Orthopedic Update

I had my appointment this morning and it's amazing what took place in the span of just one hour! They took me right back when I got there and took about 8-10 xrays of my elbow and shoulder. Then, I was put in the waiting room for the doctor and he came in pretty quickly. He located the area of my pain and said that yes, it was the tennis elbow and that the cortisone shot I received earlier this summer failed (it was given by my regular family doctor). So, he decided to just start completely over for my treatment. He ordered a cortisone shot, which as I watched the nurse prepare it I was SHOCKED at how large the needle was! When doc came back in with another doc, he said he was going to freeze my elbow very fast and make it very cold, for me to lay down and turn my head to the wall (as to not see what he was doing). He did that with some sort of high pressure spray and probably within 20 seconds I no longer really felt anything other than cold then 2 quick sensations of a lot of pressure and then he sat me back up. He sent me out to get fitted for an elbow strap and they explained how to deal with that, I have to wear it all the time except for sleeping. I then was sent to the physical therapy department to get set up for that, which will begin in two weeks.

The arm did not hurt really until about 3 hours later in the middle of a meeting at school. It was all I had in me to not let the tears fall. At the end of that meeting, one lady looked at me and my arm strap and asked if I had gotten a shot today and I said yes...how did you know? She said my face was pale and my eyes told of the pain...she went through the same thing last year with BOTH elbows. She went to find me some ice and did, so very sweet of a complete stranger! The ice helped take the edge off and I took some motrin as I hadn't yet filled my prescription for Celebrex. Things improved some and I was able to get some work done in my classroom.

Tonight I am having some fairly intense pain, localized in the elbow...I take this as a GOOD sign actually. Last time my entire arm was numb, this time is is really just concentrated in my elbow and a few inches down towards the hand. However, sleeping is going to be tough, I just know. I cannot take the prescription until tomorrow as I took the Motrin and need a good chunk of time to let that leave my body. I am very hopeful that in a few days I will feel good! Just not right now.

So, I am headed to bed for some sleep.