As you may have noticed Dear Readers, if
any of you are still out there, I’ve not written much since rotator cuff
surgery in September. Seems as my shoulder has improved, my right arm has
continued to hurt worse. Eventually I had an MRI of my neck. The good news is twofold.
First, the MRI and my symptoms are consistent: extensive
spinal arthritis is causing the pain. (Anyone who knows me knows I like to be
consistent.) Second, I have way too much arthritis in my spine to think about
having surgery.
I know--that sounds a little crazy to
count as good news. But such is life as one gets older.
They are referring me to a pain clinic to
try to deal with the arm pain. I think
that means they’re going to suggest injections in my spine like I had some
years ago before I had a previous spinal surgery. I just don’t want the
injection that includes the fungus cocktail. As one gets older the humor gets
darker. Or maybe my humor has always been dark.
The bottom line is I can’t type much
without making my symptoms worse. I’m working on dictating instead of typing. But
a lot of this is posture related to sitting in front of a computer, not just
the use of my hands. So we’ll see how well my life as a “dictator” works out.
