Christopher McKitterick

Just got back from my last physical therapy session at OrthoKansas for the shoulder (for this phase of therapy, anyhow). I've met my physical therapist's goals. Woohoo! From here on out, I continue therapy on my own unless I run into snags.

Strangely, it's not discouraging that the injured shoulder is only about half as strong as the other one, because that means it's capable of doing stuff half as well as my dominant side - and about a billion times better than it was just a few weeks ago. So even though I'm only lifting a little 3-pound weight in the "I-T-Y" pattern 30 times each, a little 8-pound weight for the other lifts, and doing what she called "girl push-ups" (her words), it means that I can do those things. In another two months, I can resume pull-ups, even go rock-climbing again. Right now, I should be able to do everything else I did before... as long as it doesn't hurt.

Soon, I shall be back to normal, except for the weird feeling about how it moves differently than it used to and that little step in the shoulder. But I'm getting used to it. So: VICTORY!

Did I mention woohoo!
Chris

Got over the PigDeath with alacrity, reading several novels during my convalescence.

Today's physical therapy was pretty intense, but the amazing part is that it didn't hurt - sure I got sore, but no sharp pain. Friday might be my last day I go there, which means moving up to working out at home. Woohoo!

Had a great time at Greaserama - and almost have my photo-gallery website for that done. The only displeasure was soreness in the shoulder and neck from having to hold my arm funny.

Getting back in front of class is wonderful as always.

After class tonight I'm going home to eat, beat from three hours of class, and would've showed up late, anyhow, from not being able to end class early (making up for a missed class due to the aforementioned PigDeath). to see this show tonight at the Granada Theater: ( Read more... )

Now I'm off to class. See ya!

Best,
Chris

...and I'm still sore. Good news: My flexibility and range-of-motion is already improved. Bad news: Three more weeks of this. Ugh.

But, hey, improvement!

Chris

Went to the doctor today to get a checkup about my shoulder. The first fun aspect was that his office, FirstMed in Lawrence, doesn't accept vehicular insurance. Prior to going there, I had asked my scoot insurance person how I should handle medical stuff, and she said that I should give them the Progressive card and they'd deal with what was covered and then we'd figure out later who pays for what. Well, apparently FirstMed didn't get the memo. They haven't accepted vehicular insurance for three years, because "it's too much of a pain to deal with." Um, so it's better to make your patents deal with it, eh? Nice service. Why do they even have a billing department if they're too lazy to deal with bills? I love Dr. Burt, but I'm not sure I love him enough to stay with this joynt.

Anyway. Doctor Burt has me remove my shirt and says, "Wow, that's quite a bump you have there." Hmph. Then he asks, "Has it been getting better or worse?"

I tell him that the pain has declined from I'm being stabbed to death through the top of my shoulder! to a mild It aches all the time and has bright-white twinges when I do something wrong.

He sends me to take an x-ray, which the tech shows me as it pops out of the developer (yup, they still use film at FirstMed). "That doesn't look good," he says. No kidding. Check this out:
( click for x-ray image )

After a while, Doc takes a look at the image and comes to chat with me wearing a bit of a frown. "I want to take another picture of you holding a milk-jug and see if the Acromioclavicular dislocation becomes greater." I laugh. He's serious. He wants to know if the other little tendons holding the clavicle down are snapped off or not, thus letting my collarbone float upward.

So I go back to x-ray and see a pair of - I'm serious - milk jugs filled with water sitting on the table by the machine. The tech looks real nervous. "I'm not sure about this," he says. "How about I give it to you a little bit at a time and we see if you can hold it?"

As it turns out, I can hold 8 pounds in my bad arm (also my good one - they take a pic of each to compare), but it hurts like hell, and my shoulder remains sore for many hours later. Oddly, this weighted x-ray shows the joint closed up more than the previous one, a sign that the tendon isn't completely separated - perhaps good news. Here's that photo:( another photo )

I go back to wait for the doctor. It's now been 3 hours since the appointment started, and I'm pretty sore from sitting in a chair without arms, not to mention having just hung a bunch of weight from a hurtin' arm. Doc comes in kinda smiling. "I don't think you'll need to go under the knife. Unless that bump bothers you."

"Will it always be out of place like this?"

"Yeah, you'll pretty much always have a bump there. Does that bother you?"

"What can I do to get the joint to go back to where it belongs? Physical therapy? What can we do to fix it?"

"Well, you can have surgery, but only if the bump bothers you."

"It hurts when I move my arm up - I can feel the bones rub with them being out of place."

He grimaces at that. "Maybe we should send you to the orthopedist."

So I have an appointment next Tuesday. In the mean time, there's nothing I can do to try to get the thing back into place; I even asked him if I could push it down to try to help: "Well, if you could press 50 pounds down on it all the time." He chuckles.

The problem is, the tendon is all stretched-out - if it's even attached at all anymore. It makes me sick to think this is a permanent injury from one idiot's moment of inattention while driving. Because she was in too much of a hurry to wait for a scooter to ride past her. What if I'd been a newbie scooterist? I'd have driven right into the side of her car and over the top when she stopped in the middle of my lane.

Dammit. Not in a good mood. Taking a Lortab and going to bed.

Best,
Chris

Hi folks -

Cabin fever is starting to get the best of me at last. Can't drive my two-wheelers, can't even drive my Crossfire (stick-shift). Walking any distance is painful. Argh. And to top it off, even my new wireless internet isn't reliable, so I'm feeling trapped, sore, bored, unproductive, and lonely.

Physical updates: The shoulder is improving, in that I can now move it (with my other arm) without wincing when doing so. The knee road-rash is mostly staying not-infected, as is the elbow. Both areas show impressive bruises, and the shoulder injury has a freakish swelling right at the A.C. joint. I can now make a fist with my left hand. I can also blow my nose (finally!) without feeling like I'm getting stabbed in the ribs. Discovered that pretty much every joint aches, including neck and back. I even have sore toes, it turns out.

Damage: The Aprilia is pretty much damaged on every surface, and the handlebar is done. I must have hit my head a little, because the plastic top separated from the foam underside. My nice wool coat is full of holes and stuff - I'm thinking of patching it and wearing it as a badge of something or other.

Costs: I had minimal insurance on the Aprilia, because I didn't plan to wreck it, insurance is expensive, and the only reason I'd get hurt would be due to someone else - so their insurance would pay for damages, right? Well, ain't that funny. My vehicle insurance will pay $1000 of my medical, after which my health insurance should pick, but no repairs or such. Kansas is a "no-fault" state, so I guess my insurance company will have to duel with the other driver's... or I have to sue to recover out-of-pocket expenses.

Advice: Do I need to get a lawyer to make sure I don't have to pay anything out-of-pocket on this? I've already had to do co-pay on meds, and I expect I'll get a bill from Lawrence Hospital emergency room and x-ray folks, plus the doctors, specialists, and physical therapists to come. What do I do next?

I know one thing I won't be doing anytime soon: Riding on two wheels. Not that I don't want to, but that requires two functional arms. Hmph. :-/

Best,
Chris

thank y'all for the kind words! typing very slow with one hand and lortab (yes, i finally wimped out and got my scrip for real pin-killers), so sorry i can't thank you all individually. about to sit down and watch a movie, probably early to sleep... which really sucks, by the way, trying to get in to bed when the giant area of bruised ribs and you'd be surprised how many muscles are attached to your shoulder...

later!
chris

had a motorcycle accident yesteday. kid turned left in front of me. bunch of road rash minimized due to long clothes, but got Acromioclavicular Separation of the shoulder. the Aprilia is a bit thrashed. Suck.