"mild arthritic changes" indeed

My L shoulder has been Bothering Me A Lot for some time. It Just Damn
It Hurts when I put it in certain positions, or when I put pressure or
tension on it at certain angles. I can't do the canonical full-torso
stretch (arms up and out) any more, because it hurts so damn bad. I
have to sleep on my back or belly now: the pressure on the L shoulder
causes nauseating, unbearable pain, and something in the vicinity of
my diaphragm -- perhaps a hiatal hernia -- hurts enough when I lie on
my R side. I've never been able to fall asleep on my back, and anyway
lying on my back aggravates my restless legs.

I saw the GP about the shoulder maybe an year ago, and his response
was to get a flat film and a radiologist's opinion; that opinion was
that the film showed "mild arthritic changes" in that shoulder, and
the pain was a result of those "changes".

It has worsened pretty steadily since then, to the point that when it
hurts, It Really Really hurts. My pain threshold is quite high, and
the pain is sufficient to make me puke.

So I went to see the GP again today, and I think I got his attention
when I told him the pain is enough to make me puke. He's a good doc,
and quite sensitive to his patients concerns. Looks like I get to
experience an MRI, something which hitherto has been foreign to me,
and I'm on Lortab for the pain. I expect we'll find that it's a bone
spur or something equally narsty, and that I'll get to enjoy yet one
more arthroscopic surgery, with the usual anesthesia-induced stupidity
and residual dullness. That's fine, as I'm hoping to get another job
in manglement.

This excursion into pessimism is brought to you by the letters A, g,
i, n, and g. It beats the alternative, which has happened to all too
many of my friends, family, neighbors, and cow-orkers.

--
Part of the MicroSloth Experience is having your Winblows machine cracked
and some zombieware planted in the middle of all that code, like a wasp's
egg in a drugged spider carcass, so that you can Retry, ReBoot, and
Reinstall.
.

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