Shoulder Update

If you didn't see the update I posted on Tuesday's blog, I do have a diagnosis:

rotator cuff tear with muscle impingement, a cyst AND fluid on my shoulder joint

Okay . . .

If this were really true, then  my arm should simply be flopping around totally useless, right?

This is the part that gets really weird--I have virtually 100% motion and movement of my shoulder joint with the exception of one or two actions that cause me pain, namely, when I cross my arms to take my shirt or sports bra off. That action almost put me to the ground a couple of times.

But to tell you the truth, the only part of the diagnosis that I care about is the part that is pressing on the nerve and causing the numbness in my hand.

I don't like that numbness thing AT ALL.

It totally brings flashbacks from my ruptured disc incident in 1992. That darn thing ruptured while I was washing my hair. Bizarro. But you have to realize that I'd been hurting it through the repetitive action of Abe--psycho horse from hell--daily dumping my ass in the dirt.

And if my Google search gives me any direction, then I'd have to say the culprit is the cyst pressing on the nerve.

I was referred to an orthopedic surgeon . . . well, actually his PA (physician's assistant) and I have an appointment tomorrow.

From what I can tell, the best case scenario is meds to decrease the inflammation and physical therapy to help repair the tear, and maybe draining the cyst--if it's that type of cyst.

Worst case scenario would be surgery and subsequent physical therapy.

As long as my fingers have the ability to type, then I'm good.

If not . . . well, then I guess I'll have to learn Dragon Speak software . . . though I sometimes wish I had it loaded since I think too much about HOW I want to write something instead of just writing it down. The beginnings of stories are always hard this way.

Next week the kidlet is at her last camp for the summer and I'll finally finish, PIPER AND THE EVERBERRY SOCCER GAME.

I'll let you know if there is anything exciting to report with the shoulder, but I doubt it.

Later, peeps!

Pod Person X 2

UPDATE:
Rotator cuff tear with muscle impingement, a cyst AND fluid on the joint. 

This is totally BIZZARO considering that other than slight pain upon making certain movements AND tingly nerve pain along with some numbness, I have full range of motion with this shoulder. Orthopedic appointment on Friday for the next step in the saga.
 
An MRI machine is much like being in one of those eggs from The Matrix movie . . . without the gick. Or a cryotube from Futurama, Star Trek, or any other science fiction movie.
 
I could totally see someone freaking out in one of these . . . or getting stuck.
 
I'm not a large person and when the bed slid in and out of the machine my arms were touching the sides. Once inside I had a couple of inches of clearance above my face, but that's it.
 
I will say there are two good things about getting an MRI:

• ear plugs
• warm blanket

Yep, that's about it.
 
Okay, so it isn't that bad unless you forget to urinate or have an indescribable urge to scratch some part of your body . . . make that ANY part of your body. I just closed my eyes and tried to think about my picture book story. . .
 
The problem is that the clangs, clunks, trills, machine shaking, etc. are all very distracting. Though the MRI scan might take 30 minutes, it's actually broken down into a variety of different scans lasting from 2.5-5.5 minutes each.
 
Well, at least this shoulder one was.
 
Okay, I guess I should start at the beginning.
 
I arrive at the imaging center at about 8 AM. The place was already packed--they do more than MRI's here. And I fill out two long forms. I had the foresight to write down my medications--only three--and then promptly forgot the list at home. Two are asthma meds and one is the recent prescription of pain meds the doctor just ordered.
 
So I guessed at the spelling.
 
Then I had to remember my surgeries, luckily I only had three of them, too! I can't imagine how hard it would be for some of these patients who have numerous surgeries over a couple of years. I wouldn't be able to keep them straight. The main thing they were worried about was if any metal was inserted during the surgeries.
 
That would be considered A BAD THING if you went into the MRI machine and thought "Ooops!Don't I have a metal rod in my back?"
 
It really wasn't that bad.
 
There was a nice changing room with a locker. I could keep my shorts on since only my upper half was being MRI'ed, but I had to leave my phone, Kindle, earrings, and watch along with my clothes. I took the key into the room and the tech left it on the window sill.
 
To tell you the truth, I wasn't paying very much attention to the room or machine at this time. Probably due to nerves, though I did notice a room with a huge window that the tech was in during the scans.
 
Anyhoo, I lay on this narrow bed that slides into the machine. The tech puts this uncomfortable rubbery 'thing' over my left shoulder, my arm is fixed in a foam sleeve with my thumb facing up, earplugs are inserted, and I'm given a rubber "O. M. G. I'm FREAKING in here." pump to squeeze if I need to come out quickly.
 
Oh, yeah, and the blankie . . . those wonderful warm blankies. That's the best part.

As I mentioned the individual scans didn't take too long and I was home by 9:15. . . just enough time to backwash the pool and start piddling around outside.

Then I get a call. "Can you come back?"

"Ruh-roh, Scooby-Doo!" I thought. But I didn't have anything planned other than picking up the kidlet's glasses, which happens to be across the street from the Imaging Center.

The second time I become a pod person, I have an IV in my arm for some contrast media to be injected into the port. The media, as I was told, will brighten some areas to help the radiologist differentiate the problem area.

The same routine happens, except this time the kidlet is in the waiting room. They take a couple of scans to set up a baseline, and then they inject me with contrast media.

