Doctors

Thursday:

I took Aiden to the doctor yesterday for his persistent barking cough and he prescribed antibiotics and sent us across the road for a chest x-ray, which they did straight away. We went back to the doctor today for the results, all clear which is great. Also the cough seems a bit better. So Aiden has to keep taking the antibiotics (a thick sludgy liquid which he doesn't like much!) and it should clear up soon.

I also went to my doctor today, she is very pleased with my weight loss progress, nearly 4 kg in 3 weeks, and prescribed me another month of Duromine.

Jasmine's school did a colour run today, she came home covered in a rainbow of chalk or whatever they use. She loved it. But can't get the colour out from under her fingernails.

It's the day before Easter long weekend. I did the grocery shopping this morning and it was as busy as I've ever seen it. I had to park some distance away, and the meat shelves were nearly empty although they were refilling them as fast as they could. I managed to get everything I needed. We're having family over as usual.

We had planned to go to the Royal Easter Show this year (farm animals, rides, sideshows, displays of best fruitcake etc) but I'm not sure if we will with Aiden and I still not in peak form. It runs until Tuesday I think but we already have plans for some days. See how we're feeling over the next couple of days. The special bus almost goes past our front door, but it would be a tiring day.

Bad news on the shoulder

Thursday:

I had my x-ray and ultrasound this morning on my left shoulder. I don't have the official results yet, but I talked to the woman doing the ultrasound quite a bit. She said I had no bursitis (inflammation) and therefore didn't need a cortisone injection. In fact she couldn't see anything unusual going on. Just the tear that I did more than four years ago that we already knew about.

I got some clarification on that. And it turns out that tears don't heal. Once your tendon tears off your bone, it does not repair itself.

If I was ever told that before, I forgot or blocked it out. I even went back and read my blog posts around that time and couldn't find any indication that I knew it, although it is not explicit either way. But I'm sure I was always expecting it to heal eventually.

So it was a bit of a blow.

The advice of the ultrasound lady (and my doctor on Tuesday) is that I go to physiotherapy and do regular mobility exercises, as I did when I first had the tear, because I need to encourage the muscles around my shoulder to take over the jobs the tendon was doing. It will give me more mobility, although not help with pain (I think).

It is certainly much better than when I originally injured it, I was in a lot of pain then and could hardly lift my arm. A year and a half after that, 14 June 2012, my blog mentions satisfaction that I could now get my arm far enough behind my back that I could just touch the small of my back with my thumb. That is where I still am now. So it healed a bit or the muscles took over or whatever, and I had an injection in Feb 2011 to deal with inflammation and pain, but then it got to that point and no further.

I am finding it difficult news to cope with. I've had so much pain and stiffness and therapy in both my shoulders now (the right shoulder was occupational overuse, I had to leave work because of it and still can't do full-time work 15 years later). Maybe I have some basic weakness in that part of my body.

I did turn to food for comfort. I know that is a very bad habit of mine.

Our power was turned off in the afternoon for some planned maintenance. No heat, no computer or TV, no kettle for tea! As I was feeling pretty miserable, I snuggled down in bed for a hour for a "woe is me" session.

I'll be ok. Just sad today.