Image by Laura Ketteman

Image by Laura Ketteman

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Day 80. Ouch!

In my last entry, I mentioned "injury" causing my blogging to get behind.  Here's the short and sweet version:

Over the weekend, I woke through the night with a horrible pain shooting through my right arm.  I tried to wait it out through the weekend, and the pain only worsened.  I went to the doctor on Monday, and he diagnosed me with rotator cuff tendonitis.  I was prescribed pain medication and a heavy duty anti inflammatory, with instructions to come back in for possible physical therapy if I wasn't better within a week.

There... that was short and sweet enough, right?  Now, here's the real life deal.  It's very DIFFICULT to be a stay at home mom/wife without the use of my right arm!!!!  I would imagine this would be difficult for any role, however, this is the role I'm in, so it's where I identify.  It became very clear to me, very quickly, just how many motions my body makes, that somehow connect to my arm!

It also became very apparent very quickly that I was going to need HELP!  My sweet, little family has been absolutely awesome.  My boys have pitched in on house chores.  My husband gets the job of helping me do things like get dressed and more importantly... listens to me WHINE, WHINE, **SNIFFLE**, WHINE, WHINE!  I'm not exaggerating when I tell you this is probably the most pain I can remember ever feeling.  There are two other times in my life that might compare... those, and maybe childbirth, but at least those had good endings (and epidurals!).

The funny thing, is this: I have no idea how I did it!  I am hardly an athletic person.  I did some online research, and this is a very common injury, however it happens for folks who play sports.  My doctor asked if I'd been doing any work with my arms up over my head.  Ummm, no.  I read in one place, that it can be anything that causes overuse of the shoulder... They gave examples like mopping, or even overextending your arm backwards to reach from the front seat of your car to the back (which, of course, I do all of the time... Hello!  I have 3 kids!).  And I have a horrible habit of sleeping with my arms up, whether they be to lay my head on, or tucked up under my pillow.  I would occasionally wake up sore, and my husband warned me no good could come from sleeping that way.  Could that possibly be the cause of the ordeal I'm suffering now?  I have no clue.  It's all very odd.  Even sitting at this computer, trying to type, is quite the chore.  Isn't that ridiculous?  This is the longest I've been able to handle being on it at one time, since Friday!  Well, enough of my drama.
The end to this story remains to be seen.  Today I'm doing a bit better.  I can sit without feeling the pain throb through my arm, which is definitely improvement!  Hopefully, as the week progresses, my recovery will as well!  In the meantime, I am cherishing sweet moments like I captured this evening... which is a photograph of my ten year old, peeling potatoes for our dinner.  That is a beautiful sight to behold!


No comments:

Post a Comment

My photo
ilLaurastrations Photography began in Spring of 2009.