Where it mightve began
It's Springtime 2011, I'm feeling pain in my right elbow as I bring a rockfish over the rail of the boat. I have 12 customers, 3 of which are Korean and don't speak English very well. He smiles at me and gives me a "thumbs up." I smile back and move on to the next rockfish coming over the rail. Fishing is good today and as the only deckhand, I have to unhook the fish from the hook, put on a new bait, and toss the line back into the Pacific Ocean. Then, pick up a few fish from the deck, bleed them, and toss them in the grey garbage cans we use to let them bleed out.
After an hour, I can hardly straighten my arm out to reach the deck. The "Day of a Thousand Bend-Overs" has just begun and my arm won't touch the floor and the pain radiating from my elbow is exquisite.
140 rockfish are on the boat in about an hour. Time to head to the lingcod rock about 30 minutes away. My captain starts up the 38' Delta and we're off! I have half an hour to gaff the fish into the hold, clean the deck, switch the fishing tackle to lingcod and bait 'em up.
Five minutes into all this and my right elbow is playing the violin only it's doing that "....screeching high-pitch, fingernails-on-the-blackboard..." violin playing. The searing pain emanating from my elbow, indeed, all the way to my wrist, is taking up a large amount of space...
My brain comes to a grinding halt...
The pain has taken over. There will be no more thinking done in this body. The elbow now rules the world! Not just my world, but the 12 customers staring at me to explain what I'm doing, where they're going, how excited they all are. But my elbow has decided they all need to just.shut.up.
I keep going on with the day because that is my job. These people have come out on the ocean and hope to catch their limit of rockfish and lingcod and have an awesome experience. Finding out their deckhand just broke is of NO interest to them.
That was 18 months ago. April 2011. Since then, I lost both elbows to excruciating pain, two ankles, and a knee. My brain is still on holiday.
Being told I was suffering from "torn tendons," I have been injected with numerous steroid shots directly into the elbow pain (who thinks THIS is fun). I was MRI'd and told there is nothing wrong with me - I was just getting old (like people can't tell the difference between "getting old pain" and being Broken!), I was told I needed to "Rest My Elbows" all the while, my elbows SCREAM in waves of sheer hellish, mind-numbing daggers with the constant stroking of muscle spasms. I was told to buy any pain pills I may need "...off the streets..." because the Ortho didn't want to prescribe pain meds unless he could prove I was really in pain. (If I just wanted pain pills, why would I spend over $8000 on asshole doctor visits - wouldn't I just go buy drugs off the street to begin with???)
Here I am. I have been diagnosed thanks to my sister who said, "You should get tested for Lupus." So, I got a new doctor (#8) and she ran the blood panel for everything. I have MCTD - or so we think. We started out with mostly a diet change of just solid veggies, combined with a new regiment of vitamins.
I have always had my vitamin cocktails of C, D, E, CoQ10, B-Stress, B12, and so on. I work on the ocean, play in the woods. Me and my bff use to hike 3-7 miles almost every weekend. We live in high logging areas, so there are literally millions of miles of woods for us and our dogs to roam around in.
A few years ago, my hips (yep, but sides) starting causing me a lot of pain. At night, I'd use furniture to get around the house because I couldn't support myself. I sucked it up and, after about a year, it passed and I forgot about it.
So, anyways. Here I am. Right before Thanksgiving, my right pinkie finger started tingling. A few days later, it went numb. Then, the next finger (what is that finger called?) started to tingle. It's November which means I now walk streams collecting salmon data for the dept of fish and wildlife. I won't get into the boring details about that job - but it involves rivers/streams/creeks and where are they? In the woods! Down cliffs, up cliffs. Down tributaries cover in dense sticker bushes. You must hang on and hack with knives and, well, you get the picture?
I'm climbing down a steep ravine that has nothing but loose rocks, a few ferns and a 20' drop onto granite next to a river that is hauling arse because it's Washington and it never stops raining. I started to slide and the numb fingers said, "You're not talking to us so we'll let go and chill out til you need us again. Bye-bye!"
I slid down that hill at a speed I'm sure set world records - plant life moved by ever so quickly. BAM! We're here! Luckily that fall was broke by the fine pebbles and a really hard sandbar. I was winded, freaked out, and just sat there until I could take assessment of my moment.
This morning is Fri, 12.1.12. I met with the doctor and we decided on Pednisome pills for 16 days. I pray, hope, beg, and cry that the pain, swelling, and everything bad goes away.
I try to explain to friends or family that pain will put your brain on holiday. Pain makes you stop thinking. Not too many people understand this. I do.
I found this support site today. I read just about every post on here. I am so overwhelmingly grateful you all post. You all know what I'm talking about....right?
