I’m not a fan of doctors, except for the one I work for. However, I find myself in urgent care on this glorious Saturday morning. Not my idea of fun.
I woke up to a swollen left eye. I noticed some swelling in the corner by the tear duct and it looked like a pimple was forming. This was Thursday afternoon. Yesterday, there were no changes to my eye. I put a hot compress on it. In the wee hours of the morn, I felt a sharp stabbing pain on the outer side of my left eye. Another hot compress and the pain subsided.
Now, I’m sitting in the urgent care, back in a room, with a flow of antibiotics going through an IV. Might ask for an iron infusion while I’m at it.
Anyhow, I digress. I have a bacterial infection in my eye. I will be given a prescription of antibiotics to accompany the IV then return tomorrow to see what improvement there is.
For the past few months, I have had some sharp pains during certain movements in my left arm. A few weeks ago, the pain became a constant throbbing, with bolts of lightning shooting from the humeral head into my neck. It caused a number of headaches and a ton of discomfort. Last week, I broke down and saw an orthopedic specialist. At that point the pain had become excruciating.
Sometimes the slightest amount of movement caused pain. I can’t hook my bra behind me. I can’t use my left arm to brush my hair. I use my right arm to get pots and pans and to reach up to grab dishes. I can’t carry bags with any weight on my left arm. It even hurts to hold my water cup.
Crazy, right? All I remember is going to bed with a fully functioning shoulder and waking up with it frozen. Every movement caused some degree of pain. I’ve cried because of how much it hurts. I had no clue what was going on with it. I hid my pain. My patients don’t need to know that I’m hurting and can’t hold my stethoscope.
I got to see Dr. Christ at Oly Orthopaedics and after the X-rays, he told me I had what is known as a “frozen shoulder”. Well that’s a relief! However, it doesn’t solve the problem.
Crying in pain after the x-rays
He suggested doing a cortisone shot. It’s done under imaging as the shot goes directly into the joint. At first I nixed this option because of how I react on steroids. While we were discussing options to thaw my shoulder, I reconsidered since it’s an injection and not oral medication. I’m waiting for a PA to be approved for it.
Another option was physical therapy. These are exercises I know I can do at home rather than take time off work. Not working makes it difficult to pay bills. I’ve decided to do the injection, chiropractic care, and massage therapy. I wonder if hot stone massages will do the trick. I just have to work it all into my budget and time management.
Now that I have resolutions, I’m going to work on getting my shoulder back to where it was. Functioning! Another issue is that my hand will go numb or spasm violently. Shaking might be a more appropriate term though. I’m doing some stretching and resistance exercises and it does help. I’m gauging my progress by what I can do. The hardest part is working through the pain.
I have to push through the pain. It sucks and a lot of tears are being shed. I keep hoping that I will go to bed one night and wake up with a fully restored shoulder. Dr. Christ said it could be a year or more before it functions like normal again. I am impatient and don’t want to wait that long. I have things I want to do!
This Is All Of Me 