How did I injure my shoulder? I don’t remember originally what happened but this has been going on for the past 4 years. I have had x-rays, physical therapy which made it worse and cortisone shots that did not last. I re-injured it this September when I was babysitting my grandsons, Eli and Caleb, at my house. I had the boys in a double stroller for a walk. We had walked up our very steep driveway and I was punching the garage code. I heard “Whoa.” I turned to see my grandsons rolling down the driveway backwards. I ran to grab the stroller and tried to stop it but it was going fast. Still holding on to the stroller I layed down on the driveway dragging my legs to stop it. It finally stopped at the bottom. The boys looked at me with wide eyes. I said, “Boy, that was fast!” Praise God that it was cooler outside so I had jeans and closed toe shoes on otherwise I would have had really bad road rash.
The boys and I had done a variety of fun things that weekend but what was the first thing Eli said to his mom and dad? “The stroller was going fast.” Confession time!
The doctor thought I probably had a tear somewhere in my right shoulder. I opted not to have an MRI because the doctor said it doesn’t usually see everything. It was actually a bone spur and some loose fragments that the doctor took are of. The worst part was getting the IV. Because I had a bi-lateral mastectomy and had 21 lymph nodes removed on the left side my right side is the arm to take blood pressures and place IV’s in. If they use my left arm I have a strong chance of developing lymphodema which develops a swollen arm and other complications. The surgery was on my right shoulder so they couldn’t use that arm either so the IV had to be placed in my feet. The nurse said they hurt in the feet but they would use lidocaine to numb it some! After three attempts by nurses the anesthesiologist finally was successful placing it a couple inches above my ankle. Thank you:) I am managing the pain with drugs and doing well. I start physical therapy tomorrow. The surgery is getting me out of bringing anything to Thanksgiving dinner at my Neal’s brother’s house!
I have been thinking about the government a lot lately because I find myself among the millions of people whose insurance was dropped because Obahma care (that’s for another post!) and of course my shoulder. The verse in Isaiah 9:6 came to me “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Our government is very frustrating to me right now but one day God will reign over all kingdoms and governments. “The government will rest on his shoulders” affirms that God is Lord over all. He carries the weight of this world on his shoulders so we don’t have to. What a weight off my shoulders!
On the journey,
Trish