Tuesday, July 29, 2008

twinkle toes

...I tripped and fell holding the baby...she is fine, SO LUCKY!!! but I am hurt. I hurt my shoulder, went sailing out the backdoor and rolled my ankle and fell down hard hard hard onto my left shoulder. WHAM onto the deck. Wind knocked out of me....bellowing for Greta "Get the baby! Come get the baby!"......of course Steve wasnt home....of course I was wearing flippety flappety Crocs (which i threw far under the bed and will never wear again)

Lots of shoulder involved in breastfeeding. Cant even reach across my body to unlatch bra or hold baby right or lift to style my hair or get stuff out of the fridge or anything.
Found depressing things online about it taking 6 to 8 months to heal, deciding to stay off the internet.

I keep having nice days really, I do, but I never seem to sit down to blog until another bad one happens.

I am very sad that I am hurt again and dont know what to say. Told a couple of folks who were "really sorry to hear that" but nobody's a-comin over and wrapping my head around that one each morning gets harder to swallow but Im trying.

I really do want to blog more but have never ever been this busy in my entire life. Cant even explain how there is NO down time right now, none, none none. I wonder how many times I tell a child "Just a sec!" Just a sec Just a sec Just a sec Just a sec....its like some macabre hotel, people in each room popping their heads out in Coo-Coo rhythm: help! help! mama! mama! help! help! mama! mama! uh-oh! oh-no! Mama! Mama! Hurry! Hurry! Help! Help! Mama! Mama!

REALLY wanted to write about all sorts of wonderful things, the dear baby and her funny sleep schedule and how I fit into my fat jeans again (small victories!) but I just cant. soon I hope. Im sorry everybody. Anyone ever hurt their shoulder really badly--- ice or heat? In all my car accidents and years of sports, I have never hurt my shoulder before. It is UNBELIEVABLE how much a mom needs her freaking arms to work. Ankles are nice, too, but Ive been walking funny since April. The shoulder is absolutely unnacceptable.

9 comments:

Michelle said...

Did you get it checked out? If it's a rotator cuff injury; it needs to be treated ( which will make it heal up faster too ). Ask Dr. T to give you a referal to an orthopedics person pronto. In the meantime, try putting the arm in a sling with a lot of "pressure" support at the shoulder to stabilize it and apply a heating pad in the evenings to help with the stiffness. Do have someone look at it though.

JustALittleBit_Me said...

Ugh! That sucks about the shoulder injury!

I had what the doc thought was a strained rotator cuff that wasn't healing after three months of physical therapy. Two chiropractic visits, and it was fixed. I highly recommend that as soon as you can, go see a chiropractor who practices the Activator method! It will help you heal much faster.

In the meantime, your question was "Ice or heat?" The answer is... BOTH. Alternate in five minute intervals to speed healing, flush fluids from the area and promote blood flow.

If I was in your area, I would organize a meal delivery and babysitting posse. Do you know any moms from playgroups or church friends who you can ask to do this for you? Sometimes people don't volunteer because they don't know what to offer... but if you ask, they will gladly help.

Speedy healing vibes (and a virtual bottle of motrin thrown your way)!

Jennifer said...

Oh Joy! I am so sorry to hear about your injuries, and I totally get the Mama Mama Mama demands and I only have two! I was going to tell you with one of your previous posts to skip the gyno and see a doctor b/c it sounds as if you might be having more issues going on than just C-section recovery (you mentioned some gait problems). I lived with this pain for months and months after Madeline was born thinking I just needed to wait it out and heal naturally, just to find out that I have all kind of back problems and one leg significantly longer than the other. I'm only half-way there but my pain has been under control. The OBGYN's just kind of care about the hoo-hoo, and send you on your way. You don't have to live in pain like this. And you might have really injured your shoulder too--I know it's hard to take the time to take care of yourself, but you gotta go see the doc.

Anonymous said...

Joy, is there any, any way you can get to a chiropractor? Also, I know things are nuts, but can I call you soon? I wish I could help in some way. I really do. Hey, maybe Jon should start looking for work in Michigan. :)

(By the way, I'm on Jon's computer at the moment, which is why I'm not signed in as myself.)

Rixa said...

Hmmm, I don't know enough about the anatomy of the shoulder (or where exactly you hurt it) to give really specific advice, but I did have a long-standing shoulder/neck injury from overuse (too much violin playing of all things!) and I did both ice and heat. Whatever feels good. Get your kids to help by holding ice packs on your shoulder (great fun for a hot day--maybe have contests to see who can hold the ice cubes or cold packs on for the longest).

RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) is a standard approach for injured athletes. I don't know how you'd do compression exactly, though, and elevation is more something for extremities.

I do second (third?) the advice to see a chiro if things don't resolve soon.

Anonymous said...

oh, mama, i am just sighing with you over your post baby trauma and slow healing (no fault of your own!).
breathe deep, snuggle that babe, ask the universe to send you helpers for your other babes, and drink some fine wine. :)
xoxo

Anonymous said...

Great advice from Kneelingwoman--I was going to point you in the direction of a Dr. for evaluation too.

Jenn
www.knittedinthewomb.com

Michelle said...

This is several days later but, a thought came to me about your more "general" pain--have you ever been eval'd for Fibromyalgia? It's a widespread pain disorder, often in combination with Rheumatoid Arthritis ( and, as you know, I have both ). My Fibromyalgia only invites itself for tea when I am under stress and that can absolutely include pregnancy and childbirth! I had rounds of horrible back, neck and (literally) "skin" pain--if someone touched me; it felt like an electric current went straight through--after each kid but especially after Mary and Samuel. Try doing a little internet research on Fibromyalgia and see if it sounds like a 'fit". It obviously isn't related to your shoulder injury per se but it could exacerbate any pain you are having and it is a "real" disorder. I've learned to manage mine without medications but there are med's on the market now specifically for Fibro. Check it out anyway.

Anonymous said...

This a really a reply to an earlier post where you were talking about pain, and surgery and not being able to get meds.

Have you tried getting a second opinion?
If you asked for a second opinion on how you are recovering from the surgery as a whole (including pain), instead of just to get more pain meds, it wouldn't look like you were seeking.

The other thing to look into would be chronic pain managment clinic, or a pain managment dr in the area. Narcotics are great but be taken very long. Most drugs are like that. Maybe the things that help people with chronic back pain and nerve problems would be useful to a nursing mother?