Shoulder update and weird dreams
Jul. 10th, 2006 10:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fenchurchWell, I finally got in to see the orthopedic surgeon today about the shoulder I didn't break (after having to delay a week due to that stomach illness in Utah), and it was a really good experience. I finally got some x-rays done of that shoulder, and he said that the joint actually looks pretty good (though, of course, he can't really compare it with the other shoulder as a reference, for obvious reasons).
He did an excellent job of explaining what he thought was going on with the shoulder -- he even had a fully articulated model of a shoulder joint that he used to show me the various things that could be causing the problems I'm having. Then he outlined (with a flowchart!!) how he thought it would be best to proceed from this point.
The upshot of it all is that I need to give it more time. :-p He said that seven months really isn't as long as it feels... but that it was still good that I got in to see him, since that shoulder had never been properly diagnosed and it seems to be at a plateau with the treatment. So, I keep up with the therapy and if it's still giving me trouble in a few months, then I'm supposed to contact his office and he'll have an order for an MRI in my file, so I can just go and have it done, then come back to see him for the followup. He really was excellent, though... he took the time to talk to me and to really hear what the problem was and work with the joint to figure out what was up. He sent me for x-rays just down the hall, then met back with me in the exam room a few minutes later to go over them with me. I was VERY impressed.
His theory, at the moment, is that either I sprained the AC joint or that I've got some scarring in the bursa (aka bursitis). Both of these should continue to respond the therapy I've been getting and should hopefully clear up. If not, there are a few things we can do that don't entail surgery, and a few surgical procedures that aren't very invasive that might also help, so I'm pretty optimistic about the whole thing. Just a bit bummed that it's going to take even LONGER than I'd thought to be fully healed from the accident.
I'm not usually one to post about my dreams... but lately, I've been having some very odd ones (even for me!)
The first happened when I was down in Utah, but before I got sick. It was a mystery adventure type dream, with a bit of comedy thrown in. I usually dream in plots, so that's not the odd part... no, the strange bit was that the entire dream appeared to be 3D-rendered computer animation a la Pixar. And the thing I remember most about it? Was the comic relief... a little kid with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other (once again, all in CGI), except that the devil kept getting more and more infuriated and frustrated because the angel was doing his job for him... encouraging the kid to do things he really shouldn't be (e.g. "You know, it might be kinda fun to put the cat in the bathtub!"). I'm not entirely sure where that came from.
And dream number two was last night. I was a superhero with a secret identity... nobody knew who I was (and, typical in these dreams, I wasn't myself... but more like being in an interactive movie, living the part of someone else). The supervillains in the city had decided that the best way to get rid of the superheroes was for all of them to concentrate on one at a time and knock us off, one by one... and they were gunning for me. I kept getting more and more injured, and every time I used my super abilities, it sapped more of my energy and I had to take time and effort to regenerate, something I wasn't able to do because the attacks were becoming relentless.
I also had to hide the fact that I was getting fairly badly injured from everyone I knew, including my roommate (who was, oddly, being played by my old friend Space Bumby (from the old BBS days)). We lived in an older, but still fairly large, apartment in the city (it was a red brick building, as they often are in superhero stories). There was also a sub-plot dealing with some kittens we'd found, and she kept complaining that I needed to do more with them or they'd grow up wild.
It was the sort of dream where I woke in the morning feeling like I'd gotten absolutely no sleep... just completely exhausted from all the stuff I'd done in the dream. Both of them were entertaining and a bit different, though, which is always fun. I'm not really looking for meaning in either of them, because they do seem to be my pretty standard plot-driven storyline sort of dreams. Just a bit odd in their constructions this time.
He did an excellent job of explaining what he thought was going on with the shoulder -- he even had a fully articulated model of a shoulder joint that he used to show me the various things that could be causing the problems I'm having. Then he outlined (with a flowchart!!) how he thought it would be best to proceed from this point.
The upshot of it all is that I need to give it more time. :-p He said that seven months really isn't as long as it feels... but that it was still good that I got in to see him, since that shoulder had never been properly diagnosed and it seems to be at a plateau with the treatment. So, I keep up with the therapy and if it's still giving me trouble in a few months, then I'm supposed to contact his office and he'll have an order for an MRI in my file, so I can just go and have it done, then come back to see him for the followup. He really was excellent, though... he took the time to talk to me and to really hear what the problem was and work with the joint to figure out what was up. He sent me for x-rays just down the hall, then met back with me in the exam room a few minutes later to go over them with me. I was VERY impressed.
His theory, at the moment, is that either I sprained the AC joint or that I've got some scarring in the bursa (aka bursitis). Both of these should continue to respond the therapy I've been getting and should hopefully clear up. If not, there are a few things we can do that don't entail surgery, and a few surgical procedures that aren't very invasive that might also help, so I'm pretty optimistic about the whole thing. Just a bit bummed that it's going to take even LONGER than I'd thought to be fully healed from the accident.
I'm not usually one to post about my dreams... but lately, I've been having some very odd ones (even for me!)
The first happened when I was down in Utah, but before I got sick. It was a mystery adventure type dream, with a bit of comedy thrown in. I usually dream in plots, so that's not the odd part... no, the strange bit was that the entire dream appeared to be 3D-rendered computer animation a la Pixar. And the thing I remember most about it? Was the comic relief... a little kid with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other (once again, all in CGI), except that the devil kept getting more and more infuriated and frustrated because the angel was doing his job for him... encouraging the kid to do things he really shouldn't be (e.g. "You know, it might be kinda fun to put the cat in the bathtub!"). I'm not entirely sure where that came from.
And dream number two was last night. I was a superhero with a secret identity... nobody knew who I was (and, typical in these dreams, I wasn't myself... but more like being in an interactive movie, living the part of someone else). The supervillains in the city had decided that the best way to get rid of the superheroes was for all of them to concentrate on one at a time and knock us off, one by one... and they were gunning for me. I kept getting more and more injured, and every time I used my super abilities, it sapped more of my energy and I had to take time and effort to regenerate, something I wasn't able to do because the attacks were becoming relentless.
I also had to hide the fact that I was getting fairly badly injured from everyone I knew, including my roommate (who was, oddly, being played by my old friend Space Bumby (from the old BBS days)). We lived in an older, but still fairly large, apartment in the city (it was a red brick building, as they often are in superhero stories). There was also a sub-plot dealing with some kittens we'd found, and she kept complaining that I needed to do more with them or they'd grow up wild.
It was the sort of dream where I woke in the morning feeling like I'd gotten absolutely no sleep... just completely exhausted from all the stuff I'd done in the dream. Both of them were entertaining and a bit different, though, which is always fun. I'm not really looking for meaning in either of them, because they do seem to be my pretty standard plot-driven storyline sort of dreams. Just a bit odd in their constructions this time.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-07-11 08:02 pm (UTC)