Post Doc

My Doc (in this case beloved Nurse Practitioner) retired. Congratulations to her! What a wonderful care provider.

Sheryl Young wasn't just my care provider - she's a friend! I'll miss catching up with her on her family during my healthcare visits. I've known the Young family for many years - back before Sheryl went back to school to become an ARNP, MSN. Then they moved away from Creston. We were lucky to catch up with her when we moved to Des Moines. Sheryl always asked about my family as she cared for my health. She knew they are a key to my well-being! I hope Sheryl and Bob enjoy retirement. They've earned it.

I've been spoiled. Before we moved to Des Moines, I knew my previous healthcare providers well too. When you go to a doc in a small town, it's hard not to! It's not like we hung out, but Dr. Chuck Hoyt treated our whole family for years. He moved back to town just after Jud was born. Paul traveled back to Creston for his physical with Chuck this year. Word has it, Dr. Hoyt will retire soon too. He too has put in some time in the trenches.

Growing up in Atlantic, I had one doctor through age 18 - Dwain Wilcox. He was a kind, serious man who watched over the Bullock family. In fact, he brought several of us into this world. His own daughter Tressa eventually became an Atlantic doc.

Dr. Wilcox even made housecalls. I don't know why Mom made the formal living room into the examination/shot room. Sometimes on Saturday nights, he could be found at our house playing poker, smoking and drinking with my folks and other friends. Yep, smalltown Iowa. That was the way I grew up.

I've come to the time in life when I must search for a new doc. And gulp...this one will be younger than I am. Sheryl's clinic was on the SE side of Des Moines. It was convenient for work visits, but not for those times I was sick at home.

It was one of those times I had to adult and find me a new doc. After doing some research, I selected a UnityPoint closer to home. There is a woman doc in her 40's - undergrad at ISU. Plus plenty of PAs. It takes a long time to build a relationship with a healthcare provider. I won't likely see them at poker club or at high school football games or riding their motorcycle like I did Chuck Hoyt. Those days are over. I'm fortunate Des Moines has many healthcare choices. Where nobody knows me. I guess at 60 it's time to grow up!

PF Flyers



Me, Cindo, Susi, Bets - I think I evan stood differently due to the shoulder

When I was a kid, I thought new shoes had special powers. Perhaps that's why I love shoes so much today! Mom would take me to Brown's Shoe Fit for new tennies, and I'd get Keds or PF Flyers. When I'd get home, I just knew I could run faster and jump higher with them on. Like a super-hero!

PF Flyers

These last few weeks/months I've not felt like a super hero. Quite the opposite in fact...I have felt very much like each of my 54 years. Old. Elderly. And I don't like it! It's this damn shoulder...which started out feeling like a muscle pull, but progressed. By the time I went to the Doc, Sheryl Young, Nurse Practicioner, who sent me to Physical Therapy (PT). In my own mind I was convinced something was torn in my shoulder.

So when PT didn't help, I was depressed - using the arm less and less. I couldn't sleep due to pain at night - luckily I found Advil PM helped. But mornings were bad. The pain began to move down my arm. I went back to Sheryl who after X-Rays, referred me to a surgeon, Kary Schulte who diagnosed "Frozen Shoulder" or adhesive capsulitis. It doesn't sound bad - but believe me, pain 24/7 can get you down.

Unfortunately I couldn't get in to have Dr. Schulte manipulate my shoulder (crank on it to break the scar tissue that formed for some unknown reason) until July 18. So I waited it out through July 4 and then through my vacation in Oregon. I survived, but it was with a great deal of pain...and feeling old. Good thing I had my fam around to help distract me - more about that when I get a chance to write!

Yesterday Paul took me to DMOS - the surgical center at 6:15 a.m. for the procedure. The night before, thanks to Facebook, I learned that a couple people I knew - Mendy and Kara's Mom Renee had been through this procedure. So that helped ease my mind going in! They knocked me out for just long enough for Doc S to move my arm in ways it hadn't for quite some time. He said it popped 3 times! (Ick). He also shot it up with a steroid solution for pain, but it won't kick in for a day or so.

