Does It All Start With A Common Cold?

Last year, right after Thanksgiving, I got a really bad cold. I didn't suffer long before I visited my doctor who prescribed an antibiotic. Then I got worse. And a new antibiotic. Then Christmas arrived and I wasn't any better. In fact I was even worse. During Christmas week when I'd normally be in seventh heaven because our family was together, I was sick. And went to the doctor again. I think my kidneys were failing or something because the doctor said that the antibiotic that I was on could affect the kidneys.

I don't remember getting completely well after Christmas but in the very early Spring I went ahead with the shoulder surgery that seemed necessary at the time. And oh my, what did I do? It was so much worse than I thought it would be and I thought I'd never regain the mobility that I'd enjoyed or the small pain that I thought needed correcting. After months of physical therapy and then home physical therapy, I've seen steady but slow improvement.

Then I was diagnosed with skin cancer on my nose - not the deadly kind but any kind on the tip of your nose is a challenge. We started with a chemo cream the effects of which are terrible, then a biopsy, more chemo cream, excision of the tumor, a lingering unattractive bump, more chemo cream this coming January and then possibly another surgery to address the bump.

Healthwise it's been a difficult and challenging year. I've exacerbated the problem by gaining 30 pounds and feeling completely unmotivated to do anything about it.

And it all started with a cold after Thanksgiving last year.

Now things are looking up for me. I'm walking about a mile and a third a few times a week - it's not much but I really believe that staying active is the key and I'm increasing the time and effort I expend by just a little every week.

I'm hopeful that I've completed a year-long bad health cycle of some kind and that the coming year and hopefully all those to follow will be better.

But after Thanksgiving this year....... Mr. Right got a cold and a cough that seems to go on and on. He thinks it's a little better and he's somewhat reassured because he got a pneumonia shot last Fall so that's good.

But now he's got a really bad toothache.

Oh no. Does it all start with a common cold?

Am I Getting Allergic to Medical Interventions?

I'm starting to re-think my whole belief system and rock solid faith in modern medicine.

Back when I was a child, people didn't visit the doctor as readily as they do now and our family was even less likely than most to turn to professional help for routine illnesses. The main reasons for this were twofold. One, doctor visits were expensive and, two, my parents were very self reliant and resourceful.

Sure when, someone broke a bone (my little brother - twice), we saw the doctor. When my sister suffered a bad burn on her leg, she was taken in for professional help. And I remember going to the dentist for a painfully infected tooth - maybe twice.

When I became an adult, I tended to be the opposite. When my kids were sick, my first thought was to take them to the doctor and my children's pediatrician was always the miracle worker I believed he would be.

I felt the same way where my own health was concerned and until recently, that's worked well for me.

Then in December, I became ill, was under treatment from my doctor, and, as a result, pretty much spent the entire Christmas season sick. I wrote about it here.

After that illness finally passed, I had an MRI on my shoulder because of chronic pain in my arm. It never seemed logical to me that a pain that felt like it was in my arm muscle was because of a rotator cuff problem but the MRI revealed what appeared to be a small tear and it seemed logical to have it repaired. I mentioned that surgery in this post.

Asa result of that surgery, I've struggled all summer with the niggling suspicion that I had unnecessary surgery because 1) my arm still hurt, 2) I'd lost quite a bit of mobility despite physical therapy and ongoing exercise therapy, and 3) I'm constantly troubled by shoulder pain that doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Friday I had a routine check-up with my General Practitioner. We mutually agreed that a flu shot and a pneumonia shot would be in order. Although I questioned the safety of having flu shots too close together since it didn't seem that long since I'd had one, my doctor assured me that now was the time to get one.

About 3 hours later I started to feel ill. By late evening, I was wracked with chills, fever, and extraordinary muscle pain. And that's pretty much how I spent the weekend. I even greeted Monday morning with some lingering low grade fever and accompanying moderate chills and muscle aches.

I won't elaborate too much on my red, swollen, painful arm from just below my shoulder to my elbow. But it was 'over the top'.

So, I'm thinking of RE-thinking my penchant for running to the doc at the drop of a hat. From now on, I think I'll give it just a little more thought.

True Confessions Tuesday

This is the continuation of my really getting back on track. The beginning was when I joined the Sisterhood's latest challenge Spring in2 Action.

When I joined that challenge I also joined the push-up challenge. I knew that was a bit of a stretch for me because I'd been having some pain in my left arm and shoulder for almost a year and I was finally going to physical therapy for it which I knew might end in surgery. But I went ahead and joined for two reasons:

1. I had to either check that I was buff enough and didn't need it, or that I wanted to look better for summer. That was really no choice at all.

2. And, despite the pain I'd been experiencing, it didn't seem to get worse when I did push ups so I saw no reason to not continue

Now, of course, I've dropped out of the push up challenge and I'm struggling to hold on in the weight loss challenge. The day after my surgery my weight was up 9 pounds. Wait! Was I looped out on pain medication? Could that be right? It was. Fluid retention was a side effect to my anesthesia. It's been coming down slowly but surely ever since but, ouch I'm still not back to where I was before Wednesday's surgery and tomorrow is another weigh in.

So there you have it - all of my excuses. Here are my confessions.

I have not been counting my points. I haven't gone crazy eating terrible things but I haven't been very conscientious either.

I have not embraced the #mbm on Twitter although I know I should. There have been times when I've made those good choices and writing them down would be therapeutic and help keep me on track.

And I haven't been drinking the water that I know is so vital right now.

So right here and now - I vow to turn those last three things around.

Point Counting
#mbm when appropriate
Water water water

And next week, I hope to be back to my dedicated, motivated self.

