…but first a visit to the orthopedist in Corpus.
The diagnosis for Judy is cartilage damage between the femur and the tibia. Historically she’s had meniscus tears under the kneecap. This is a little deeper, but can be fixed with a scope. That’s actually great news! Her hurting knee can be fixed and it won’t require knee replacement. She is scheduled for surgery in January.
My shoulder was trickier to diagnose. So many signs point to rotator cuff tear, but the MRI did not support that theory. Further conversation produced a breakthrough. I had observed that when the ache in my shoulder woke me up in the middle of the night, I could twist my elbow up over my head with my hand pointed back down toward the middle of my back (I notice these kind of things), and after a while the pain would subside. That was the key! The doctor recognized that arm position as one that would relieve neck pain. We’ve been looking at the wrong body part. Pain can refer from one place to another. He got me right back into an MRI machine within an hour. We did my neck this time. They phoned the MRI results back to the doctor and he must have seen what he expected. He got me scheduled next Monday with their neck and spine guy. I’ve got some nerve impingement. It’s not resolved yet, but at least we’re focused on the appropriate body part now.
So off to get the black swans… A swing and a miss. They’re gone now. We traveled on. Still at 397.
We’ve stopped for the night in Georgetown, Texas, north of Austin.
Tomorrow, Dallas.
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