Well, I tell ya, I've fought tougher men, but I really can't remember when

[rolanni]

Physical therapy continues.  It would appear that the heart of the problem is my left shoulder, which got messed up in a car accident back in the day, when a guy in a hurry to get to a party ran a red light, broadsided my little green Maverick, and I shot cross-car, striking my head on the windshield on the passenger's side, shattering the safety glass (insert hard-headed woman joke here), and lost consciousness.

It's been quite the epic, this shoulder.  At first, I was told that I would never use my arm again.  That was a non-starter, given that I typed for a living.  So the doctor and I went 'round a couple times and he finally buckled and gave me a reference to Kernan Hospital's Sports Medicine Unit, which at that time did all the therapy for injured Colts and Orioles and other Baltimore-area wildlife, with the dire prediction that therapy was going to hurt.

Which, to be fair, it did.  The guy who was my therapist did brutal things to me, including hanging me by my neck to stretch the locked muscles.  "I will hurt you and you will hate me," he told me during our first meeting.  "But then I'll give you heat, and we'll be friends again."

And that's pretty much how it went.  I got the use of my arm back, the shoulder never really stopped hurting, but I'd been primed to expect that outcome, and with familiarity, I was able to largely ignore it and get on with things that mattered.

Except that, like many folks I've talked to, all my stress from those days to this goes to live in the most vulnerable place -- the shoulder that never really healed.

Thirty-four years of compensating takes its toll on the whole body -- that old ankle bone connected to the leg bone thing -- and this is what I've brought to the physical therapy table.

The presenting problem -- the hip pain -- has been addressed, but my body's out of true, and it feels like my left shoulder (by which I, neither a doctor or a scientist, mean the area bounded by the occipital bone and the trapezius and down to places I don't know the names of) is made of cement.  It really seems as if getting in a street drill would be a good thing, here.  Failing that, it looks like lots of work ahead to get things properly aligned, and hopefully to prevent any more new problems caused by this old problem.

So, what I'm saying here, long-windedly, and not very elegantly is -- if you have a health issue that you've been...oh, just putting up with, say, either because it's been with you so long it's familiar, or because you don't think you can afford to get it fixed -- and believe me, I know all about not being to afford to get something fixed, but?

That's one of those false economies.  Because whatever isn't right isn't only going to continue in its not-rightness, it's going to take other, perfectly healthy, bits with it into not-rightness.  And eventually, it will all have to be looked at, anyway, when it's become a large, entangled problem.

So, take care of yourselves, right?  You really are worth it.

* * *

Progress on Carousel Seas

70,044/100,000 words OR 70% complete

"It's a strong curse, Kate; it will not fail."

Comments

[calico-pye.livejournal.com]

"I will hurt you and you will hate me," he told me during our first meeting. "But then I'll give you heat, and we'll be friends again."

I love that - sorry to hear about your shoulder, though.

[muirecan.livejournal.com]

Oh so true. I'm 50 now and am already starting to pay for things I did when younger. The young never appreciate that they are trading all that physical abuse for later health issues. When young we fall down get up and feel better the next day. But down the road the toll taker collects on all those casual shrugging off we did when younger. Meh. Sorry to hear about your shoulder. At least you never threw yourself off of a 100' cliff into a river. Ok, bounced down a 100' cliff into a river.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Now there's a story that begs to be told.

[queenmaggie.livejournal.com]

Please consider looking into somatics. It is a method of ...well, 'unlocking' stressed muscles by using gentle painless movement that starts the body moving into health. I've seen people have wondrous results. Of course there are no guarantees, but there are some good you tube coaching videos that can't hurt.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

I'll look into it, thanks!

[queenmaggie.livejournal.com]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMm4ybDmbkE
This is one of the videos. It will refer you to others. hope it helps, if only to realign the parts that have been pulled out of comfort.

[leecetheartist.livejournal.com]

Ow.

[thewol.livejournal.com]

I hear you about the physical therapy. I have been fortunate in that I never had any more serious injuries than a broken kneecap (x2 surgeries) and a torn just enough to be a problem rotator cuff, both on the left side. I referred to my therapy sessions as "yodeling lessons" but after my second knee operation in five months and my shoulder surgery 15 years later, I asked to go back to the same therapist my orthopedist sent me to after my first knee surgery (thank goodness she was still practicing!). Good for you that you stood up for yourself and didn't settle for what the doctor told you. It's surprising how many people haven't figured out that those who have the best outcomes from injuries are the ones that are the most determined to have a good outcome and who never give up the fight to achieve it. I also hear you about typing for a living. Been a medical transcriptionist for 26 years and counting.

[attilathepbnun.livejournal.com]

Owwwwww, your poor shoulder ....*shudders in sympathy*
I hope it gets fixed, as much as possible, as painlessly as possible, soon .....

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

Because whatever isn't right isn't only going to continue in its not-rightness, it's going to take other, perfectly healthy, bits with it into not-rightness.

I definitely hear you on this one. I've been dealing with stomach problems for over fifteen years now, and because of it I'm missing five teeth, two more are only partly there, and I have two crowns that probably will need replaced real soon now.