Hey, I don't care if anyone reads this (although, with a numb right hand, typing all this blah blah blah stuff it' hasn't exactly been easy), I just thought it fair I post something to make up for all the great advise, questions, concern, and understanding I soaked up. I don't think I could give much advise, support, or loving words at this point - hopefully, if the pain backs off, I'll be able to.
Thank you everyone.
After an hour, I can hardly straighten my arm out to reach the deck. The "Day of a Thousand Bend-Overs" has just begun and my arm won't touch the floor and the pain radiating from my elbow is exquisite.
140 rockfish are on the boat in about an hour. Time to head to the lingcod rock about 30 minutes away. My captain starts up the 38' Delta and we're off! I have half an hour to gaff the fish into the hold, clean the deck, switch the fishing tackle to lingcod and bait 'em up.
Five minutes into all this and my right elbow is playing the violin only it's doing that "....screeching high-pitch, fingernails-on-the-blackboard..." violin playing. The searing pain emanating from my elbow, indeed, all the way to my wrist, is taking up a large amount of space...
My brain comes to a grinding halt...
The pain has taken over. There will be no more thinking done in this body. The elbow now rules the world! Not just my world, but the 12 customers staring at me to explain what I'm doing, where they're going, how excited they all are. But my elbow has decided they all need to just.shut.up.
I keep going on with the day because that is my job. These people have come out on the ocean and hope to catch their limit of rockfish and lingcod and have an awesome experience. Finding out their deckhand just broke is of NO interest to them.
That was 18 months ago. April 2011. Since then, I lost both elbows to excruciating pain, two ankles, and a knee. My brain is still on holiday.
Being told I was suffering from "torn tendons," I have been injected with numerous steroid shots directly into the elbow pain (who thinks THIS is fun). I was MRI'd and told there is nothing wrong with me - I was just getting old (like people can't tell the difference between "getting old pain" and being Broken!), I was told I needed to "Rest My Elbows" all the while, my elbows SCREAM in waves of sheer hellish, mind-numbing daggers with the constant stroking of muscle spasms. I was told to buy any pain pills I may need "...off the streets..." because the Ortho didn't want to prescribe pain meds unless he could prove I was really in pain. (If I just wanted pain pills, why would I spend over $8000 on asshole doctor visits - wouldn't I just go buy drugs off the street to begin with???)
Here I am. I have been diagnosed thanks to my sister who said, "You should get tested for Lupus." So, I got a new doctor (#8) and she ran the blood panel for everything. I have MCTD - or so we think. We started out with mostly a diet change of just solid veggies, combined with a new regiment of vitamins.
I have always had my vitamin cocktails of C, D, E, CoQ10, B-Stress, B12, and so on. I work on the ocean, play in the woods. Me and my bff use to hike 3-7 miles almost every weekend. We live in high logging areas, so there are literally millions of miles of woods for us and our dogs to roam around in.
A few years ago, my hips (yep, but sides) starting causing me a lot of pain. At night, I'd use furniture to get around the house because I couldn't support myself. I sucked it up and, after about a year, it passed and I forgot about it.
So, anyways. Here I am. Right before Thanksgiving, my right pinkie finger started tingling. A few days later, it went numb. Then, the next finger (what is that finger called?) started to tingle. It's November which means I now walk streams collecting salmon data for the dept of fish and wildlife. I won't get into the boring details about that job - but it involves rivers/streams/creeks and where are they? In the woods! Down cliffs, up cliffs. Down tributaries cover in dense sticker bushes. You must hang on and hack with knives and, well, you get the picture?
I'm climbing down a steep ravine that has nothing but loose rocks, a few ferns and a 20' drop onto granite next to a river that is hauling arse because it's Washington and it never stops raining. I started to slide and the numb fingers said, "You're not talking to us so we'll let go and chill out til you need us again. Bye-bye!"
I slid down that hill at a speed I'm sure set world records - plant life moved by ever so quickly. BAM! We're here! Luckily that fall was broke by the fine pebbles and a really hard sandbar. I was winded, freaked out, and just sat there until I could take assessment of my moment.
This morning is Fri, 12.1.12. I met with the doctor and we decided on Pednisome pills for 16 days. I pray, hope, beg, and cry that the pain, swelling, and everything bad goes away.
I try to explain to friends or family that pain will put your brain on holiday. Pain makes you stop thinking. Not too many people understand this. I do.
I found this support site today. I read just about every post on here. I am so overwhelmingly grateful you all post. You all know what I'm talking about....right?
Hey, I don't care if anyone reads this (although, with a numb right hand, typing all this blah blah blah stuff it' hasn't exactly been easy), I just thought it fair I post something to make up for all the great advise, questions, concern, and understanding I soaked up. I don't think I could give much advise, support, or loving words at this point - hopefully, if the pain backs off, I'll be able to.
Thank you everyone.
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