emBrace me

So the last 617 class--the one held at India Garden--was about vocabulary, about how once you can articulate something, you can navigate it.

This intro, of course, could segue into at least a dozen interesting topics, but I'm afraid only one interests me tonight: my health.

You see, I went home today to visit with an ortho about my shoulder. What about my shoulder? Have you never heard the grinding and popping that occurs when I, oh, move it? For the longest time I didn't realize that it wasn't normal for shoulders to sound like that. But then it started hurting and I started complaining. That was eight years ago. Since then I've been told it's a side effect of carpal tunnel and a shallow socket. Fine, whatever. But since grad school started, the pain has gotten worse, so we finally went to the mattresses. . . I mean, went to a specialist.

After about five minutes of x-rays and five more of having me move my arms in different ways, Dr. Pepper (I'm so serious) diagnosed me with "snapping scapula." Snapping scapula and carpal tunnel. The good news is that surgery isn't the first step--anti-inflammatories and physical therapy are, and a brace for the carpal tunnel (I know you were impatiently waiting for how the title works). If that doesn't work, long needles stuck into the tissue. And if that doesn't work, surgery that will take four months to recover from. I don't have four months to spare.