Friday, September 23, 2005
Stress
I want to start be saying that having problems like mine are good problems to have. I keep telling myself, just as a reminder that it isn't that bad. However, the feelings some of these events conjure up are nasty and gut wrenching (such as the purchasing the lot). This is the problem with stress, it can be caused when good things happen too.
Some good things that have happened in the last month:
1. Purchased the property that I'm going to build my home on;
2. My son's birthday;
3. My anniversary;
4. My birthday;
5. My wife's birthday
6. My father's recovery from surgery; and
7. My son taking his first steps.
Some not-so-good things that have happened to me in last month:
1. My father's heart surgery;
2. The contractor nickel and diming us on the property on the day of closing;
3. Poison ivy;
4. Prednisolone;
5. Three of my team of 10 have left;
6. Two more leaving next week;
7. Increased demand on all of my employees, which means increased demand on their supervisor; and
8. Blueprints that are in production and scheduled to be done at the end of this month.
There are more but I would rather not bore you. As you can see, even the no-so-good things are that bad. I have stress from my job, but I have a job (pay is great, benefits are great, etc.). So I know I shouldn't complain.
I wrote that post last Friday.
To add injury (literally) to insult, I offer the following.
On Monday, I was working out and decided that I was going to max out on bench press. I warmed up. Started with 135lbs., then 225 lbs. and then 275 lbs. It was just going up too easy. I wanted to hit 315lbs. So I called Renee down to spot me. I lowered the bar (even as I lowered it I thought, "no problem") and as I pushed... this wonderful "skrunch" sound comes from my shoulder. Renee says, "Are you going to lift this?" I tell her I can't and that I think I hurt my shoulder pretty bad. She says, "well, I can't lift this off of you." So I push through it and she pulls. My shoulder feels weird and, as I move it, I feel little stuff moving around in there. I can't lift my arm over my head without extreme pain. Bad sign!
I go to the Doctor on Tuesday. He says that it could be a labrum tear and that I have anterior subluxation (dislocation) of the humeral head. He lifts my arm (don't worry it didn't hurt... only when I lift my arm is when it hurts) and moves it back into place. When he lowers it, the shoulder moves back out. Bad sign! He orders an MRI.
I have an MRI of my shoulder the next day (Wednesday). It was a pretty interesting experience. The sound of the MRI was soothing and I would almost fall asleep. After an hour and half, they were done. (FYI: If you are claustrophobic... you will freak out in one of these machines... but to me it was very relaxing.)
Yesterday, I received the results from my Doctor. They are as follows:
Great. Just f'ing great.
However, the good news is that it isn't a labrum tear.
Monday, I see an orthopedic surgeon to find out what we need to do.
Some good things that have happened in the last month:
1. Purchased the property that I'm going to build my home on;
2. My son's birthday;
3. My anniversary;
4. My birthday;
5. My wife's birthday
6. My father's recovery from surgery; and
7. My son taking his first steps.
Some not-so-good things that have happened to me in last month:
1. My father's heart surgery;
2. The contractor nickel and diming us on the property on the day of closing;
3. Poison ivy;
4. Prednisolone;
5. Three of my team of 10 have left;
6. Two more leaving next week;
7. Increased demand on all of my employees, which means increased demand on their supervisor; and
8. Blueprints that are in production and scheduled to be done at the end of this month.
There are more but I would rather not bore you. As you can see, even the no-so-good things are that bad. I have stress from my job, but I have a job (pay is great, benefits are great, etc.). So I know I shouldn't complain.
I wrote that post last Friday.
To add injury (literally) to insult, I offer the following.
On Monday, I was working out and decided that I was going to max out on bench press. I warmed up. Started with 135lbs., then 225 lbs. and then 275 lbs. It was just going up too easy. I wanted to hit 315lbs. So I called Renee down to spot me. I lowered the bar (even as I lowered it I thought, "no problem") and as I pushed... this wonderful "skrunch" sound comes from my shoulder. Renee says, "Are you going to lift this?" I tell her I can't and that I think I hurt my shoulder pretty bad. She says, "well, I can't lift this off of you." So I push through it and she pulls. My shoulder feels weird and, as I move it, I feel little stuff moving around in there. I can't lift my arm over my head without extreme pain. Bad sign!
I go to the Doctor on Tuesday. He says that it could be a labrum tear and that I have anterior subluxation (dislocation) of the humeral head. He lifts my arm (don't worry it didn't hurt... only when I lift my arm is when it hurts) and moves it back into place. When he lowers it, the shoulder moves back out. Bad sign! He orders an MRI.
I have an MRI of my shoulder the next day (Wednesday). It was a pretty interesting experience. The sound of the MRI was soothing and I would almost fall asleep. After an hour and half, they were done. (FYI: If you are claustrophobic... you will freak out in one of these machines... but to me it was very relaxing.)
Yesterday, I received the results from my Doctor. They are as follows:
"There is a large full-thickness tear of the supraspinatus tendon."
Great. Just f'ing great.
However, the good news is that it isn't a labrum tear.
Monday, I see an orthopedic surgeon to find out what we need to do.
# Proud Daddy Posting @ 7:45 AM 
Comments:
<< Home
How strange that this happened just as I am studying this stuff! I am sure you were told all of this, but in light of my upcoming exam tomorrow, I will rattle off a few of the basics that I would tell a patient w/ this type of injury:
Rotator cuff injuries = torn supraspinatus! A muscle that sits on top the shoulder joint and helps to lift things above the head. There are four muscles contributing to the "rotator cuff": supraspinatus, teres minor, infraspinatus, and subscapularis. These muscles all have tendons connnected to them, and the tendonous part is what attaches the muscle to the bone. In your case, you have torn the tendon of the supraspinatus muscle.
