Back travails, part ?

The short version: After truly excruciating pain last weekend, a course of steroids and pain killers has started to get things under control this weekend. Iā€™m hoping that in another week or so and Iā€™ll be ok again. The long version: Two weeks ago I was recovering from surgery really well. One day I told my wife at the end of the day that I hadnā€™t thought about my neck or back at all and hadnā€™t taken a pain killer in three days. All the various aches and pains had pretty much dissipated. Then two days later something happened. And last Thursday something else happened. The pain was in all the same places I had it before surgeryā€”under my right arm, in my right shoulder blade and shoulder, shooting down by triceps, at my elbow and in my hand. But qualitatively it was very different. Instead of occasional burning, shootingā€¦ Continue reading

Good to Have a Plan

Spent most of the day seeking medical care for my back / neck / arm issue. No solutions yet but we are making progress. Last week my sports med doc suggested I should consult my orthopedic surgeon. And then after a really difficult episode on our trip, when I had excruciating pain and couldnā€™t even straighten out enough to get into bed, I called him. He suggested some short term meds and said I should come in. Yesterday my symptoms got worseā€”the hand weakness I had last year returned. Iā€™m having trouble open doors, picking stuff up and, worst of all, playing my trumpet. Today I saw him and he did some tests that revealed the weakness. He said I should have an immediate MRI of my spine. The MRI didnā€™t show anything likely to be causing the nerve pain and muscle spasms in my back, or the shooting orā€¦ Continue reading