Monday, August 13, 2012

Whoa Nellie that is a big needle (thank god I didn't see it)

So I have had this pain in my arm for - well ever since I started swimming.  I have had it diagnosed by many many people, but I have feared about going in to get it "official" diagnosed for fear that it was some major trauma. 

First off, I should always trust our resident nurse.  I haven't known her to be wrong yet, but she always does it with - I can't be totally sure - .  But when I told her my symptoms she immediately said it sounded like Bursitis, but she couldn't be sure. 

But Bursitis it is, and I got my first cortisone shot.  I am terrified of needles, and I have learned not to look when they inject me or take my blood.  So I guess that it was pretty lucky that I didn't look as TH said that it was like a foot long (the needle that is).

But even with the anesthetic I still felt something go into my arm, and I did feel very weak, dizzy and nauseous afterwards.  I thought for a moment that I was going to just pass out.  Horrible - horrible feeling.  Just typing this I am keening towards the side. 

But the three options she gave me was - 1.  quit swimming for a couple of months 2.  try fixing it with an anti-inflammatory drug (which she said would be like putting a teaspoon of water on a raging fire) or the cortisone shot.  It is a no brainer - but as I am sitting here writing this now my other arm is hurting.  Yikes!!!!

I was planning on swimming after the meeting, but she said not to swim today, so I was like - oh I wasn't even thinking about it.  I wonder why I lied?  Hmm, now that is a strange phenomena.

Well tax returns call...

1 comment:

  1. When the nurse put a "local" on your arm & then took out the "freeze spray/painkiller", I knew something was up.

    When the nurse pulled out a needle about 5.5" long (the NEEDLE part was 5.5" long & THICK - the whole aparatus was almost a foot long (I am NOT kidding), I thought WHOA I hope Tanya doesn't turn & look at it.

    When the nurse stuck it in T3's arm AND it went in except for the last l/4 to l/2", I was stunned! Later I thought it made sense since she needed to get through the arm & into the bursa sac without hitting any bone/etc, but I was still stunned.

    When the nurse pulled out the needed & T3 said "are you done?", I knew we had one heck of a good nurse. Wow, thanks - if she'd been like the one that broke a needle drawing blood on me, it would be a disaster.

    Thank goodness that the options so far are non-surgical since a torn rotator cuff is a long recovery period. We'll know in a couple of days (a week tops) whether the shot will do the trick.

    Sounds like T3 should do a swimming test run of another 400! I'm betting she goes under 7 minutes.

    I've never seen a needle that long or thick used on a person - I saw cow/horse needles that were a bit bigger, but not on a person.

    When T3 said she felt a bit dizzy, I was not at all surprised - I just wished I had a drink.

    It's the evening of "The Big Stick", and T3 said the pain is OK, so that's a good start. I just poured myself a bourbon, so that's a good way to end.

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