Pain

June 25, 2021

I haven’t been active in read.cash for a few days, having written my last article four days ago yet.

I was planning to write an article from @JonicaBradley’s Writing Prompts, maybe Similarities as I don’t want to write about darkness. I am afraid of the dark, whatever kind of darkness it may be. But something got in the way of writing bringing with it a lot of questions that needed answers. So I will be writing about Writing Prompt #5: Questions instead.

Last Tuesday, June 22, I woke up with an intense pain on my left shoulder. I wonder what it could be. Why was it so painful when there was no sign of it the night before? I was feeling fine when I went to bed that night.

I applied hot compress and ointments but the pain has not subsided. I cannot move my shoulders up and down without feeling any pain. I cannot move my left hand as it was so painful to do so. Even just carrying a mug of water makes it so painful. I had difficulty in breathing deeply as the pain runs to my chest if I breath deep.

I really need answers and treatment so I asked for an emergency leave from work and went to a medical clinic.

The doctor just gave me a pain reliever as she also wants some answers thru laboratory tests and xray. She requested an xray on my left shoulder and my chest. She also requested for a CBC or Complete Blood Count.

Before I left her clinic she advised me that if I feel something different or something not right, I have to go immediately to an emergency in the hospital. That brings to mind another set of questions. Why? Is there something that she is not telling me? But she will not tell me unless I have the lab results and xray results. Maybe she wants to confirm something thru those results?

Asking those questions made me more stressed and made my pain more intense. I have to take those pain relievers the doctor has prescribed.

I got the lab and xray results the following day. The nurse there informed us the time when to get the result and that is around four in the afternoon. Too late to have a schedule with another doctor for the interpretation of the results.

Reading the results got me stressed out again. Just reading the word "enlarge heart" is so stressful enough. Maybe the doctor has this suspicion in mind that she wants to be confirmed. Maybe this is the reason of her advice.

I emailed the results to our company doctor right away and waited for her reply. But night came and she has not replied yet. Another question came to mind, I wonder what happened to her. She usually replied within an hour even just to inform me that she will check her email. Come morning she still has not replied. So I booked for an appointment at the clinic to see another doctor. I was given an afternoon schedule.

I told my siblings about the result of my xray. My brother said that I just lacked exercise. He was diagnosed with enlarge heart before and he was just advised by the doctor to do some exercises.

So for the meantime, while waiting for my doctor’s appointment, I searched in YouTube if there are exercises for enlarge heart. I saw this 3 minutes exercise for enlarge heart and tried to join him in the exercise. Frankly, after the exercise, I was able to breath well.

Here is the link to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbAhUATQdv8

Finally, I was able to see an IM Doctor (Internal Medicine) in the afternoon. And got my relief as soon as she read the results.

She asked me questions that might be a symptom of a severe heart enlargement. The questions are as follows:

Does my feet swell when I stand long?

Does it swell when I go on a long walk?

Am I out of breath if I go for a short walk?

Am I out of breath if I lie flat without pillows on my head?

My answer to all those questions is a big NO. She then said that there’s nothing to worry about. She further explained the result, that when the xray was taken in front, the usual size of the heart is 0.50 and mine is just 0.52. Therefore, the difference is only 0.02. And it could just be a shadow.

The lab results too are all normal. Thanks God for that.

Now the big question remains. Why was my shoulder so painful?  For two nights in a row, I have been taking the pain reliever. So last night, I asked my house staff to give me a massage, from my shoulders to my back. I feel so relieved when I woke up this morning because I had a good night sleep. My shoulder has not bothered me the whole night. And it has not bothered me the whole day today. Therefore, I am in the road to healing.

So again, why was my shoulder so painful? Could it have been a muscle spasm or a muscle strain?

Whatever it may be, I am so thankful that it made me see a doctor and learn about my supposed enlarged heart. At least I am now careful to make sure to do some short exercises a few times in a day.

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This is my entry to @JonicaBradley’s Writing Prompt #5: QUESTIONS. There are simple rules to follow.

>  Write about Questions

>  Write 100% original content

>  Write at least 600 words

>  Tag @JonicaBradley

>  And Have Fun

Thanks for dropping by.

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