Thursday 8 September 2011

It’s been confirmed!

I’m sorry friends….but I’m going to have a bit of a whinge!!! I guess I’ve been in denial for a while, but I cannot delude myself any more!!

OK..I know you’re now thinking ‘What the heck is she talking about?’ so I will explain!

Back in the days before I blogged, there was a period of time when I lived with pain on a day to day basis. It started at Easter 2007 with sharp pains in my neck & right shoulder & so began months of blood tests, physiotherapy, X-rays, Ultrasound Scans, an MRI scan…I even had my right ear syringed at one point…just to eliminate the chance of any blockage in that area!!!

The pain was centred in my shoulder joint but radiated out into my neck, jaw & down into my chest & bicep! I was referred by my GP to one consultant after another, was given steroid injections & FINALLY someone gave my condition a name…a Frozen Shoulder!!  By Easter 2008 I was signed off work, was sleeping upright on the sofa every night…& believe me, sleep deprivation is the worst!!…& relying on Morphine patches for my pain relief, such as it was!!

I was finally given a date for surgery in November 2009 & after 20 months of constant pain it could not come soon enough!  Although I have some amazing friends who stepped into the breach to taxi me around & one who even collected my clean washing every week & returned it the next day ironed, it was the most debilitating thing I have ever lived through!

Once the surgery was done I had more physiotherapy to do & as I failed to wean myself off the Morphine patches correctly, even had a phase of going‘cold turkey’. Then my hair started to fall out as a result of the long term Morphine…so you see, not the best time of my life!!!

This brings me to the denial bit…for a few months now I’ve had a niggly ache in my left shoulder & I’d convinced myself it was just Arthritic pain (the MRI scan I had showed Arthritis in both shoulders).

BUT in the last month I’ve had horrible pain when I stretch in the morning (something I do without thinking!!), or putting on a jacket…unfastening a bra is murder!!  So I took myself off to my GP yesterday & she has confirmed it IS the dreaded ‘Frozen Shoulder’ all over again!! So I start with a Steroid injection next Wednesday & a course of physio as soon as they can fit me in!  She has already requested an MRI date & we’re off!!  At the moment Ibuprofen is hitting the spot & I just hope it can all be sorted before I need to resort to the patches again!

On the bright side…I don’t need all those investigative procedures & hopefully, knowing what it is will mean it can be dealt with relatively quickly (well as quickly as anything can in the NHS!!) & as it’s my left side (I’m right handed) it shouldn’t be as restrictive as it was last time!

So, thanks for letting me get that off my chest!!  Sorry this post is totally photo free (I know you hate that Karen!!) but I’ll be back with another photo heavy (& whinge free!) post very soon!

Thanks for stopping by!  Come back soon x

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you think we are getting old,with all our ailments?We're a right pair now.You can't get your jacket on/off,I can't get my knickers on !!Someone should just shot us now,and get it over with.
Karen x

scrappyjacky said...

So sorry to hear this,Sandi...do hope they can sort it out a lot quicker this time!

Ladkyis said...

I had that in my 40s! I was on a list to have surgery and I slipped on the ice and fell on my shoulder. Once the bruising had subsided the pain was gone! My GP didn't believe it for ages. OH, OH I am not suggesting you throw yourself onto the floor on your bad shoulder even if it does sound like a good idea when the pain is really bad!
Gentle healing thoughts on their way to you.

Sian said...

Oh, Sandi! I'm really sorry to hear about this. Gosh, every has a story to tell behind life on their blog, don't they?

I really hope you get a bit of relief very very soon. keep us posted!

Beverly said...

Sandi, so sorry you are having to go through this again but so glad you/they caught it early. I had never heard of this until my sister had it a few years ago. My brother in law had to brush her hair and fix it every morning for her. She didn't have to do morphine but a year of PT 3x a week which she greatly looked forward to.