Friday, February 19, 2010

FYI, Fellow Babies

To begin with, here's some necessary but probably not too interesting information for y'all:

For the past week, I've been experiencing various types of pain in my left arm and shoulder, along with some numbness on the edge of my left hand, from my little finger to slightly beyond my wrist. This has made blogging a real chore, not to mention a pain in the... arm.

And for those who say "Uh-oh, left arm? That's a heart attack warning!"... calm down. please. Someone with my medical history is well aware of that, and these weren't "those kinds" of pain.

Besides, it's been over a week. I would have had the freakin' heart attack by now.

At first, I was thinking carpal tunnel syndrome, or perhaps a pinched nerve, or even thoracic outlet syndrome (and you can thank the internet search I did for the inclusion of that third one). And since my medical degree is non-existent, I did the sensible thing for a change, and made an appointment with my doctor.

He decided I have three different things going on, as follows:

1. Rotator cuff tendonitis... or tendinitis, depending on your preferred spelling. (I prefer "tendonitis," cuz thar ain't no sech thang as a "tendin." But that's just me.) That means that my recent replacement of my computer chair was causing me to look down too much, causing an unnatural bend of my neck. I have since corrected that problem.

2. Ulnar neuritis. This problem with my ulnar nerve, colloquially known as the "funny bone," is causing the numbness I mentioned. Also, it causes occasional, intense pain all along my arm. Try to think of Derek Jeter hitting your so-called "funny bone" with a baseball bat.

3. My doctor added that my trapezius muscles are "tight." I think this means that I can give up hopes of someday running away from home and joining the circus.

What this means for you, fellow babies -- and Lord knows, I feel like such an effin' wimp for even mentioning all of this after yesterday's post! -- is that there will be a lot less blogging from Ye Olde Silver Fox while these ailments are correcting themselves. Unlike internet porn addicts, I'm not really good at typing with one hand, y'see...

I'm signed up to contribute to tomorrow's Sepia Saturday entries, and I should manage that entry well enough, but after that... I dunno. And I'm still struggling -- typing-wise, not creatively -- with my share of the "duties" on the Simpson/Lynch Studios: Pleasantview site.

Oh, crap. The arm's acting up again, and I'm just getting to the lighter side of this post. See how I sacrifice for my loyal readers?

(Pay me.)

In my life, I have been flattered by being the occasional inspiration for others to write things -- usually poems -- expressly with me in mind. The last time such was done publicly was when "Dreamhaven" of the Tangled Webs blog posted a poem which was about me, although not specifically labelled as such.

Well, Thursday night, I received yet another compliment when Betsy of My Five Men fame sent the following acrostic to me:

Decades of comic books he has collected.
Articles, poems, and tales he has written. A
Very nice rock-n-roll voice...
In fact, you'd bet your bottom
Dollar it was

Meatloaf!

Loves Rom's Pizza. Not as icy as
You may think...'cause when he's
Not ranting or
Cracking a joke, you may get a glimpse of his big, soft
Heart!

To say I was impressed would be putting it mildly. Betsy certainly did her research, too, and I know where she got some of that lesser-known stuff. That'll teach me to be late with the hush money I send Skip Simpson each month so he'll keep his big flappin' mouth shut!

Due to her acrostic's construction, it wouldn't fit comfortably in my sidebar on the left -- the effect would be lost, pretty much -- so I've opted instead to place it at the top of the stuff I place immediately after the post or posts you see when you view this page... if that makes any sense. Scroll down, and you'll see what I mean.

Thanks, Betsy!

Now I'm going to post this and go medicate myself.

Thanks for your time.

14 comments:

  1. hope you feel better silver. fun acrostic from betsy...so cool.

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  2. They say things come in threes - let's hope things GO AWAY in threes, too, so you feel better soon! :)

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  3. Yeah, I have some minor problems with the left arm, too; at the moment my left index finger is partially, semi-permanently numb. And every once in a while the whole thing acts up and I get burning, shooting pains down the arm, pain in the shoulder, and the thumb and the web between the thumb and index finger go numb and tingly as well. It seems my C5 and C6 cervical vertebrae are slightly out of line. It's not out of line enough to warrant surgery, and the pain isn't chronic, only occasional (the last flare-up was last May). So I've learned to live with it. But if the day should ever come when I have enough money to have health insurance again, I'm gonna go to a chiropractor and see if s/he can move them back into place.

    The body is such a traitor, isn't it?

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  4. I absolute order you to take care of yourself. I'm also having problems with my new monitor. It's too low and I'm looking down a lot. (I have a monitor stand on order as I type.) You and Skip make this blog-world-thingy a lot more pleasurable for me than it would be without you. So from one who is having her own problems ... to one she admires.... TAKE CARE and come back soon = or as often as you can.

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  5. Oh lordy. I ABSOLUTELY. ABSOLUTELY. I must be brain dead this morning.

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  6. @Brian & Jinksy: Thanks for your good wishes.

    @Roy: On my more depressed days, I often wonder if I agree with Maurice Chevalier's quote about how growing old still beats the alternative. Not a very cheerful outlook, I'll admit, but sometimes, it's all I have.

    @AngelMay: Brain dead? You? Not bloody likely.

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  7. Betsy? Got her info from ME??? Now would I DO such a thing???

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  8. Oh do hope you're back on top form soon. Very best wishes for a full recovery flying over the pond from me to you.

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  9. It's the blogging! I have the same problem. Kev has to massage my right shoulder blade every night.
    That's why I can't get around to everyone I want to visit. The pain sets in and, I have to quit.

    Kat

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  10. Betsy did a great job! Hope you are feeling better soon. If you were closer, I could so fix that problem unless it is coming from discal involvement.

    I assume doctor gave you stretches?

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  11. Well, I love the special spot on your blog for my acrostic! It doesn't flow well on my sidebar, either...guess I made the phrases too long! ha. Thanks for posting about it...especially after a long post and in pain! Makes the email all the more special, too! ;)

    Yes, you most certainly were slow with the hush money to Skip! Just thank me occasionally for not posting everything I was told! haha.

    Now...yes, take care of yourself!

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  12. I hope you can find out exactly what is causing the pain, so you can get some help in fixing it. Take it easy : )

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  13. You are obviously suffering from Acrostic Construction Syndrome. There is no quick cure I'm afraid, just plenty of REST

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  14. Thanks for all your "get well" wishes, folks!

    And Ronda, I'm sorry you don't live closer to here. My doctor's just changed from one clinic to another, and since he's in an interim office, he couldn't give me any of the usual advisory paperwork. All he could do was give me the URL of a website, and in this condition, I can't spend the time looking around for whatever I need.

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