Medical Update

I have determined that the way physician work in today's environment is that they have a checklist of possible diagnosis. If you do not have a diagnosis on their list, then they inevitably tell you that you need to see another specialist. This is classic passing the buck. Nothing happens in this system unless someone decides you have one of the items on their checklist. Worse yet, if you have something that crosses categories of specialties they will ALWAYS refer you to one of the other specialists instead of deal with it themselves. So, if you have something that causes arm and shoulder pain, and none of the standard rheumatology tests show something rheumatological they default to this is obviously an orthopedic issue. Even when the logic doesn't support it.

Case in point, I went to Kansas City (and back) yesterday to see a rheumatologist. That's 8 hours on the road. I explained how it started in the muscle of my right arm with stiffness and pain, then proceeded to move into my shoulder before crossing my chest and into my other shoulder and arm. It would seem obvious to me that this was a systemic issue, something that is propagating, spreading, consuming. However, the doctor just said - it is common to spread to the second shoulder after getting into the first one because you overwork the second shoulder to make up for it. This might be true if 1) it was over a long period, and 2) I was using my arm for something strenuous. But it was rather quick and I have not strained anything. Besides, none of that accounts for the muscle tearing feelings I get upon stretching the arm.

The doctor recommended I get injections in both shoulders and see my orthopedist for it. So, basically treat the symptoms - ignore what is causing it. Don't even try to figure out what is causing it.

Physically, my journey since July when the right arm pain started has actually been quite diverse. When the pain first started, I immediately had stiffness in my bicep and tricep. I couldn't bend my arm and the forearm had a burning sensation all over. I could not play my guitar for a couple of months. My shoulder joint became loose and would pop causing significant pain if I rotated it into certain positions. Initially, when I extended my arm to reach for things was when I felt the most pain. Any stretching would cause a tearing sensation and acute pain.

Over time, the pain changed. The arm became less stiff, but the shoulder pain increased. I had burning pain in my shoulder quite often and any pressure on my shoulder muscles would cause pain. Additionally, putting weight on that arm caused and still causes acute pain in my shoulder. Meanwhile, I could feel my bicep, tricep and shoulder muscles becoming tighter and firmer. This is about the time it moved across my chest, first causing burning in my pectoral muscles for a few days before settling into my left arm and shoulder. This time, the acute stiffness did not present itself, but the pain on extension did.

Currently, I cannot lift my elbow past slightly below my shoulder because all of the tendons in my shoulder have shrunk. I know this is caused by the sodium potassium pump being run in reverse and shrinking those cells. Further shrinkage is caused by exposure to an acidic environment, and eventually sugars as they are pushed into the interstitial space by the pituitary. I won't go into some of the outcomes of this that were shown in the article except to say that the combination of the acidic pH on bones and everything being shrunken has some visually obvious effects. I have begun to show the initial visual effects with a hunched over appearance.