These muscles collectively work to stabilize the shoulder joint and keep the head of the humerus (bone) in the glenoid cavity where it is placed to allow for rotation and other movements --not lifting a 315 lb mass w/o a spot! Actually, damage from repetitive movements over the course of a lifetime likely contributed to the "wear-and-tear" that ultimately led to a "full-thickness" tear of this tendon.
There is a fluid-filled sac called a subacromial (or subdeltoid) bursa that sits above the supraspinatus tendon that can leak synovial fluid and contribute to the pain in abduction (or moving the arm away from/up the body)--> bursitis (inflammation of the bursa). This you need to watch out for -- they can do a test called and Athrogram to see if there is any problem with the bursa leaking fluid.
The stuff about the labrum (aka lips of the cartilage forming the cup inside the shoulder cavity) just means that you had no nerve damage -- inside the humeral cavity where the upper arm bone (humerus) inserts, there is a nerve (called the axillary nerve) that could be harmed if the glenoid labrum (cartilage inside the cavity) was damaged. That's good news because as you know, nerves cannot regenerate. But, man, the nerve of you to lift w/o a spotter!
Hope it heals well and you keep it immobilized as much as possible. If you have to have surgery, try Dr. Stephen Vierling -- he's the reason I am here, and he probably has no idea that his contact w/ me as a child in 2nd grade had such an influence. I'm sure he does not even remember me or the arm I fractured when I was 8 years old... Good luck Andy!
Rotator cuff injuries = torn supraspinatus! A muscle that sits on top the shoulder joint and helps to lift things above the head. There are four muscles contributing to the "rotator cuff": supraspinatus, teres minor, infraspinatus, and subscapularis. These muscles all have tendons connnected to them, and the tendonous part is what attaches the muscle to the bone. In your case, you have torn the tendon of the supraspinatus muscle.
These muscles collectively work to stabilize the shoulder joint and keep the head of the humerus (bone) in the glenoid cavity where it is placed to allow for rotation and other movements --not lifting a 315 lb mass w/o a spot! Actually, damage from repetitive movements over the course of a lifetime likely contributed to the "wear-and-tear" that ultimately led to a "full-thickness" tear of this tendon.
There is a fluid-filled sac called a subacromial (or subdeltoid) bursa that sits above the supraspinatus tendon that can leak synovial fluid and contribute to the pain in abduction (or moving the arm away from/up the body)--> bursitis (inflammation of the bursa). This you need to watch out for -- they can do a test called and Athrogram to see if there is any problem with the bursa leaking fluid.
The stuff about the labrum (aka lips of the cartilage forming the cup inside the shoulder cavity) just means that you had no nerve damage -- inside the humeral cavity where the upper arm bone (humerus) inserts, there is a nerve (called the axillary nerve) that could be harmed if the glenoid labrum (cartilage inside the cavity) was damaged. That's good news because as you know, nerves cannot regenerate. But, man, the nerve of you to lift w/o a spotter!
Hope it heals well and you keep it immobilized as much as possible. If you have to have surgery, try Dr. Stephen Vierling -- he's the reason I am here, and he probably has no idea that his contact w/ me as a child in 2nd grade had such an influence. I'm sure he does not even remember me or the arm I fractured when I was 8 years old... Good luck Andy!
Did they give you some good pain killers? If so, can I have some? Please. No really, they caught me going to different doctors so now I am having trouble. I'll pay big time.
LOL
Honestly, I hope all is getting better and that the surgeon has good news for you.
LOL
Honestly, I hope all is getting better and that the surgeon has good news for you.
Andy: I dislocated my shoulder once (by running, don't ask) and it was just horrible. I hope the repair isn't too horrible. I'm glad you are still able to think about the good things in your life. I hope the orthopedist is kind and competent and can explain things coherently. If not, we can always ask the Australian Docs (Pope Benedict the XVI or Bronze John) for their completely-over-the-Internet-and-thus-None-Too-Reliable-Medical-Opinions.
glad to see you updated, I've missed ya! Sorry about the arm though, how long will it take to heal?
Give Dane a tickle for me!
Give Dane a tickle for me!
john-Honest... I had a spot! Renee was there!
vegasgustan-The doctor did ask me if I wanted pain pills and I said no. Damn... I should have said yes. I could be rolling in the money. Thanks for the good words.
foilwoman-Um, you have to blog about dislocating your arm while running. You have to!!! You can't just start something like that and not give a reason why. I'll post about the orthopedic doctor's explanation tonight.
kira-Thanks. I'm trying. Sleeping sucks when you can't sleep on your side.
paige-I'll post tonight about everything I found out today. Thanks for checking up o me. I'll tickle Dane for you (but with my left hand).
Post a Comment
vegasgustan-The doctor did ask me if I wanted pain pills and I said no. Damn... I should have said yes. I could be rolling in the money. Thanks for the good words.
foilwoman-Um, you have to blog about dislocating your arm while running. You have to!!! You can't just start something like that and not give a reason why. I'll post about the orthopedic doctor's explanation tonight.
kira-Thanks. I'm trying. Sleeping sucks when you can't sleep on your side.
paige-I'll post tonight about everything I found out today. Thanks for checking up o me. I'll tickle Dane for you (but with my left hand).
<< Home
