Dumb, dumb, dumb .... and dumb.

[Grinning Geckos]

Ugh.

I've got another week and a half til I see an orthopedic surgeon about my arm. That's not the dumb part.

I've been babying my arm for the last week and a half. The last few days (after I made the appointment - of course) it's been feeling a lot better. It was still hurting, but nothing terrible. I started thinking maybe it's ok and it's healing on it's own. I did some movement tests to check range, and I had no additional pain, and thing seemed good - so I figured maybe I don't have to baby it so much.

Boy, was I wrong.

I tried to use my arm at work at about 50% of what I used to do, and my arm said "Oh no you DIDENT!". Ever since it's been "reminding" me that it was a dumb idea. Three fingers feel numb-ish, my upper arm feels like something is pulled, and it feels like a knife is in my shoulder blade.

Yea.

Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.

Marcia, if you have tips on dealing with pain, I'd love to hear them. Pain killers don't help.

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

Girl, you better be careful and take care of yourself, things liek tha can cause you life long problems if you abuse your body and don't let it heal properly, ask my dad, he is in a living hell of pain like Marica. Although my dad's was self caused by his inability to take a break and let himself heal.

 

[Grinning Geckos]

Yea...learned my lesson today! It's totally shitty because my job uses both hands. I'll just have to stay away from stuff I know is going to be trouble. I'm not so worried about my job, I hate that I shouldn't be picking up Cadence. I've been having someone else hand her over to me in most cases. Not a fun way to be a Mom.

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

Not a fun way at all but in the long run you will heal better, take care of that arm and get it well!

 

[Jeanne]

OUch! You said it was a rotator cuff (Sp?) problem right?

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Shanti, what happened? Did you injure yourself? Was it from one of the accidents? I feel so bad for you!

If your shoulder and arm hurt and you have numbness and/or tingling in you fingers, it's most likely nerve pain, with is the most difficult type of pain to treat. Trust me... I have to have steriod epidural injections in the spinal column in my neck for this!

If your neck has a bulging disk in it somewhere, it can put pressure on the nerves that come out of that part of the cervical cord. There is a main nerve that comes out from each vertebrae, down your shoulder, arm, and hand. There is also the possibility of injury to your Brachial Plexus, where there is a bundle of nerves that feed into your arms and hands.

Until you can get to the Orthopedist, I have found that the only thing other than Oxycontin and Prednisone that will help is ice. Ice your neck and shoulder until it's numb several times a day if possible.

 

[Grinning Geckos]

Yea, it's my arm injury from my last car accident. I've never had an injury like this before - it's constantly changing. Part of the problem is there are times where it's not really bothering me much (like now), so I forget that I REALLY have to baby it and use it...which can lead to hours of pain. I can't even carry a bowl of cereal with my left hand without it hurting. I've pretty much stopped with the pain killers because they don't do anything.

After a good night's sleep it normally doesn't feel too bad, just a little bit of a ache. By the end of the day, I'm usually in a good deal of pain..especially after work. It sucks because, so far, nothing helps it once it starts hurting. When I take strong pain meds, or muscle relaxers, they only help in the sense that they put me to sleep.

I'll have to try the ice. Thanks for the tip Marcia, hope it helps! So long as I remember to keep it to limited light use, I can get through the day OK. After yesterday, I'm not about to start doing things I know might cause problems.

 

[Grinning Geckos]

Icing it does help some ... if nothing else, it feels good. I'm planning on getting a sling in a few days (waiting for payday) to use at least while I'm at the house. I figure it'll help keep me from using it too much.

Even without doing any heavy lifting yeasterday (just moving it around), it was still quite painful by bedtime. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get to sleep.


In other news, Eric might have a new job soon. That's great for him (und us) because he HATES his current job and this new one should have much better benefits and pay. The bad thing is, we'll be losing our medical insurance for 3 months unless we pay for COBRA ... and I don't know that we'll be able to afford it. If we do lose medical, that's going to interferre with getting treatment for my arm, so I'm going to be calling a lawyer tomorrow to see what I should be doing. I've been avoiding it, but I don't think I can put it off any longer.

Oh, and I STILL haven't heard a THING about my car. No phone call, no estimate, no money, no NOTHING. This is some major BULLSHIT.

 

[Grinning Geckos]

Well, I finally have SOME money for my car. I have to wait til the title arrives to get the rest of it.

I'm officially in a sling. Just not using my arm seems to be the one (and only)way I can minimize any pain. Not having a lot of pain is great...not having 2 usable arms sucks! I hate typing with one hand.