Think about how rubbing alcohol smells.

Got it?

Now, think about how it tastes and invades your sinuses.

Yeah, that's what it's like.

And it isn't even very fun when you pee it out. I wanted it to be fluorescent green or some other fun color so I could freak the kid out, but alas, it wasn't any fun. :-(

So they take another series of scans with the contrast media, yank the IV out and send me on my way.

It's weird but this was the one time I didn't bother to pre-diagnose myself, probably because I suspected the numbness stemmed from my previous neck surgery. Well, I call hubs and then we both start playing on the Internet.

Remember, this is pure speculation:

• I could have a paralabral cyst that is pressing on my nerve, or many other types of cysts
• or a neuroma, or other tumors

They each have their issues and treatments, but sometimes just having a name to pin to a situation is comforting--even if there is nothing you can do about fixing the problem.

All I can do wait until I hear from my doctor.

Speculating at this time re: treatment would drive me insane as there is NOTHING I can do except worry about various scenarios.

Why put myself through the worry? All it does is increase the stress, which makes my fingers more tingly and numb.

So I think it's time to take my morning walk. I'll post an update on this blog when I know something.

Later, Peeps!

 

MRI

Today I'm heading in to the imaging center bright and early, so I wrote this short blog Sunday night.

My shoulder will have an MRI and I'm scared. . . not because I'm afraid they will find something but because I'm afraid they won't.

Deep down, I think the problem stems from my neck issues (ruptured disc) of 21 years ago. The numbness and pain has a familiar feel to it similar to the pain from those many years ago, and since they won't be MRIing my neck there won't be anything to show up on the shoulder MRI.

But no sense in worry about something I have no power over.

When the docs have the answers, so will I.

Later, Peeps!

Bursitis in my Shoulder?

Or is it something more diabolical?

I'm leaning to the more diabolical diagnosis myself for several reasons, but I'll walk you through the steps a doctor must take.

Okay, here's the sitch:

• A few weeks ago, my left shoulder started hurting. My right hurts a little but not to the extent of the left one.
• I'm right handed and can't figure out what dumb thing I might have done to cause my left shoulder to hurt.
• I deal with it, but eventually I go to the doctor--yesterday. NOT because that is the right thing to do, but because I almost couldn't pull my sports bra off after walkies yesterday. The motion of crossing my arms at shoulder height and lifting nearly dropped me to the floor.
• I like my GP doc and usually I can get in same day with no problem.
• I go to the doc, he does range of motion stuff as he feels the shoulder. There's a little popping and some creaks.
• I get an x-ray to see if there is a bone spur or something irritating the tendon--nope, nothing, not even arthritis.
• So I get a prescription for anti-inflammatory pills and a sheet of exercises to rehab my shoulder.

If it's fine, then that's all she wrote. If it's still bothering me, then the next step is taken--a cortisone shot.

I'm okay with all this since it's the way most docs are required to work. It's the KISS rule--Keep It Simple, Stupid. Go with the easiest answer first and work from there. But I still think it's something more diabolical, and here's why:

• In 1992 I ruptured my cervical disc--the disc between C5-C6. I was taking a shower at the time. A pop was heard and then I was on the shower floor crying. It was excruciating. I still vividly remember it.
• This wasn't due to washing my hair, though that was the movement that popped the disc. It was due to my psycho-horse Abe who spent his waking moments finding ways to dump my butt and get me off his back.
• He dumped me in the dirt--A LOT. He spun me off, bucked me off and tried to rear me off. When I learned to sit tight, he tried combining them. I learned to ride anything he tossed at me, but the damage had been done.
• I had been suffering enormous amounts of pain prior to the rupture--left forearm burning pain. It had gotten so bad that I had to cradle my arm while I slept and sometimes when I was a passenger in the car.
• The hospital did an x-ray and found nothing. THAT x-ray was worse than the disc rupturing. Ohmigod! It's called a swimmer's x-ray. *shudders*
• A week later I was scheduled for an MRI--In case you don't know, an MRI--Magnetic Resonance Imaging--takes cross-section images of your body. It detects things that no x-ray can take. You're placed in a small space with lots of clicking and banging. They tell you not to breath while some of the pictures are taken. I don't remember a whole lot of this because the ER doc told me to take 2 Valium prior to the procedure to relieve my anxiety. I was so high, I didn't know what was what. I will NEVER will take two Valium again!
• I go to a recommended neurosurgeon. He tells me I have to have surgery. I flip out.
• A month later, I have surgery. During that month, I was on daily Flexeril (muscle relaxants) and some sort of anti-inflammatory pain killer meds.
• Surgery was successful.
• I was riding my whack-a-doodle horse four weeks after surgery.

One item that I didn't mention was when the neurosurgeon saw the ruptured disc, he mentioned that I had a bone spur on C5.

So Margaret-logic dictates that if my forearm was painful due to a disc rupture between C5 and C6, then the higher up the neck would indicate a nerve irritation from C5--where the spur was located--would be in the shoulder area.

 

Starting to get the picture?

 

I might be overthinking this, but if I'm right, I'll be posting a blog that I'm going in for surgery sometime this autumn.

 

We'll see. Until then, I'll do all the right things and hope I don't have to go through surgery.

 

Later, Peeps! It's time for my walkies.