One Of Those Weeks

What a week it was. We've all had them. Weeks when your head swims with all the twists and turns of events. Weeks when you wonder what could possibly happen next. And especially weeks that need to end because you can't possibly process anything else.

Of course the week wasn't all bad. It started with Firstborn Army son returning home from Iraq. That was all sweetness and good moods and relief. Shortly after his return, we got news that he'd taken possession of the car he'd shopped for when he was still in Iraq and which had all the things he wanted in a car. We were all thrilled because ever since the untimely demise of his previous car when he was deployed, we'd looked forward to him getting a well-deserved replacement.

Then, on Wednesday morning, I had shoulder surgery. This was expected but it turns out that I wasn't as well-prepared as I must have thought I was. Somehow I just didn't expect to be so debilitated.

Our granddaughter's uncle had surgery too at the University of Chicago hospital. His was a quadruple bypass and his recovery has been much more in question than mine. In fact he had to return to surgery two days later because his lung was disconnected and now they've started to ease him out of a medically induced coma.

We found out Thursday that one of our granddaughter's ex boyfriends had died of a drug overdose. This wasn't just an ex boyfriend though. He and my granddaughter were almost inseparable for over three years. He had begun to feel like part of the family. He had a million dollar smile, loved playing with Amber's many younger cousins, and had many sweet and endearing qualities. Sadly but not surprisingly it was his penchant for drugs that eventually broke them up.

Then our granddaughter's husband left for Mississippi for three weeks or so for a temporary work assignment. The last time he did this, she and their kids went along but this time there was no housing available so she stayed behind. So many of this week's events directly affected her that we're hopeful that she'll spend the time that he's away with us.

I'm hoping she'll arrive today sometime after my first physical therapy appointment and after the furnace guy leaves. There was a different outfit here Saturday to check it out and I was napping when he left but woke up when I heard his departing words to Mr. Right, "Sorry 'bout the bad news"! It was amazing that anyone truly sorry could sound so jovial but I guess it's all in the perspective.

I'm finding that I can type with both hands and that I can lift my left one up to keyboard level which is a huge improvement. Maybe I'll recover after all. Time, and my appointment today, should tell I guess.

All I know is that with the weather changing, I'm itching to get outside and tend to the yard and the flower beds and the koi ponds.

But most of all, I need Amber to come to town as soon as possible because I don't need an intact shoulder to tend to her. And right now I think she needs a shoulder to lean on even if it's all bandaged up and in a sling.

Doctor Visit

I went to the doctor yesterday, a doctor who specializes in hand, upper extremity, and microvascular surgery. I wrote about another doctor visit before and it wasn't good so it seems only right that I should discuss yesterday's experience.

I've had trouble with my left shoulder and arm for many months. I'm not even sure when I injured it but I'm pretty sure of how I injured it. There was this Wii fitness challenge where you had to lie flat on the floor and stand up using only one hand and do it 5 times in some short period of time. I couldn't do it. But I did. And I knew I'd hurt something when I did it.

Of course, I always think time will heal injuries of this type so I did nothing until I saw my regular doctor last Fall on another matter. At that time I mentioned that my arm (and shoulder) had been giving me trouble for some time. He gave me a cortisone injection and after the initial soreness it felt great - for about a month. Then it flared up again.

Finally, during the follow-up for my Christmas season illness, I mentioned it again and told him I just wanted to rule out anything really dire like bone cancer so he sent me for an MRI. The MRI showed some rotator cuff or tendon damage - not severe but damage just the same. So he sent me to Dr. Anderson at the Bone and Joint Institute in Valparaiso.

What kind of woman am I? When I called to make the appointment, I was asked which Dr. Anderson I wanted to see - the husband or the wife - both with the same specialty. Every instinct in my body said that I wanted to see the husband. Why? I don't know. I guess it's old school thinking. Somehow it felt like a man would be more appropriate for bone and joint problems - or something - I don't know. Anyway, Dr. Anderson, the wife, was the first available (a bad sign? or just a victim of people with archaic thinking like myself?) so I felt compelled, reluctantly, to choose her.

My appointment was less than a week away and I received a ream of papers in the mail to fill out along with instructions on every single little item that I needed to take with me. Ugh.

But, as I filled out those papers, I began to appreciate the logic of it all. Everything that I needed - medical history, prescriptions with their strengths and dosages, and insurance names and numbers - was right here at my fingertips. Further, I had time to get the pictures from the MRI so that I could take them in too.

I walked in for my appointment and felt like the most organized person in the world. The ream of papers also had an appointment card and an address along with driving instructions so I was there in plenty of time too.

I sat down with a really good magazine and enjoyed a cappuccino from the machine in the waiting room. Then I had x-rays and a visit with a nurse. That visit was followed by a visit with the Physician's Assistant which was followed by a visit with the Doctor herself. I liked her. I liked the whole experience - except for the painful injection in my shoulder where I personally don't think it should have been. (Apparently a rotator cuff injury can hurt down into your arm where I'm experiencing the most pain. We'll see how this plays out.)

Anyway, I was so impressed with the facility that I opted to have the prescribed physical therapy there, too. It's a bit of a drive; however it is near Beth's house so that mitigates the extra gas expense, right? (Fair warning, Beth)

I go back in about six weeks so we'll see what happens.

(The doctor did say it could be treated with easy outpatient arthroscopic surgery and I couldn't help but wish they would just do that because it's hard for me to believe that torn tissue will repair itself with physical therapy but here I am making judgments again. Supposedly I'll develop some muscles that will take the strain off the damaged tissue. But, do I really want to go around with damaged tissue for the rest of my life? Won't the problem come back when I quit doing the bothersome physical therapy?)

See I really am like my Dad. He never agreed with doctors either. The only difference is that I don't argue. I just wait and see.

And, like I said. We'll see in about six weeks.