And The Diagnosis Is:

(Me, not a happy camper at the doc's office today. Fabgrandpa said I looked like a prisoner. I told him I feel like a prisoner of my pain.)

Medial Epicondylitis. Dr. Radloff asked lots of questions, pushed and pulled on my arm, pushed on and felt of the swelled up part of my arm, took x-rays, and generally spent a lot of time with me during my appointment with her.

At one point, she said that to get the best treatment I would have to leave the North Rim, and I was very unhappy about that. But, she explained, that is because there are no medical facilities up here, and I really should do physical therapy.

So, other than physical therapy, she offered me two choices today:

1. Get a shot of cortisone in my elbow

2. Do exercises for "at home physical therapy", use ice for theinflamation and take Naproxen and Lortab for the inflamation and pain, and come back in a month to see if I am improving. If I don't improve, then she will go ahead with the shot of cortisone in my elbow.

I opted for number 2, only because I really don't want that shot in my elbow. I have heard other people talk about how painful that can be. I am already in pain, and have been for quite a while, so I am just going to do the exercised and see what happens. If I played golf, this would make sense to me, but I really can't think of what I am doing that would cause this to happen. Y'all think good thoughts for me, ok?

That Darn Palpable Mass!

Back during the winter when we were in Phoenix, working at the Christmas tree lot, I had that worrisome palpable mass on my arm. I went to the doctor a couple of times, and had an ultrasound done, and nothing happened. The doctor I saw said they didn't see anything wrong.

Well, my arm swells up and hurts if I use it. Try not using one of your arms for a day and see how frustrating THAT can be.

The day a couple weeks ago that I cut all the strips for the quilts I am making, I had to use my left arm to push down on the ruler and fabric to make sure it didn't move. That night, my arm hurt again, and swelled a little bit.

Then last Friday, when I was working at the entrance station, I had to "walk the line". That is where one of us goes out and walks down the line of cars, answering visitors' questions, checking ID's and passes, and handing out guides. I was holding a stack of guides in my left arm while doing this. That night, my arm was swollen and hurt like a toothache! I'm talking about a pain that a beer and two shots of tequila didn't touch! This is getting to be very bothersome.

So, I was referred to a doctor in Flagstaff and made an appointment for July 21. I will be taking my ultrasound pictures with me, and hope that this new doctor will be able to figure out what is causing this to happen.

I really am not worried about it being cancer, because if it was a cancerous tumor, it would be there all the time. I think it is a cyst, that flares up when I do something to irritate it, like USING MY ARM! So, stay tuned, for the continuing saga of The Palpable Mass.

A Palpable Mass, Part III

I went to the chiropractor again yesterday, and while I DO feel better in my neck and shoulders, and DO agree that the visits to him did me some good, I STILL have that pesky lump and pain in my left arm. Granted, it does not seem to be as big as it was or hurt as much as it did before, but that could also be because I am not using that arm as much, and because Lynda, Charlie, and FabGrandpa are not letting my drag trees around anymore.


So, today after breakfast we went over to the lab where I got the ultrasound done, and requested a copy of my ultrasound pictures. I am posting them here so that you can see what I am talking about. The problem is in my left arm, and the report from the radiologist said that "the left arm was more globular than the right arm." But to me, there does not seem to be ANY glob of any type in the right arm. What do you think?

A Palpable Mass, Part III

I went to my appointment with an open mind this morning. When I arrived, they were waiting for me, there were no other patients there, so I had a lot of one on one attention from this doctor. He stood me in front of a mirror and showed me how I was standing lopsided and crooked. Then he had me stand on two scales, one foot on each one, to see how my weight was distributed. I have been to chiropractors before, but have never had THAT particular little test done. The result of stepping on those scales showed that I was standing heavier on the left side by 8 pounds. Weird. (FabGrandpa and I joked that it was because I have an 8 pound knot in that arm.)

Then, he used a couple of electronic devices to measure "muscle tightness" and "energy flow" or something like that, in my spine. The results showed that I had a lot of tightness and a lot of electrical impulses on my C1 on the left side, which is what controls the left arm muscles and nerves. He also did some X-rays of my spine and neck, which we will see tomorrow.

After he determined that my body is pretty much screwed up on the left side, he did some "gentle touch adjustments" on my body. I felt almost nothing, but I started to feel better right away. I had a lot of muscle tightness that I didn't even realize. I kept thinking about that old joke that goes "If your head hurts that much, let me stomp on your toe." You know, my arm was hurting so much I did not even feel the pain in my neck.

