I hate going to the doctors. They seldom bring me good news because I am not the type who sees a doctor for regular checkups. Therefore, a doctor visit for me often indicates that something must be wrong with me already.
Four plus months after the onset of my shoulder trouble, I finally dragged myself to see an ortho doctor and actually returned for a follow-up visit a week later for my shoulder pain (main complaint in my previous blog entry). I came close to boxing the good doctor for doing some really painful tests for my rotator cuff. Now I know that these are called supraspinatus test, Neer’s test, and drop arm test among others. Actually going through those tests gave more meaning to those medical terms that I have been hearing in the doctors’ dictations.
My second visit was more unpleasant than the first one. I was on an NSAID pill and an antiinflammatory cream for a week and the meds have barely kicked in. On my return visit, I was referred by Dr. #1 to Dr. #2 who did the same set of tests all over again. Dang! He fell a few seconds short of my kick response. I thought that the worst was over, but then I found myself dazedly saying “Yes” to physical therapy referral on the same day. It didn’t sound bad, really–ultrasound, electrical stimulation, hot packs and then some exercises. Boy, was I wrong!
I tolerated ultrasound, the TENS unit, and the hot pack quite well. And then the manipulation and the forced exercises happened. I was forced to move my arm in all directions, just 10 counts each. But it was like a trip to hell! I never thought that 10 counts of raising the arm overhead could make me want to scream, scratch and kick the hapless PT who was assigned to me. The bad news is that I also have to do those exercises at home. Of course, I can’t scream at, scratch and kick myself, so I just gritted my teeth and carried on with the home program. No pain, no gain. The thought of possibly needing steroid injections straight into the tendons or shoulder surgery this early is enough to send me into a compliant mode.
Thus far, I have survived session 1 of PT and two days of home program. I am supposed to have at about 6-8 sessions of PT and then further PT programs depending on my progress. I am not too happy, but I guess I don’t have much choice.
Wish me luck!
