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Those of you...
Sep. 28th, 2011 03:21 pm...who pay attention to such things may notice that Sarah and I have been a bit off the LJ radar for quite a bit lately.
From my point of view, it all started last Thursday. I was happily minding my own business, getting ready for work. Got out of the shower, started to dry myself, and had the most excruciating pain in my (right) shoulder. At the time, apart from the inconvenience of trying to dry myself with a slightly useless arm, I thought nothing of it - I occasionally have back and/or shoulder pain, but nothing that lasts more than a few hours or is worse than a dull throb, and if the worst comes to the worst, I can always ask Sarah to give me a bit of a massage, possibly using some Tiger Balm or Deep Heat.
However, I realised as soon as I got into the car that this was going to be a bit different. I got about a mile down the road and had to turn round at the first convenient roundabout and head for home, where I let my boss know I'd at best be late, called Sarah, took a couple of ibuprofen, applied a bit of Tiger Balm to the painful area (which is quite a feat of contortionism), and headed for bed.
When things hadn't got any better - and indeed had started to get worse - by the afternoon, with the pain spreading down my right arm and a sort of pins and needles sensation in my fingertips - I headed out for the Urgent Care Centre at our local hospital, where a nice gentleman informed me that I'd most likely trapped a nerve, and the best I could do would be to take ibuprofen and give it time.
What I soon discovered was that lying on my bed eventually became really painful, and the ideal position was sitting in a chair in the lounge, with my right arm propped up on a pillow on top of the nearby sideboard. Actually trying to do things with my useless arm - such as, for example, trying to clean or tidy my living area - led to it becoming more painful very quickly (also, accompanied by an overall sense of fatigue and out-of-breath-ness), and even walking around wasn't terribly pleasant as it felt as if I was dragging a dead weight around with me. So I've spent a large chunk of the time since Thursday in that position. On the negative side, it's been very easy to eat (although less easy to ensure I have clean things to eat off), but not very easy to clean up the mess. On the positive side, I've watched through to the latest episodes of Supernatural and Fringe (both of which involved a few episodes of catching up before watching the season premieres), Spooks, Ringers (a couple of episodes in, but it seems interesting; not sure how many episodes it can sustain, though), The Fades (seems good), and Doctor Who (the extent to which I can't wait for the next episode cannot be described in mere words), and a large chunk of season one of Battlestar Galactica.
I finally made my way into work today. However, although yesterday afternoon I was starting to think my arm was feeling better, to the extent that in the evening I was able to do a bit of tidying up in the lounge, overnight it flared up rather badly (to the extent that I didn't get much sleep), and the drive in this morning was painful. I'm probably going to try to drive home tonight, but tomorrow and Friday I'll be relying on public transport, unless things improve. (Worst case scenario will involve leaving the car at work and getting the train home. This is less than ideal, but then driving home is also less than ideal. Thank goodness for Toddington service and a can of Deep Heat spray).
To make matters worse, Sarah is at the moment having some issues with her thyroid - it's horribly overactive, leaving her thoroughly exhausted most of the time. She left work early on Monday, worked from home yesterday but was shattered throughout most of it, and today is just staying at home being knackered.
Bottom line - chez Brider is home to a couple of exhausted, drained, and very much in pain people. Hugs, prayers, and general good vibes for me and Sarah would be hugely appreciated right now.
On the bright side, Saturday sees us descend on Swanage for a week, to which we're both looking forward immensely. I hope we have enough energy to actually do things while we're there. A stroll up the cliffs to Durdle Door, and the stream train followed by an amble around Corfe Castle, would both be Nice Things To Do, even if we did do them both last time we were there. Also, we have Friends to visit in he area.
From my point of view, it all started last Thursday. I was happily minding my own business, getting ready for work. Got out of the shower, started to dry myself, and had the most excruciating pain in my (right) shoulder. At the time, apart from the inconvenience of trying to dry myself with a slightly useless arm, I thought nothing of it - I occasionally have back and/or shoulder pain, but nothing that lasts more than a few hours or is worse than a dull throb, and if the worst comes to the worst, I can always ask Sarah to give me a bit of a massage, possibly using some Tiger Balm or Deep Heat.
However, I realised as soon as I got into the car that this was going to be a bit different. I got about a mile down the road and had to turn round at the first convenient roundabout and head for home, where I let my boss know I'd at best be late, called Sarah, took a couple of ibuprofen, applied a bit of Tiger Balm to the painful area (which is quite a feat of contortionism), and headed for bed.
When things hadn't got any better - and indeed had started to get worse - by the afternoon, with the pain spreading down my right arm and a sort of pins and needles sensation in my fingertips - I headed out for the Urgent Care Centre at our local hospital, where a nice gentleman informed me that I'd most likely trapped a nerve, and the best I could do would be to take ibuprofen and give it time.
What I soon discovered was that lying on my bed eventually became really painful, and the ideal position was sitting in a chair in the lounge, with my right arm propped up on a pillow on top of the nearby sideboard. Actually trying to do things with my useless arm - such as, for example, trying to clean or tidy my living area - led to it becoming more painful very quickly (also, accompanied by an overall sense of fatigue and out-of-breath-ness), and even walking around wasn't terribly pleasant as it felt as if I was dragging a dead weight around with me. So I've spent a large chunk of the time since Thursday in that position. On the negative side, it's been very easy to eat (although less easy to ensure I have clean things to eat off), but not very easy to clean up the mess. On the positive side, I've watched through to the latest episodes of Supernatural and Fringe (both of which involved a few episodes of catching up before watching the season premieres), Spooks, Ringers (a couple of episodes in, but it seems interesting; not sure how many episodes it can sustain, though), The Fades (seems good), and Doctor Who (the extent to which I can't wait for the next episode cannot be described in mere words), and a large chunk of season one of Battlestar Galactica.
I finally made my way into work today. However, although yesterday afternoon I was starting to think my arm was feeling better, to the extent that in the evening I was able to do a bit of tidying up in the lounge, overnight it flared up rather badly (to the extent that I didn't get much sleep), and the drive in this morning was painful. I'm probably going to try to drive home tonight, but tomorrow and Friday I'll be relying on public transport, unless things improve. (Worst case scenario will involve leaving the car at work and getting the train home. This is less than ideal, but then driving home is also less than ideal. Thank goodness for Toddington service and a can of Deep Heat spray).
To make matters worse, Sarah is at the moment having some issues with her thyroid - it's horribly overactive, leaving her thoroughly exhausted most of the time. She left work early on Monday, worked from home yesterday but was shattered throughout most of it, and today is just staying at home being knackered.
Bottom line - chez Brider is home to a couple of exhausted, drained, and very much in pain people. Hugs, prayers, and general good vibes for me and Sarah would be hugely appreciated right now.
On the bright side, Saturday sees us descend on Swanage for a week, to which we're both looking forward immensely. I hope we have enough energy to actually do things while we're there. A stroll up the cliffs to Durdle Door, and the stream train followed by an amble around Corfe Castle, would both be Nice Things To Do, even if we did do them both last time we were there. Also, we have Friends to visit in he area.