Thursday, March 10, 2011

The Shot Heard 'Round the World

That is a bit of an exaggeration but hey I wish I could have screamed that loud.

I went to my wonderful orthopedist this morning.  My right shoulder has been horribly painful and my arm is getting to the point where it is almost useless.  If I apply any sort of pressure, such as trying to dress or towel myself off after a shower, pain shoots down my arm into my hand.  The shoulder is in constant pain and I have to be very careful how I move it.  It can not under any circumstances be bumped! 

It took three weeks but I finally got in to see him.  Of course he took x-rays.  Turns out the calcium deposit in my right shoulder has reappeared and the left one has gone away completely (we'll get back to the left shoulder later).   I also have spurs and calcification of my cervical vertebrae (over the course of my life I have done much injury to my neck including several cases of bad whiplash and getting hit in the head with a tree - yes you read that right a whole tree but that is another story). 

His immediate evaluation is that the calcium deposit has caused inflammation in the rotator cuff and bicep tendon and the neck issues are causing the nightly numbness and pain in my right arm, hand and fingers.  We then discussed having a cortisone shot in the shoulder joint.  I had these before and they aren't pleasant.  I was also concerned with side effects since I am now horribly sensitive to medications.  After talking about CFS and the treatment I just said F^&* it.  "I want the pain to stop.  NOW!" 

I do remember this shot not being pleasant but with the FM flare and CFS joint pain active holly crap did this hurt.  I had to bite my lip so that a string of expletives weren't heard in the next county.  I don't remember this hurting so badly last time.  I remember pinching and heat but I tolerated the pain okay.  This time was torture.  I hope the dam shot lasts more than three weeks this time.  I think I'm going to try and get a lot of massage in the area to try to get the inflammation down while the pain killer is still working.

As for the left side, I guess the pain I have there is only from the FM/CFS, which is a bummer.  It means that the Celebrex is limited in its effectiveness.  I wonder if I can double the dose.  I wonder if my tummy can handle it.  I think my doc is trying to get me off the stuff.  I just need something so that I can sleep.  My hips and shoulders hurt so bad some days they all keep me awake.

Anyway, I have to get off the computer now.  My right shoulder is screaming at me.  It is not happy with me at all today and I don't blame it one bit.

No comments:

Post a Comment