Health check

While my thyroid cancer issues seem to be under control, the rest of my body issues have not been.

I have been going to PT for my chronic right arm and shoulder pain for a little over a month now. I even went to see a Neurologist for possible nerve damage and have an appt for nerve testing next week. My right arm and shoulder have been feeling better and stronger the past couple of weeks, but I can still feel twinges of pain with certain arm movements - during pilates, picking up things or reaching for something with my right arm, lying down regardless of what side I lay on, these things still seem to irritate my right arm/shoulder. My PT says whenever he works on my T4, C4, and C5 areas, I seem to have better mobility. I was only given two exercises. Things are progressing a bit too slow for me. With my brother and nephews in town for the holiday, I decided to give it a go when I took them to Solid Rock earlier this week. I did a few routes, and I can say for sure that I am not ready to climb just yet. My PT wasn't too happy with me the next morning when I went in. Hopefully I didn't do too much damage by going climbing when I wasn't supposed to.

Last Friday (11/18), I had my appt with a Rheumatologist for my knees. First thing she says to me is 'You should not be running....you have osteoarthritis.' I know that, but why shouldn't I be running? I was confused because no one up to this point had told me not to run, at least not that I remember. Not the Rheumatologist I saw four years ago, not my PCP or her backup, not the PT for my knees. She wrote out the things I need to do: continue my PT exercises, including the ones I have to do at the gym (I've only been doing the first two I was given since my last PT session for my knees at the beginning of October), get down to my ideal body weight (like I haven't been trying, right?), stop all high impact activities (no running). If my knee pains don't improve over the next couple of months, she said we would talk about getting injections. Great. I was sent to get updated x-rays of my knees. Four years ago, my x-rays showed mild bilateral osteoarthritis, tri-compartmental in the right, patellafemoral in the left. This time, bilateral and tri-compartmental in both - the left knee got worse! So she said absolutely no running.

I just couldn't get over the 'no running' thing. I was already up to running twice a week. I had picked out a new pair of running shoes last week after run club and was looking forward to picking them up this week. WTF. I had a PT appt the afternoon after my Rheumatology appt. He told me he didn't think I had to completely stop running because the x-rays can only tell you so much. That sounded promising. I also asked my chiro about it this week. He said the same thing, but I definitely had to start out walking first and work up to it. My acupuncturist agreed with the Rheumatologist, and is concerned about trying to stop my knees from further degeneration. All I could think was that hearing 'you have osteoarthritis' was way worse than hearing 'it was cancer....we need to take out the other side.' At least my thyroid cancer can be surgically removed and managed by my replacement thyroid hormone meds and annual checkups, but OA, well, there is no cure for it.

I had jokingly mentioned to my Rheumatologist that I was probably going to see her in a few weeks for my right arm issues. So she checked it out as well. She looked at the notes for my right arm and said I went to see the Neurologist because of a droopy right shoulder. Huh? She initially said, 'rotator cuff injury', but after a few mobility tests, said it was probably tendonitis. All I could think to myself was 'great, next think it'll be arthritis again....argh!!!' My PT said he thought that my droopy right shoulder may have something to do with my arm/shoulder issues, especially since the droop is more than normal for the dominant side. Interesting.

So, my body seems to be failing me. My thyroid cancer stuff...well, I go in for my blood work pre-ENDO appt next week. Hopefully the several times I have missed my afternoon T3 dose won't completely screw up my thyroid levels.

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

There are many things I have to be thankful for. At the top of my list is my family, and then of course my health. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Rheumatologist says: NO RUNNING.

Neurology appt

The neuro doc told me that my PT thinks I may have a pinched nerve. However, he didn't see any areas of concern, but he still wanted to cover all of his bases and do the nerve/needle test before sending me off to an arm doc. So, I go back in for that at the beginning of next month.

I probably seemed like a nut-case to the neuro doc. "Does my arm feel numb or is there tingling? Numbness means you can't feel anything, so can you feel anything or not? What kind of action results in that feeling?" Huh?!? I honestly felt like I didn't know, and it did not help that the pain/soreness I was experiencing in my arm/shoulder the day before wasn't exactly the same as I had been experiencing - I had soreness along my right shoulder blade in addition to a very unhappy supraspinatus and the normal pissed off deltoid. Then came some more personal questions, like "Why is your left eye (lid) droopy?", and "How long has your right shoulder been lower than the left?" He did a full neurological exam on me, similar to what I remember seeing my dad go through after his stroke last summer. Then he messed with my right arm, a lot, so it was no surprise that my right arm and shoulder were very sore the rest of the day.

Yesterday, at my PT appt, my PT again said he gets the best results after he works on my spine (the C 4 and 5, and T4 areas, I guess). However, I have not had any trauma to my spine. So I guess that is why my arm/shoulder pain are a bit of a mystery to my PT. Was happy that he ended the session with heat instead of ice this time. Later, at run club, I was getting soreness while running. So, I don't know then if it is getting better or not because it didn't hurt last week or the week before during run club. 

Right arm update - 11/1/11

Last week was interesting. I got a call from my PCP's office that I was scheduled to see a neurologist for possible nerve damage in my right arm/shoulder. That appt is later this morning. Not sure what, if any, kind of testing will be done on my arm/shoulder area, so I am a little nervous about my appt.

Based on my PT eval the week before, I wasn't sure what was going to happen at my PT appts. I am happy to report that my PT has been a lot more pleasant in every session since the first one, and my right arm and shoulder pain seems to be improving. Whether or not they like it my Acup, Chiro, and PT are working together since I tell each of them what seems to be working in my other appts and any other pertinent info one of them may say about whatever they see is problematic with my rotator cuff muscles. My PT said I have issues with my T4 and C4 and 5. I have no idea what that means, but I try to ask about everything he is doing, what muscles he is working on, so I can get more familiar with the anatomy of my arm/shoulder. I have not been given a lot of exercises like I was for my knees. In fact I was just given my second PT exercise to do on my own, at home at my appt yesterday. Interesting.

I was having problems relaxing my right side. My PT said that was because I had prolonged pain in those muscles, so I don't really have a lot of control over them. That got me thinking that maybe that tugging feeling I am still getting along my scar is from those muscles. He said it could be possible, but was not definitive about it.

I was really bummed that I had to tell my climbing partners that I had to hold off on climbing for another couple of weeks. At least I can run, so I am trying to do that at least twice a week. I'm starting all over again, doing the jog/walk thing, trying to go a whole mile without stopping. Trying not to over do it. So far, my knees are doing fine.

So, I have this neurology appt....just hoping for the best. Everyone seems to have their own opinion as to whether or not nerve damage is an issue or not. I really hope it is not what is going on in my arm/shoulder. But I have to wonder because I seem to have "cell-phone-itis", that is I get that numb pain in my right elbow whenever I spend a lot of time on my cell phone checking emails, texting, checking Google+, etc. A couple of years ago I switched my mouse at work from my right hand to the left because my right arm was getting numb from using the mouse. Not really carpal tunnel, I don't think, but that numb feeling I was getting in my wrist feels the same as the dull/numb pain in my elbow....could that all be contributing to my right arm/shoulder pain, then refereing to my scar giving me that tugging feeling in that area?!? I wonder....