Tomorrow we hit the road and head back to Lexington for my three (and a half) month follow up appointment with Dr K.
Hopefully he will have lots to say and will be able to shed some light on the ongoing pain and limited movement I am having; the repeated "yowouch!" of scar tissue breaking up; and I'm hoping he will be able to tell me that, even if I'm feeling frustrated and annoyed, I am actually making good progress and not falling behind.
Unfortunately, I'm a little bit worried it's not going to be that simple, and he might have more to say, and I might get tortured (well, this is pre-planned, so torture will happen, but hopefully it will be gentle exercises and no crazy machines!) ... but I'm keeping my fingers crossed until the appointment anyway. Positive thoughts!!
The last few weeks have honestly been really hard. My Lyme infection has 'reactivated' and this basically means my body was weak after surgery and so all the Lyme spirochetes come out to play. I get lots of old symptoms, mainly zero energy, fatigue, weakness, and lots of aches and pains, especially headaches and migraines. Having been here before and knowing what to do about it does have its advantage, so I am on extra antibiotics, extra herbal anti-microbials and have new antibiotics to start next week too. They are working. Unfortunately they make me feel worse before I feel better, so that's how I know they are working. The antimicrobials and antibiotics work together to try to get the spirochetes in their active form where the abx can kill them. Killing off so much bacteria means the body then has to eliminate all the toxins the dead bacteria produce, so you get a bit of a toxic overload. I take some other supplements that help with this, so it helps to reduce the negative effects. At least I can address it quickly and aggressively - I know it makes me feel worse before I feel better, but it worked before, so hopefully it will work again.
This does make it harder for me to focus on my shoulder. I know I have to, it is my priority, but feeling like sleeping all the time makes physio even harder!! I am making some improvements with my shoulder. I do have more movement and I am managing to do little things - I wore a pair of jeans the other day because I managed to fasten the button! I took some photos with my camera and I didn't have to hold the camera upside down so I could press the button with my left hand!
In terms of physio, I'm not really making big steps forward. Things feels like they are calming down and I get better and so I get a bit more movement - and then I get the scar tissue breaking apart and it gets really really painful and sensitive again, then it calms down, then it repeats the cycle. In the long run it is a good thing that the scar tissue is breaking up, so I'm just focusing on that!
And just to put it all into perspective I came across this anonymous quote:
"Don't worry about life, you're not going to survive it anyway!"
Hopefully I'll survive a good bit longer than this though....!!
Thanks for your posts. I had been dealing with a scapular issue for 7 years after a traumatic event and someone referred me to Kibler. I had my surgery last week. You were there the day after my surgery I believe.
ReplyDeleteThis is my third surgery and I hope he last. I had to drive there fro 10 hours with three kids ages 6 and under. Our experience mirrors yours a lot. Just found it and thanks for posting.
Hi Clay,
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting. I hope that you are doing as well as can be expected at the moment and that your surgery was a success. I cannot imagine how awful it must be to have had scapular problems for that long, a year has been torture enough for me.
I searched the internet for other people who had the surgery too to try to get info, but I couldn't find anything. I'd really be interested to hear about your surgery and how your recovery goes.
Good luck!
Thanks for the note. I am slow on typing as I am still in the sling and trying to used voice dictation software to do most of the "typing" resulting in some typos here and there. Willing to engage by email? Little easier for me to type and share info/ I understand if not. If so, I am at clayton.rhoades@gmail.com.
ReplyDeleteIt's ok, I know the feeling! I got really good at one-handed typing, it was the 10 minute an hour limit that was impossible. I am just heading out to physio, but I will drop you an email with my email address. Cheers.
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