Did I mention my alternative pain medication? Pizza, ice cream and beer! More on that later.
So I took a train up north to spend Christmas with the family. It was far more comfortable than sitting in a plane seat, or dealing with all that flying involves. Certainly better than driving! I could walk around. A nice young man (how am I saying that phrase????) helped me put my things in the overhead. Had a lovely time with my family. My brother told me how his neck issue was SUPER helped by a chiropractor. Alright, hmm. I felt pretty okay for most of the visit but the last day or two before I left I woke up with full-on 9 or 10 pain. What the living hell.
I got home after the new year. I discovered, wonderfully, that the new ACA option in Virginia was accepted by NO ONE. But...out of desperation I talked my (now former) primary into shooting cortisone into me one more time. I was desperate.
It took things down a few knotches. Now here's the thing about cortisone...you don't want to keep doing it. This is why I am still working on getting muscle tone back in my shoulder and arms.
So I was ready. I had never been able to think that going to a big strong guy and asking him to snap my neck, for money, would be a thing. But it was. I asked my PT if she thought I should try it. She was all about doing the things. So I went to the desk and told the office gals, who at this point were my best friends and my entire social life, that I wanted an appointment. They put me in with the most sarcastic guy in the house...because they knew me well.
Such a mental game. I came in and was evaluated. He was actually out with the flu for this part (a colleague filled in), but his assistant had so much fun with me that she refused to let the other chiro have me. My second visit was my first adjustment. I came in and told the assistant how nervous the whole thing made me....but I trusted him too. She smiled and made fun of me. I told the doc the same. He had me lay down, he felt around, looked at things. He had my whole head (which is big, kids) in his massive hands. He had turned me slowly in one direction. And he said, "Can you cross your ankles a minute?" as I did that CRACK!! He tricked me...and I loved him for it.
That was the only trick he had, so I had to do mental gymnastics for a few more adjustments to relax enough so he could do anything. It took a few weeks of going in but kids, what we figured out, is I just needed some help aligning my spine. Would that I had the courage to visit him sooner!
So very quickly my pain level was brought down to the midway point. In my neck, that is. After my second adjustment what I realized (and this was unrelated as I thought back to symptoms leading in weeks before) that I had already developed what is known as a frozen shoulder.
One injury for another! Neck pain gone, shoulder injury to take its place. This is February now. I will tell you more than you ever needed to know about frozen shoulders....in the next installment.
So I took a train up north to spend Christmas with the family. It was far more comfortable than sitting in a plane seat, or dealing with all that flying involves. Certainly better than driving! I could walk around. A nice young man (how am I saying that phrase????) helped me put my things in the overhead. Had a lovely time with my family. My brother told me how his neck issue was SUPER helped by a chiropractor. Alright, hmm. I felt pretty okay for most of the visit but the last day or two before I left I woke up with full-on 9 or 10 pain. What the living hell.
I got home after the new year. I discovered, wonderfully, that the new ACA option in Virginia was accepted by NO ONE. But...out of desperation I talked my (now former) primary into shooting cortisone into me one more time. I was desperate.
It took things down a few knotches. Now here's the thing about cortisone...you don't want to keep doing it. This is why I am still working on getting muscle tone back in my shoulder and arms.
So I was ready. I had never been able to think that going to a big strong guy and asking him to snap my neck, for money, would be a thing. But it was. I asked my PT if she thought I should try it. She was all about doing the things. So I went to the desk and told the office gals, who at this point were my best friends and my entire social life, that I wanted an appointment. They put me in with the most sarcastic guy in the house...because they knew me well.
Such a mental game. I came in and was evaluated. He was actually out with the flu for this part (a colleague filled in), but his assistant had so much fun with me that she refused to let the other chiro have me. My second visit was my first adjustment. I came in and told the assistant how nervous the whole thing made me....but I trusted him too. She smiled and made fun of me. I told the doc the same. He had me lay down, he felt around, looked at things. He had my whole head (which is big, kids) in his massive hands. He had turned me slowly in one direction. And he said, "Can you cross your ankles a minute?" as I did that CRACK!! He tricked me...and I loved him for it.
That was the only trick he had, so I had to do mental gymnastics for a few more adjustments to relax enough so he could do anything. It took a few weeks of going in but kids, what we figured out, is I just needed some help aligning my spine. Would that I had the courage to visit him sooner!
So very quickly my pain level was brought down to the midway point. In my neck, that is. After my second adjustment what I realized (and this was unrelated as I thought back to symptoms leading in weeks before) that I had already developed what is known as a frozen shoulder.
One injury for another! Neck pain gone, shoulder injury to take its place. This is February now. I will tell you more than you ever needed to know about frozen shoulders....in the next installment.
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