fenchurch | I had a needle jabbed into my shoulder joint today...

I went back in to see the orthopedic surgeon today to go over my MRI results.

The good news? No signs of bursitis, no signs at all of even the early stages of arthritis, no tears in the rotator cuff.

The bad news? See above. No signs of anything. And yet, there's obviously a problem. I'm actually rather grateful that it's not just a matter of the rather nebulous "lingering pain" -- you can HEAR the joint popping when I move the arm around. It's pretty hard to ignore.

So, the next step is to try to narrow down where, exactly, the source of the problem might be... and to do that, the OS injected cortisone into the joint between the clavicle and scapula. And can I just say OWWWWW. Even with the numbing he did first, it still hurt. I can't imagine what it would have been like without the local anesthetic. If this turns out to be the problem, then it's a matter of having some damage in the cartilage in the joint... which is the sort of thing that won't necessarily turn up in an MRI.

If it doesn't have any effect, then we move on to the tendon that runs through the middle of the shoulder joint. Not looking forward to that. Also not looking forward to the surgery involved if either of those turns out to be the problem (at which point, you better believe I'll be getting a second opinion).

I must say that I do like my OS. He actually takes time with his patients and makes a real effort to explain what he's doing and what he thinks may be going on (completely with visual aids). I really appreciate that.

So, now my shoulder has a sort of dull ache... not sure if it's from being jabbed or from being moved all over the place in the exam.

In much better news,

tomte and

gidgiddoni moved back to the area this last weekend!!! Huzzah! More specifically, they've been staying with us over the weekend until the moving company dropped off their stuff at their new place today (and possibly staying for another night, since the new place is now filled to the brim with boxes). I would have been even happier if they'd found a place to rent closer to our house... but they managed to luck into a great house, just down the road from where Gid will be working. Even better, they're not too far from Uwajimaya, so I can use them as my spies to watch for the arrival of fresh passionfruit!

Oh yeah, and I hate, hate, hate that we're the last time zone in the US to get Heroes.

*Stares impatiently at the clock*