I’ve had several MRIs in the past, including one of my head, so I knew it was confining, but my recent shoulder MRI was the worst. They bundled up my arm to immobilize it, then they added padding on my other side to immobilize me. I am not claustrophobic, but being wedged in there like that was almost enough to make me so. They’d asked what music I wanted to listen to through the headphones. I said, “Classic rock or pop.” What I got was a bad collection of 80s metal. Fortunately I could barely hear it over the MRI’s racket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I won’t know what the MRI revealed until my follow-up with the doctor, which is scheduled for this coming Wednesday. In the meantime I’ve been thinking about how I might respond to whatever she tells me. Months ago, I felt I’d probably get surgery if it were an option. Now I’m less sure, because my shoulder has been feeling better. I think that’s due to weeks of propping my arm on a pillow while sleeping and being careful about how I move it while awake. I don’t baby the shoulder per se, but I don’t go out of my way to exercise it, and I try to avoid movements that I know will aggravate it. Every once in a while I’ll walk my hand up the wall, just to make sure I still can, and I don’t shy away from tasks that involve lifting and carrying, because those typically don’t cause any pain. Now my shoulder doesn’t hurt nearly as much. I’ve also regained some range of motion. Hooray!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That said, it’s certainly not fixed. I vacuumed the living room yesterday and that did <\/em>hurt. So the biggest question is, can I live with the way my arm is now? Another major question is, can I find a way to exercise it that won’t cause another flare-up? I’ll need to build up my arm muscles if I don’t want to face more trouble down the road, so that’s an important consideration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve had several MRIs in the past, including one of my head, so I knew it was confining, but my recent shoulder MRI was the worst. They bundled up my arm to immobilize it, then they added padding on my … Continue reading