My arm! My arm! I can move my arm!

After a week and a half of assorted anti-inflammatory drugs, including one that I can only take once a day (it must be really good; I didn't take it this morning and I'm regretting it just a bit), I can now move my arm without wanting to either scream or cry for a large part of the day. That's not to say it doesn't still hurt, but I don't feel like curling into a ball and sobbing in pain. :o)

Anyway, I've been working up a list of things I can now do if I'm careful (in no particular order):

1. Wash my hair. I've got a lot of it and the job requires a working shoulder.

2. Change my sheets. My bed is in a corner so it's a bear of a job on a good day; with a bad shoulder it was out of the question.

3. Get stuff out of the washer and dryer. We have a stacking set, and getting stuff out has always been a stretch for little old me. It's either past my reach (washer) or over my head (dryer).

4. Get out and put away the cereal. We keep it on a high shelf, and even though it slides out it's hard to get to when it hurts to move your hand past your shoulder, let alone over your head. I could just barely get the box out from the bottom, but putting it away was impossible.

5. Pick up a glass with one hand while sitting at the table. The action involved awkward, painful movements, so for several days I reverted to childhood and used both hands. ;P

6. Cutting my own meat. The back-and-forth motion put too much stress on my shoulder, so I've mainly been eating fairly soft foods, or at least ones that didn't take any cutting.

7. Taking off my bra. There were a couple nights I just couldn't get my hand back there and had to get help.

8. Taking off my sweater. I usually meet my hands behind my back and pull the cuffs off, but that was not possible this past week or so. And you don't remember how painful it was last time until you do it again. (ow! ow!)

9. Sleep! I've had to sleep sitting as straight up as possible to ease the pressure on the shoulder, but last night I slept in something approaching my normal posture. :o)

If I think of any more, I'll let you know. :o)

The Terrors of Tendonitis

Last week I woke up feeling like someone was sticking ice picks in my right shoulder. This did not bode well for spending two hours in the dentist's chair (see my last post). I couldn't get an appointment with the orthopedist until Tuesday, so I ended up at the ER. I got a shot of some painkiller that's supposed to be 10x stronger than morphine and prescriptions for megavicodin and a steroid 6-day pack.

After the shot wore off, I found that I had to take the vicodin strictly on schedule. If I didn't, I turned into a crying, screaming meemie. It took half an hour to work out the least unpainful position for my arm at night, and everytime I woke up in pain I had to start all over again. I think I got about 3 hours of sleep a night. :o(

I hurt in the shoulder joint, the elbow, and the wrist. After a few days, my wrist stopped hurting, but my thumb went kind of numb. All I wanted to do was sleep, but it was too painful to try more than once a day.

All of this was occurring while I worked the Halloween rush, with all sorts of crazy (and crazed) people coming in for stuff to make their costumes. I couldn't do much other than run the register -- you can't cut fabric if you can't use your arm. We didn't get out before 10 any night, and usually it was later. Much later.

Yesterday I went to the doctor, who confirmed my self-diagnosis of tendonitis. (I had it in my left shoulder four years ago.) This time I got a shot of cortisone and a script for mobic once a day (a once-a-day pain pill? how's that supposed to work?).

24 hours later, I can report that both seem to be working. Despite working last night, I was able to fall asleep quickly and slept SEVEN hours!!!!!! All right, I woke up once, but it was to answer a call of nature, NOT because of the pain. :o) My shoulder still hurts, but not as badly. My elbow doesn't hurt at all. My thumb's still a bit numb, but I wouldn't be surprised if I have a pinched nerve as well.