Ouch

Humans tend to really abuse their bodies. Perhaps not intentionally, but just by the work we do or the lives we live.

I'm finding the older I get the more aches and pains seems to be part of my daily life.  It's getting damn annoying.

More annoying is the pain in my left shoulder that, nearly every night, wakes me.  The pain is similar to what I remember feeling on the right side a few years ago.

One of my nephews tells me I'm practically a doctor, so I'll diagnose this myself...  Rotator Cuff Tear.

That's when the tendon that attaches at the top of the shoulder and help guide the arm in one of its many miraculous motions, gets torn. It causes pain with and/or a loss of motion.

Yeah, I'm experiencing both.  <sigh>

I think I screwed it up one night lifting a rather heavy patient into the back of the ambulance.

I'm seeing the orthopedic surgeon today where he'll order x-rays and do a physical exam that will hurt like a bee-atch. My hope is that he'll decide to skip the obligatory (and often useless) physical therapy that the insurance companies prefer to spend money on first.

It's my hope that he'll move right onto any MRI for a complete diagnosis and we can get surgery scheduled so I can get on with my life.

I've been done this road before: Arm in a sling for month, then weeks of physical therapy. Three to five pound lifting limits for months.

The right arm was done in mid-February.  I was worried I wouldn't be able to go camping by Memorial Day.  I went back to the ambulance in October.

It's a long haul, but if I need surgery, let's get going!

I just realize the blog will need to be typed one-handed for a while. :-(

I'll keep you posted.