Well, we are down to the last day of vacation and finally Judy's doctor's appointment arrived. She was home forty minutes later--setting what had to be a record for speed at our doctor's office--with a prescription for a muscle relaxant, and heavy-duty Ibuprofen. She has been referred to an ortho doctor and will need an MRI to determine exactly what is wrong with her neck/shoulder, arm/thumb. The possibilities seem to be either a torn muscle/tendon or an entrapped nerve. I vote for the nerve because of the thumb-numbness on the other hand she feels like the muscle has torn away from the bone so I guess that's why she needs an MRI. The PA also told her to wear a sling, which gave me the opportunity to say "I told you so" because, well, I told her so--several days ago. She wore it for five minutes and decided that was it.Meanwhile, the first ortho she called didn't have any appointments available until May. Ohhhh, no----that is SO not going to be how long we wait. I don't want to do all the laundry, cleaning, cooking and dishes forever! I feel so nostalgic for Illinois right now. Back Champaign we could have gotten to an ortho guy and into an MRI chamber within days. I miss Christie and Carle. It was so quick and easy and....easy. Here everything is spread out and you have to make all your appointments yourself and it's just a pain. At least the ball is finally rolling.
**UPDATE**
Judy went to see an ortho guy today. Shoulder strain is the diagnosis. HUH? She is in extreme pain--how can it be just shoulder strain? I don't know--but her doctor was in the Baltimore Magazine Best Doctor's issue so I'm inclined to think he knows what he's doing. She has been given a course of steroids and a script for therapy. The steriods should relieve the nerve irritation and pain. Recovery time is four-six weeks.
