Wednesday 30 April 2014

Adhesive capsulitis …

Well I guess I gave one too many "cold shoulders" over the years and  I'm paying for it now…


  … I have Adhesive Capsulitis or "FROZEN SHOULDER" as it is "commonly" known!  I use quotation marks  because I had never (pretty sure ever) heard of it before - but am now quickly becoming obssessed with it.  

Firstly:
 I absolutely realize that my teeny-tiny infliction pales in comparison to what others are going through; my heart aches for Debra, Alex et al and my friend Wendy is still having major head operations years (7? 8?) after her catastrophic op to remove her brain tumour, and Jane (Keogh) losing Emily and urgh!  the list goes on …
Secondly:
To stop me labouring on like the cry-baby I am - here is  the link if you want to read about it  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adhesive_capsulitis_of_shoulder

But of course everything is relative and for me who has a rather nice life, where nothing much really "goes wrong" (sadly my blogs may give a different impression), who usually (always?) gets what she wants (and I want a lot) and is relegated to milking the slightest ache for all it's worth because I am hardly ever sick - it's proving to be a tad tricky to deal with!

The Problem
My shoulder was sore, achey with limited motion and so I did what I always do when I have the slightest ache or muscle soreness - I went to the chiropractor!  But - and this maybe the crucial bit -  I'm missing adorable Ken (Dr. Ken Dick), my favourite chiropractor in the whole world and #1 on my list of "The most important people in my life" (he used to be #2   - right after Ron (Dr. R. Rushworth) who was my most favourite doctor in the whole world (& Australian b.t.w.) ahead of God (#3), and Joseph and family etc. -  but then Ron retired so Ken moved up ) … and then we moved to Adelaide… and I think my body has gone into withdrawal.  I honestly think that Ken's magical hands were responsible for my well-being.
This is how high I can lift my arm on the side...
absolutely no possibility of "maintaining" the
underarm - goodness knows what is growing
in there!

The Eyes
Now I had to find a replacement chiropractor and off I went to see BRAD. 
Brad on the left - Justin on the right.
Get the idea?


BRAD took over from Jim who, amongst other things (like coaching the Australian basketball team) treated most of my family for a million years. BRAD is young enough to be my son and, most importantly,  has the most amazing eyes I have ever seen!  Ken was pretty yummy I might add but OMG these eyes!!    So while Hallelujah! plays in the background BRAD cracked and pulled and then suggested I have a scan that required a doctor's visit for a referral .  Back to BRAD with the scan results and he suggested a visit to the physiotherapist (part of their clinic) for DRY NEEDLES!!  (huh?).  I suggested to BRAD that I was thinking of something a little more enjoyable like a massage, but he explained that DRY NEEDLES work much better/faster etc.  … of course I would do anything those eyes told me to do ...

The Needles
So off I go to see JUSTIN for some DRY NEEDLES!!.  Justin is old enough to be my youngest son - his eyes are OK but nothing like BRAD's.  I chat away while JUSTIN inserts the (100?) needles into my shoulder … no pain, nothing … until … JUSTIN "touches" one of the needles that sends shooting pains up into my head and makes me moan (scream?) in agony, and JUSTIN says that means it is "working" and so "we" leave it in a while longer.  I start doing my childbirth breathing to deal with the pain and he takes out the other 99 needles and finally the painful one is gone as well.  JUSTIN rubs my shoulder (to erase the wounds?) and it is while he is rubbing that I start to pass out … the blood draining,  the blackness, the nausea etc. but I manage to stick my head between my knees and after a few attempts at getting up and going back down, and JUSTIN looking concerned (? me or he needed the bed for his next patient?)  I drag myself out into the waiting room with people staring at me as though they had never seen anything like it before and right there and then I declared I would never, ever have DRY NEEDLES stuck into me ever again!

The Miracle
 Well, I may have felt slightly better from the needles (but I don't think so), but a week later,  on Thursday night after babysitting Jasper all day and being forced a couple of time to reach around behind me (while driving) to give him his cup etc. that the miracle happened!!  There were a few "clicks"- et voilà - my shoulder was better!!! Not 100% but a million times better than it had been.  So no more chiros, physios, doctors I declared - I had healed myself!!  I was pretty excited about all of this until 2 weeks later, just before we set off on holiday in the van,  I was doing the usual body maintenance (legs, arms etc.) and as I maintaining my left underarm - a series of clicks and excruciating pain  - et voilà - my shoulder was back and now worse than before!
The Relapse
There was no time to do anything about it and besides, I'm done with drs, chiros, physios etc. and we are off on our three-week trip in the van where one would think my arm gets to rest, but actually becomes worse because its hard to find a comfortable spot sitting all day and even the slight vibration of the driving seems to annoy it, and our tiny, hard, raised bed seems impossible to find a comfortable spot on (turns out it's not the bed's fault) and by the time we arrive back home I'm ready to see anybody who will help!  One of them, B or J I can't remember, suggests I may have FROZEN SHOULDER (while, I might add, Hallelujah is playing in the background AGAIN!!) !  Huh?  So I start Googling and am dumbfounded to read that it is relatively common in WOMEN (!!!) over 40(!!!), and that people with diabetes(!!!) and thyroid problems(!!!) have a higher risk and that sometimes (SOMETIMES!!) after one shoulder heals they get the same thing in the other shoulder!!  What!!??!!  
This is how I wash my hair




This is how high I can lift my arm in front
(on a good day)










The Diagnosis
The description on Wikipedia describes my symptoms exactly so I am able to self-diagnose my condition and armed with my new-found knowledge after extensive 
research (2 nights, most of a day) I've decided it is a virus and that I'm in either stage one or two (three is easy to diagnose because by then the pain has gone and I know I'm not there yet) so I'm RESTING it - no prodding it, no exercises, no stretching it, just resting … and a massage to help me relax .   




The Massage
I "explain" to DAVID (m.t.)  what I think the problem is, what my plans are, what I'm doing, what I am not doing etc. and then he gives me a very nice 1/2hr massage concentrating on my shoulder area (including my throat??) and I am a lot more relaxed… but before he lets me out he goes on for ages telling me that I really shouldn't stop moving it completely - that I should move  it a little bit everyday. He obviously wasn't listening properly to my "explanation" - i'm pretty sure I didn't say that!!
David - who didn't listen to my "explanation"!!
…but gave a very good massage.


Anyway - here I am doing what I do best … 


resting and relaxing… 
and I can tell you that it's pretty hard trying to rest and relax more than usual these days
 … but I'll let you know how it progresses!

2 comments:

  1. Love you Jill. No worries about comparing your worries to mine/Alex. We all have our "stuff"to deal with. Yours is just different than mine..and there are many that are worse off than me/Alex. I do have to thank you for this post. You have just "diagnosed" my latest joint problem. I will be following up with my rheumatologist and stopping the stretching I have been doing to ease my achy shoulder joints. Calling the physio today as well. Smooch! Great job Dr. Jill. BTW - I had Ron as my doctor for 25 years as well. I miss him.

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  2. Love you Jill. No worries about comparing your worries to mine/Alex. We all have our "stuff"to deal with. Yours is just different than mine..and there are many that are worse off than me/Alex. I do have to thank you for this post. You have just "diagnosed" my latest joint problem. I will be following up with my rheumatologist and stopping the stretching I have been doing to ease my achy shoulder joints. Calling the physio today as well. Smooch! Great job Dr. Jill. BTW - I had Ron as my doctor for 25 years as well. I miss him.

    ReplyDelete