I woke up on Friday morning, June 28 (11 days ago), to a sharp pain in my left shoulder. It was a little after 4am. When I say 'sharp' I mean excruciating. It was like someone was taking a knife and prying off my arm. When you are undergoing such torture, you can't really think rationally. I jumped out of bed, flailing my arm all around and contorting myself in every conceivable position in order to get relief.
But no relief came.
My jumping around and yelling woke Susan up and she asked good probing questions. "What if you do this? Have you tried that? Does it hurt when you..." Honestly, I wasn't very patient. Did I mention that the pain was excruciating? It was obvious that something had gone terribly wrong, but I didn't know what. All I knew was that it hurt - a lot - from my neck though my shoulder and into my arm. We talked about going to the hospital, but then I discovered that if I lay flat on the floor with no pillow and stared at the ceiling and turned my head slightly to the left and held my arm just right and didn't breathe - in that PERFECT position, the pain would subside (though it never went away).
From there, the experimentation began. I couldn't stand or sit in any position without unbearable pain. To go to the bathroom or get a drink, I had to throw my left arm over my head and run, because I had about 90 seconds before it hurt so much I just collapsed.
The pain has been constant since that Friday morning. In the past 11 days, I've seen 2 doctors, had several sessions with a physical therapist, gone in for some chiropractic manipulations, had 3 X-Rays and overdosed on ibuprofen...but I'm still in considerable pain.
The theory of what I have is consistent among the medical professionals I have seen: I have Cervical Radiculopathy. At least that's their best guess. (We'll know for sure tomorrow.) Basically, I have a disc in my neck that is either bulging or herniated or in some other way damaged and it's pressing the nerve, sending the pain all over my left arm and shoulder. I'm also losing strength in my left arm, which apparently isn't good.
Tomorrow, I get an MRI that should confirm the diagnosis and allow the doctors to present a course of action. I won't be a very patient patient. It's been a week and a half. I want this fixed yesterday!
In the meantime, I'm either highly emotional because of the percocet and vicoden OR I'm highly agitated because of the pain. In either case, I can't think clearly and I'm not worth much.
The reason I've not blogged before now is because I can't sit up for more than just a very few minutes before my neck is killing me.
For all those who have prayed for me, thank you. I'm grateful for everyone who would mention my name when you speak to the King. Keep it up.
I'll be back to 100%, full speed ahead as soon as I can. In the meantime, I'm just miserable. Thanks for thinking of me.
And thanks for praying for me and for keeping PCC awesome and healthy!
Thoughts on Life, Leadership and The Church
I see a doctor occasionally for back pain that is unrelieved by anything. He is really good and can usually help with relieving some pain. His name is Dr. Edward Isaacs. You should give him a call. He is on the west end and is actually a Neurologist - but he is amazing. Everyone in my family has seen him and he has helped them all. I'll be praying for you. Feel better soon.
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