pain

I have lots of experience with pain...in the past and now.

I'm in alot of pain, alot of the time.

There are also times when I am pain free.

   My right shoulder hurt so bad when I tore the rotator cuff. At first I didn't know what I had done, thinking it was just the arthritis and bursitis that advancing age brings. I was also in denial, thinking I could keep going with my triathlon pursuits. Even after I was diagnosed with the rotator cuff tear I kept the degree of pain a secret so that I could keep active and get in my backpacking trip. 

   I hadn't been pain free for a long time. Before the surgery I felt like there was a hot knife stabbing me in the shoulder. No position brought me relief, no medications helped, no ice, no heat. A few weeks after the surgery I was suddenly aware that I was pain free. What a feeling that was!

   My right shoulder sometimes still hurts at the site where my rotator cuff is still healing. Usually after sleeping in some weird position of after certain activities. Luckily when it does hurt it usually doesn't last long. I always have the fear that I'll tear it again. I really need to keep up with my strength training.

   My left shoulder sometimes hurts from the arthritis and bursitis. It comes and goes whenever. Physical activity doesn't seem to effect when it comes and goes. I almost feels like there's something catching in there, and then it just goes away. This is just something I have to live with unless I get my Ortho to go in and clean it up. 

   My hands can hurt from arthritis. Mostly it's in the base of the thumb but sometimes it gets into the finger joints, especially in the places where I've broken bones. The thumbs can be very sharp and severe but the fingers are mostly just a stiff, achy pain.

   My left heel is weird. It's another come and go situation. The pain is deep in the heel, not really in any joint. How much I run or walk on it has no effect. The pain usually comes after I haven't really used the foot...after sleeping or driving for awhile. But when it's there I have trouble walking on it until it passes.

   My left knee has issues with the 'miniscus'. It had been repaired years ago. I had an old injury that eventually turned into a little tear with a 'flap'. The flap would position itself causing great pain so that I couldn't straighten the knee...unless I did a crazy rotation with the leg. This was another injury I endured until it was convenient to have repaired as it would have effect my SCUBA diving activities. The repair worked great but now it's causing me great pain again with certain activities. I avoid pain by being very cautious with my workouts. This definitely needs to be watched.

   My right knee has been hurting since I did a hard running workout followed by a swim back in the beginning of February. Sometimes it hurts so bad that I can't walk. Fortunately I found that if I do some lunges and push downs on the stairs that the pain will subside. I haven't tried running on it like this but I did do a swim workout. By the end it was hurting quite a bit again. This one may warrant a trip back to the Ortho. 

   My right toe has a weird recurring cyst on top of the joint. The fluid from the joint seeps to the surface causing a small bubble. For a small thing it can really hurt. There's not really anything that can be done about it so I just keep draining it on a regular basis and wrap it in a band-aid.

   My neck can really ache some days. This is pretty much due to bad posture or sleeping in an odd position. I can usually work it out with some flexing and movement.

   It's a broad 'laundry list' of issues. I'm so thankful it's not a chronic pain condition that some people suffer with. Mostly it's just wear and tear from years of various activities and the ravages of growing old.

It may slow me down 

but it's not going to stop me.