I woke up sitting in a recovery room chair. Severe pain under my shoulder blade - before I could help it, I started to cry. This got the nurse's attention very quickly and she brought me some Vicodin. Plus she put something into my IV. Crying is quite effective! I don't like doing it though. I feel I have a pretty high pain threshold, so it must have been bad. It took a few minutes but that took the edge off.

They wheeled me into the little room I started in and I put my pants on. I got instructions on going home. Then Paul came in and I finished dressing and talked to the doc briefly. Then off we went, stopping at HyVee for drugs. I was very sleepy and dozed on Joan's couch until nearly 1 while Paul ran errands.

Physical Therapy was at 3 PM down by my work. Paul loaded me into the car - though I was pretty alert by then. Angela was my therapist, a young compact woman. She was nice but instructions were to be aggressive so she had to force the arm at times. I told her to go for it, because I want this to work. I bought a pulley contraption to use at home to help with therapy, and got instructions for exercises to do. I'll be back at Penn Med for more sessions every day for 2 weeks.

So no running around with PF Flyers but I hope I'm soon back to regular workouts. My plan is to join a gym and get a personal trainer after I'm a bit more mended from this. The procedure hasn't gotten rid of my initial problem - my tendon in my shoulder is impinged. So I need to work that out. My arm is definitely sore today but I'm glad I can get it over my head!

My sis Cindo underwent partial knee replacement yesterday - her 2nd. She did the left leg in April. She texted that it was more painful than the first one. Yikes! Let's hope the Bullock girls are on the mend!

I'm such a freakin' baby

And it makes me mad! Geeeez. My friend Thea is battling cancer - 2 kinds! And I'm all down in the dumps about shoulder pain. What a wimp.

Thea tells me she's starting a new regimen of chemo now. You may recall she has multiple myeloma and kidney cancer. F'n stuff. She just got out of the hospital again - after getting a port put in to drain her lung. Yet when people visit she remains upbeat. What a lady!

Me? I went through the removal of Imelda, my unusual tumor last February. She (a tiny painful blob) was in my left elbow. Then in March I started feeling pain in my right shoulder. What the hell? Is it from my Wii workout routine? I have no idea. But the thing continues to get more and more painful.

A few weeks ago I broke down and saw Sheryl Young ARNP about it. She set me up with Geri the Physical Therapist. I was sure I was on the road to recovery, But so far not...it's still damn sore. My shoulder blade is winging out. Geri says I need to retrain it and tuck it back in. (Geri and fam love hot air balloons and therefore Creston and Balloon Days).

Last week I broke down and called Sheryl again, complaining about the constant pain. She agreed to give me a steroid shot on Thursday. Once I got the shot, I felt immediate relief - at least right at the site of the shot. Movements that had hurt before were not painful. Other parts of my arm still hurt but not the back of my shoulder.

At least until I decided to ride my bike. I could have sat around all weekend - and maybe I'd still feel better. But I was happy to ride my bike with Paul. Until later, when the should began hurting. And it's hurt ever since. So now I've had an XRay, which showed nothing, and I'm set up to see a surgeon in a couple weeks. Good thing too cuz I felt half queasy today due to pain. And mad. What a wienie!

Impinged

Is that like being unhinged? Anyway - I've become so. At least my shoulder has - according to the physical therapist. After a couple months of progressively worse should pain, I decided to see my nurse practitioner, Sheryl Young here in Des Moines to see what my options were. She set me up with Iowa Health's Therapy Center near Lutheran Hospital - it's close to my work.

Today I headed there today and felt better right away. And that was even before treatment. I decided I felt better after seeing many of the other patients at Penn Medical Center. The ones with walkers, canes and various disabilities more obvious than mine. I'm a wimp.

