Home in The States With A Bum Shoulder
March 21, 2012 by rtwsenior
This is a one-armed entry…..left-handed typing, at that. After all my backpack-hauling all over the world, I have dislocated my right shoulder and am now awaiting surgery for a new socket. I was taking care of my 12 and 13-year-old grandchildren while my daughter and her husband got a short cross-country-skiing trip in. Suddenly, at 3:15 a.m., I woke with a sharp pain in my right shoulder and thinking about early signs of a stroke, I woke the kids, researched the symptoms on the computer and called 911. Neighbors saw the flashing lights, collected the children and got them to school while I went off in the ambulance.
I am used to stellar health. In fact, I had air tickets to fly back to Florida and get right to work on laying patio pavers and spreading new driveway shells at my house with the help of a friend who owes me some labor. What could this odd shoulder pain be?
After a few minutes in the ER and two X-Rays made by a couple of Ipad-sized films, i was diagnosed with tendonitis and sent home in a taxi with a little pain meds and advice to see an orthopedic surgeon. My daughter and son-in-law hurried home and by the time I saw the doctor late in the afternoon, my shoulder was very painful.
That doctor said that my shoulder was dislocated and that the ER should have set the bone early in the morning. Now, it would have to be set under anesthetic and surely will fall back out because it had hung badly for so many hours. It was back to the emergency room to get it fixed and I’m now sporting a big arm brace until they can schedule surgery for a shoulder-joint replacement. At least, I’m in the bosom of my family while all this is happening. I could have been somewhere deep in South America!
I still don’t know what caused it to happen in the first place. And I wasn’t kicking and screaming with pain as many grown men do. Maybe that’s why they downplayed the diagnosis? Now I’m learning that we have to jump through hoops to qualify for Medicare.
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