Up early today - shoulder pain

3:55 a.m.

My right shoulder is signaling pain. I'm awake with this, then my mind starts up. When that happens I might as well get out of bed instead of tossing and turning and waking my beautiful bride.

The only place to go without disturbing her each day is to the computer. Being a 'morning person' (some people detest us), I wake up completely functional. Well at least my mind is, not necessarily the rest of my body.

I check the news (CNN, Grand Rapids Press, local TV sites); download my email and peruse all the messages, scams and spams; check out the various blogs and sites I follow; then maybe make a few postings (like this morning).

There is so much out in cyberspace that I could spend the rest of my waking hours checking all the topics of which I have interests, and they are many!

But the reason I'm awake is because of the pain. I've developed a 'rotator cuff tear' which is extremely painful and debilitating. The drugs my physician have prescribed could bring me a fortune on the open drug market, but they reduce the pain to about 70 percent. I'm facing surgery sometime on March 10th.

This will not be the first time I'll be 'put to sleep.' I survived a Quadruple Cardiac Bypass surgery in 2001, so this should be a cakewalk. It's usually done in the office as an outpatient procedure, but with my medical history, I'll be at the hospital. I should be able to go home that same day if there are no complications (ME - No complications? Ha!).

I developed this injury due to all the snow I so brazenly welcomed. I was shoveling the stuff, when the blade hit an uneven edge of the concrete driveway. BANG. ZIP. PAIN! OUCHY!

Instant pain zipped up my arm to the right shoulder and I yelped loudly.

Did I stop shoveling . . . No. We have received almost 100 inches of snow so far this season and I had to clear the steps and porch. Just a couple of weeks later I happened to slip and fall off the steps to our sunken living room. Can you guess what arm I fell upon? YUP! I thought I had broken it, there was so much pain. But the arm could move . . painfully.

Off to the doctor's office I traipsed a bit later in the month (December). Got drugs and the usual . . . ."If the pain continues, call us." It did and I did. An MRI confirmed the worse "Significant Rotator Cuff Tear." Off to the surgeon, once I could get an appointment, "Sorry, the doctor only sees patients on Mondays and Wednesdays." It was a Wednesday when I called.

Pain went from annoying to hurting to painful to severe to generating tears. "More drugs, please." I hate putting chemicals in my body, I'll be declared a brownfield by the EPA soon.

Saw the orthopedic surgeon and he convinced me I would need to be repaired . . . with metal screws and the like. Oh, great, another reason to develop a personal relationship with the friendly folks of the TSA at the airport.

Prognosis: Two weeks at home recovering; six weeks in a sling; six months or so for pain to disappear. We'll see about that.

I am a terrible patient. I am a wimp! I whimper and whine, I'm more cranky than normal - and I am NOT normal! I am also right-handed and Irish - I talk with my hands (great - a communications barrier). How will I get my thoughts across with my right arm imprisoned and held hostage with a sling?

Additionally, I am a hyperactive personality. I've been diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). But I am happily medicated for that as well.

So I will not be able to use my right hand and arm for a period of time. Being right-handed this will be an exciting excursion into the land of left-hand useage. Fortunately, I am ambidextrous so I can use both arms and hands to function.

My life has never been less than exciting and adventuresome. Pray for my wonderful wife as she will be contending with my recovery and rehabilitation. It's not going to be a pretty sight.

Gee, I'll have more time to think about subjects to blog (rant and rave) about. I'm sure glad I bought that software that turns my dictation into words on the screen.

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