Therapist Geri was so helpful. I finally had a name for my pain! Where did it come from? Dancing to Wii in our loft? Perhaps. Carting my laptop and other various bags and my purse into the the Wallace Building every Monday? Maybe. Regardless, my right arm isn't sliding around on the socket correctly.

Geri worked me through some exercises and movements. She poked her finger right into the spot where my muscle is spasming. She used my smart phone to video my back - to show me how my shoulder blade is winging out wrong. It needs to be re-trained. Last I had a nice hot pack on my shoulder.  I'm lined up to go back a few more times - can't wait. I want to get better.

On my way home I realized how very heavy my purse is on my shoulder. That can't be good! So I bought a new much smaller one tonight - on sale! I think I'll line up a massage.

Cubital Tunnel Syndrome

No, it doesn't have anything to do with my cubical at work. Though some days that could cause me to develop some type of syndrome. Especially when the neighbors are loud. Give me drugs!

I've been having pain issues with my elbow for over a year now. Last time I had a physical, I mentioned it to Sheryl Young, ARNP - she's my nurse practitioner and friend. She used to practice in Creston, as a partner to my doc Chuck Hoyt, but now she works here in DSM. At my physical she X-rayed my arm but we couldn't see anything. Never-the-less, it continues to burn in pain right near the funny bone. Mostly when I drive or dry my hair.

When I saw Sheryl right after the first of the year for my sore throat and head cold, I told her again about the elbow. It wasn't getting any better. She hooked me up with a Doc to do a nerve test. No...not that kinda nerve test - like you're on my last nerve. But more like a study of the nerves in my left arm. Dr. William Koenig hooked me up to a couple machines and zapped me with electrical currents, and stuck me with needles. Nice guy!

It wasn't really too bad. And the doc told me what was going on the whole time. Once he was done, he told me the good news - no diseases of those nerves. And nothing dire or too degenerative. But my ulnar nerve is entrapped at the elbow. Otherwise known at Cubital Tunnel Syndrome.

It can be caused by breaking my arm - which I did as a child. Damn playing "boys chase girls" at age 4! That's how I broke it. Or since the symptoms showed up so recently...more likely it was one of those falls in the last couple years. How about the banana-peel like one off the little wooden stool when I thought it would be a good idea to oil the cabinets in the kitchen. I thought I was paralyzed - but thank goodness no.

What to do. I talked to Sheryl today. She's lining me up with a surgeon. Not that I've made my mind up about surgery. Another option is splinting my arm at night and working on not bending it any more than necessary. Yeah...we'll see what the surgeon says.

Another sigh of relief

Vaginal ultrasound. It just sounds icky - doesn't it? Unless you're pregnant and then you're flopping your legs apart for any old reason - you get used to it. There's a swimmer in you (a baby) that you're pre-occupied with, so it's worth it.

In my case, not so much. My little swimmers are now big beautiful peeps (and one angel). So when Sheryl Young, ARNP's nurse called me last week after my physical to say Sheryl wanted me to schedule a vaginal ultrasound at Iowa Radiology, because she wasn't quite sure what was going on "down there", I tried not to panic. I mostly didn't panic.

One side of my abdomen still holds an ovary. Sheryl felt lumps on both sides. I tried to tell her one side was prolly poop (she called it stool). But she must have decided to be cautious, after getting information from Dr. Dornbier who performed my hysterectomy.

So even though I really didn't think anything was wrong with me, I couldn't help but think there was a chance something bad was afoot (or an ovary). Today as I lay on the table with the magic wand taking photos of my innards my mind raced. Man she was snapping a lot of them - there must be something bad in there! But she told me there were no masses. (even though a radiologist has to be the official $$ reader of the pics) So I felt better on the way home. Some expensive poop my guts were storing that day!

My little reminder. Life is fleeting. People get bad news every day. I'm lucky today it wasn't me. Party it up while you can! Enjoy life and live it to the fullest. And don't spend it worrying about a little poop!