Tendonitis update, with an added anecdote for your entertainment.

Howdy Y’all!

It’s been ages since I’ve had anything to share with you; it’s been a really slow year which on reflection has gone incredibly quickly. A contradiction, I know but I’m sure you understand.

As you may know from earlier posts, in March of this year my one remaining arm gave up on me. I had begun to feel a deep fatigue in January but was neck deep in a project so simply ate Ibuprofen and kept working.

Upon finishing the project

I stopped with the pills and suddenly realised that I had well buggered up both my elbow and my shoulder. I had developed a severe case of Tennis Elbow (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tennis-elbow/symptoms-causes/syc-20351987) resulting in zero grip strength. This was bad enough but I also had a sharp pain in my shoulder which required further investigation.

I made an appointment for an MRI (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_resonance_imaging) then took the results to a specialist here on the island. I explained to the Doctor that when I attempted to do anything at arm’s length or above my head I felt sharp pain deep in my shoulder.

The diagnosis was that I had damaged my Rotator Cuff and it required surgery. This was not good news so I said I would take a little time to decide what course to take and would be in touch.

Over the weeks that followed I rested and read as much as I could about my various malfunctioning body parts. I also gave a lot of thought to the prospect of surgery. Whilst the operation itself concerned me not at all, the six weeks immediately after most certainly did.

Fact is I have one arm; if you strap it up, as the Doctor told me it must be completely immobile for at least six weeks after the surgery, I am completely incapable of looking after myself.

I live alone, well I have a dog but I don’t think I could train him to wipe my arse, so I’d have to hire a nurse. Perhaps it is to my detriment that I admit this but I am simply not ready to have a complete stranger getting involved in my most private of privates.

I started looking into alternatives to surgery and discovered a series of exercises specifically designed to rehabilitate a damaged Rotator Cuff. I found some good videos on YouTube and I am fortunate in that one of my friends here on the island was a professional body builder and has extensive experience in Rotator Cuff rehabilitation. During a discussion with him we came up with an exercise routine which I could complete every other day in my living room. I took the plan to show my Doctor and she agreed that the program would work but it would likely take between 4 and 6 months to recover sufficient strength to go Kite Boarding.

At the time of learning this I was still suffering severe pain in my elbow and was advised to do nothing until that had recovered. What could I do to aid the recovery? Nada, just rest the Doctor told me.

And so began a very boring summer. I was able to feed and look after myself but that was pretty much it. No workshop, no kiting, no pool, no fishing; it would have been easy to get depressed but I chose instead to focus on Crypto. Thanks to my good friend @natureofbeing I received about $300 from a post she wrote to help me out and used this money to trade. The last few months have been pretty good in Crypto Land and let’s just say that it’s going quite nicely.

My elbow finally recovered sometime in September; it’s a funny thing with Tennis Elbow, when it recovers, it does so all of a sudden; like one day it’s crap and hurting when you reach for a beer and the next you’re arm wrestling a fisherman like a pro. Well, not exactly but you get what I mean. So with zero pain in my elbow I started with the shoulder exercises.

It’s been almost four months and I’m beginning to feel the recovery. I will be waiting another couple of months before I go kiting but I have done a few hours in the workshop without any adverse effects.

I will be moving to a new home in a couple of days but needed to install a hydro/pneumatic water tank and pump in the building where my new residence is located. I was a little nervous about taking on the job in light of my current limitations but decided to give it a shot.

I needn’t have worried about my shoulder as it felt just fine but an incident which occurred during the install taught me once again that I should take better care of myself. After spending more than a few minutes fiddling about with the electrical cables; a task which is still frustratingly difficult for me I stood up impatiently, turned and started to walk all at the same time and head-butted the pressure switch cover right on its retaining nut. I saw stars and the blood immediately began to flow.

After a bit of first aid I called in my buddy to help with the cables and in short order the job was done! Thanks for reading, upvoting and commenting. I can safely say that I’m back so watch this space for more creations, with a sprinkling of minor calamities I’m sure.