Saturday, May 28, 2011

Prednisone

Although my shoulders have been taking a beating from 12 solid months of pull-ups and push-ups to compliment primal changes in my lifestyle, I typically just take a few days off and the pain goes away. About 6 weeks ago, my left shoulder started complaining a lot. I mentioned this to Laur more than a few times until she finally recommended that I go in for a massage to see if that would help. My last and initial massage adventure was undertaken during a vacation to St. Thomas. A couple of days snorkeling without adequate protection left my back aflame. Let's just say the lidocaine they used prior to the massage did little to comfort my burning skin which afterward felt raw...but I digress. The massage was great and when the masseuse worked on the tendons around my shoulder I buckled under the pain. She thought it seemed more tendonitis related than any cuff tearing but suggested that I see my GP just to make sure.
Made an appointment with the GP and he ordered an x-ray just to see if it was something minor or major. He also prescribed a steroid to reduce the inflammation. They called a few days later and told me that it appears I have a little arthritis to contend with and we will see how the steroid and some physical therapy might alleviate the pain. It was welcome news considering the day-mares I had been conjuring about metastasizing cells.
I made time to cruise by the neighborhood pharmacy only to find that the steroid was my nemesis, P...Prednisone. I've waxed on about my feelings towards this little pill in previous posts during lymphemo. Those who have been following my little cancer tribulation will undoubtedly wonder how might this impact any potential lymph node flare ups I may be experiencing. I would imagine that this short course would reduce any swelling in my system and might mask a new occurrence.
Well, I have an appointment this week with my Onc. Although I wasn't scheduled until the end of the month, some slight pings of pain in my chest along with a not-quite-so-clean CT scan a few weeks ago have me in the YELLOW.
Anyway, P is still bitter and tough to swallow. Hopefully this is just a blip and I regain a relatively pain-free glenohumeral joint.

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