First the good news, the
IPL photofacial with Levulan went well. The procedure itself was uncomfortable, but bearable. By the end of the hour, I was shivering from the cold air, but hot from the laser. I immediately felt like I had a bad sunburn on my face and arms and got quite red. Saturday, my arms were not still activated, so I put them in the sun outside for a few minutes. I didn't reexpose my face because it was quite red and I had a migraine with light sensitivity. I took some pain killers, darkened the room, applied copious moisturizer to my face and kept ice on the back of my head. After sleeping for a few hours I felt better. Sunday, I was still red, but not uncomfortable. Monday, the areas of my face that had active sebaceous glands, around my nose and chin, started peeling. My face is still peeling a bit. I can tell that the new skin is smoother and I'm pleased with having less blotchiness on my face. The light age spots haven't decreased as much as I would like, yet, but that may improve more over time or with more treatments.
Yesterday afternoon I went to see an Orthopedic Surgeon,
Dr. Keith Braun, for a consultation because my shoulder and elbow have been bothering me for a couple of months, since before I had my cast removed, probably from how I was rolling myself over in bed when my ankle and back were hurting me. If you follow
my photography, you'll have noticed that I haven't been posting many photographs because it has been uncomfortable to carry my wallet, much less my camera equipment. The doctor and his staff were very courteous and knowledgeable. The x-rays of my shoulder showed that the bones were normal. It's probably an inflammation of the shoulder bursa and tennis elbow. The recommended treatment was cortisone shots in the shoulder and elbow to reduce inflammation. Although the symptoms mimic problems with the rotator cuff, that is unlikely at my age. If cortisone doesn't help, then I could get an MRI to further diagnose the problem.
Getting the shots was something else. The shot in my shoulder wasn't very painful because the bursa has room to expand as the cortisone is injected. The shot in my elbow was very painful. I jumped at the initial piercing of the skin of my elbow, which I don't normally do with a shot, then the rest of the injection was much more painful because there isn't natural expansion available in the joint, making the bones and other tissue very uncomfortable. I became very nauseous and light headed. After lying down for a few minutes, I felt better. The nurse was quite attentive, making sure that I wouldn't faint and would be okay to drive home. Since the injections, my shoulder has been better, but my elbow is currently extremely sore. I can't fully extend nor close my elbow. I'm wearing a wrap around my elbow and a wrist brace to limit movement and following the doctor's advice to let a wrist rest take the weight of my arm when typing, rather than typing like a pianist as I usually do. This is one of those cases where the cure feels much worse than the original pain, but hopefully it will reduce the swelling, since there isn't much else that could be done for my elbow. I slept very fitfully last night. I was tempted to go find another scorpion. Its sting hurt like hell the first day, but then the area went numb. Hopefully, the pain in my elbow will subside and I won't need Jim to help me get dressed tomorrow.
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