Frustration is a Four Letter Word

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”

Dolly Parton

You can take away my exercise, but you'll never take away my sense of humor!

Update: there has been no improvement in the shoulder since Friday.  It hasn’t been excruciating, but it hasn’t been normal either.  Yesterday I figured I would do some bike and stairmaster at the gym (since there’s not a whole lot I can do that doesn’t affect it).  As it turns out, recumbent bike would have been a better choice. Today make neck and shoulder are bugging me big time.  The thing is, I intentionally was leaning on my right shoulder so as not to put any strain on the left, and it didn’t matter one iota.

So now I find myself in the position of not being able to get comfortable- in spite of the NSAIDS and muscle relaxants.  I had my first official break down this morning.  It was short lived (yes there were tears), but the truth is I have had it.  There is clearly nothing I can do NOT to aggravate my shoulder- even sleeping makes it worse.  I haven’t run, done boot camp, climbed, or done Insanity in what seems like forever, and I don’t feel like it’s made one bit of difference.  At this point, there’s little to no chance of being able to do the Tough Mudder or Chesire Half, and I am beyond frustrated.

What irritates me the most is how completely unhelpful the ortho doctor I saw was.  He didn’t appear interested in anything I had to say and seemed completely annoyed that I came to see him instead of a general practicioner.  However, I knew if I went to my PCP he was going to have to send me for xrays and to follow up with an ortho guy anyway- so why not get it all done at once?  The best part was how he told me how physical therapy works really well, but is a huge time commitment and then never even gave me the option of going.

Given that we are now on week 3 of this issue with no real signs of improvement, I am ready to change things up.  I found a sports medicine center that specializes in chiropractic medicine, physical therapy, and acupuncture.  The doctor there also happens to be a certified personal trainer who avidly does crossfit, so I’m sort of hoping if anyone will get where I’m coming from it’s him.  I called and left a message with the office today to see if they 1)take my insurance, and 2) can fit me in anytime soon.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can find someone who is willing to listen and can actually help.  I get that I am not some important super athlete, but it doesn’t make being injured and unable to train any less devastating to me.  I want to be out there giving it my best as much as any professional or olympic athlete regardless of my lack of talent. 😉  What I need is someone who understands that and can give me a better timeline and guidelines on what I can and cannot do.

Here’s to being hopeful!

28 comments

  1. Hang in there, Girly – I know you are SO frustrated, but I also know that you are determined and will NOT stop until you have answers and the relief you need in order to move on with your goals. I’m so sorry you have to deal with this chronic pain. :o( Hope the sports med folks can get you a definitive and easily-dealt with answer!!

  2. I have never had good luck with orthos. I pray almost daily, sometimes multiple times a day that I don’t injure myself. I know it is a tentative cycle when we work hard the way we do that injuries happen, but not this year, ok? Good luck, try to remain calm and focus on the positive. Also, some chiros do wonders where orthos do nothing. Just a thought.

  3. Oh my dear young lady. I for one, certainly know the frustration of injury, ( my blog ‘training frustrations’) pain and being kept back from doing what you want to do. However, listen to your body – good move going to the Sports clinic. I don’t deal well with GPs. Therapy, rest, acupuncture, may help; Omega 3 increase to help decrease the inflammation ( stay away from fish oil if possible). ice, heat and time. I know it’s hard I really do. But now, right now, taking care of “You” is top priority.
    There will be other races – the tough mudder isn”t going away. I wish I was there to give you a hug and a shoulder massage!( I am certified)
    Chin up – Smile through the pain – it’s only an obstacle, not the end of the race. You WILL get through over and around this.
    doug

  4. Hang in there! I have issues with a knee so I understand some of your frustration. I hope you get better soon… hugs. Renee 🙂

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s