, which is next-door to dislocation. So not really the same, but I can still identify with the physical therapy and all that.

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've had many a bout with physical therapy for my shoulder, too. But for subluxation, which is next-door to dislocation. So not really the same, but I can still identify with the physical therapy and all that.

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good luck with the PT hon. Impingement syndrome, combined with a misshapen shoulder blade and bone spurs was what tore my rotator cuffs in both shoulders. Surgery was uncomfortable, but both are **much** better now!!! Don't hesitate to do it if they recommend it. :)

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  4. last back to school night, I remember those days in the dark eerie past Now I would rather walk the plank

    ReplyDelete

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