Today was the second appointment with the orthopedic doctor for my dislocated shoulder. My appointment was at 2:45 pm and at 4:45 pm I was finally called to an exam room. Then I waited for another forty minutes before the doctor came in. He asked how the shoulder was feeling and I told him that the shoulder did not hurt but the muscles in my arm certainly did hurt. I asked if he would give me a prescription for pain pills that were stronger than Ibuprofen. I only want them for night when the pain keeps me from falling asleep. I can deal with the pain during the day for I am doing other things but when lying in bed it seems all I can think of is the pain in my arm.
He said of course he would write me a prescription and that he wanted me to start physical therapy. After about five minutes of his time he left to get the prescription and to get the physical therapist to come and talk to me. Another wait and then he came back and the therapist took me to the physical therapy department to get me all set up with appointments and most important to them probably, all my Medicare information. :O) I go for my first appointment tomorrow afternoon and will continue for two weeks and then back to see the orthopedic doctor.
If I had just gone to bed at a decent hour a month ago and not been up roaming around at three in the morning I could have saved myself the pain and expense of a dislocated shoulder. You better believe that every time I go from the studio into the kitchen I make sure of my footing on the step that was my downfall.
Going to take one of those pain pills and go to bed. The pills are Hydrocodone and Acetaminophen and when I was reading the information sheet given me by the pharmacist, I was really surprised to learn that Hydrocodone is a narcotic. No wonder that “No Refills” is printed on the bottle. But it also says that it can be refilled with doctor’s approval. I think thirty pills will get me through the pain for that is a month’s worth. Depending on how painful the physical therapy is, I might be taking one each time I get home from that ordeal. I have heard such horror stories about the pain involved with therapy. Well I will know tomorrow what it is like.