We made an appointment for me to go back tomorrow, at which time he will do a "laser treatment" on my arm (I do not know what that is since I have never had one.) And if I am not considerably better in a few days, he will refer me to the DO.

After he was finished with my adjustment, he asked me about my diet, and we discussed my gluten free eating habits. He asked me if I was taking any supplements, and suggested that I take Omega 3 fatty acid supplments and a digestive enzyme. He also suggested that we do a very thorough blood, hair, urine lab workup to determine what other things, if any, are going on with me. While I am very interested in this sort of thing, I am not financially prepared to do it at this time, as it is a very expensive panel of tests, and I suggested to him that I wait for that until next winter when we come back to the Phoenix area. He thought that was a good idea.

So, there you have it. My first experience with a naturopathic chiropractor. I was impressed with the attention and time he spent with me. Time will tell if he did me any good.

A Palpable Mass, Part II

A week or so ago, I wrote about my arm, my left arm. I told you about how it is swollen and how it hurts when I pick things up or try to open the door of the truck. I went to a doctor and they sent me to get an ultrasound done on that arm.

Yesterday, they called me to tell me that the ultrasound did not find anything. Well, the exact wording of the report, which I drove over and picked up today, is:

" We studied the area of soft tissue swelling in the left forearm and made comparison images of the right side.

I do not identify a superficial mass or fluid collection on the left side.

The deeper muscles on the left side have a little more globlular shape but no definite abnormality was identified there.

Impression: No discrete sonographic abnormality proved. Deeper forearm muscles have a slightly more globular shape on the left than on the right..."

They went on to say that I should be referred to a primary care physician so that primary care physician can refer me for an MRI. I asked them to refer me to a doctor because I do not know any doctors in the area, and they referred me to the General Practice group that is associated with their Urgent Care Facility.

They also told me that because I am a new patient, I will have to pay a higher fee, even though I have already been seen at their Urgent Care Facility. (what a ripoff, they have the record of my visit already). I made the appointment for Thursday. Then we went over to visit with our friends, Lynda and Charlie. Yeah, even though we were off today we went over there anyway.

I was telling Lynda about my medical stuff to bring her up to date, and I mentioned to her that the "doctor" I thought I saw at the Urgent Care Facility was actually a Nurse Practioner. Now, I have nothing against nurses, or nurse practioners, so if you are one or know a super one, don't go getting your panties all in a wad. It was just that "my impression" of this particular nurse practioner was that she was a ditz. That she was preoccupied with something other than "my" arm when I went in there to see her. And that she could have cared less about my arm. It was a Saturday, and it was close to quitting time when I went there. So, maybe she had other things to think about. That's just how "I" felt about it. That maybe she was not the best person for me to see.

We had met a Naturopathic Chiropractor who came to the Christmas tree lot to buy his family's Christmas tree, and chatted with him about a lot of stuff (we were not that busy). He seemed to have a lot of the same thoughts on medicine as I do, and he gave me his business card. So, while I was at Lynda's I called his office. His receptionist is also his wife, and she remembered me from the tree lot. After I told her what my problem was, we made an appointment for me to go see him tomorrow. If he can not figure out what is wrong with my arm, he will refer me to a Osteopathic doctor who is in practice with him. Right now, I feel like that is the best way for me to go. I feel sort of "led" to go in that direction. Why else would I meet this doctor and strike up a conversation with him, if he was not supposed to be in my life right at this moment. We'll see.

In the meantime, I want everyone to tell me all the horror stories about their best friend's cousin's mother-in-law who had a swollen arm, and what the problem with them was. I want all the scenarios I can get, so I can google them and maybe self diagnose my problem. Comment away, let me know what YOU think may be wrong with me.

I still think, my best guess, is that I have a fracture in the a bone in there. But no one in a medical suit listens to what I have to say.

A Breathing Treatment For The Truck

We have a 1997 Ford F250 diesel pick up truck. It has been a great truck. In December of 2006, we got one of those superchips for it, that revs it up and gives it more power. Ever since then FabGrandpa has wanted to get a custom exhaust pipe put in. The existing exhaust pipe was flat, and did not allow the engine to "breathe" as well as it should, so it could overheat when towing a large travel trailer over the mountains.


Yesterday, we went to Chuck's Speed and RV in Phoenix to get this done. This involved me getting up early on my day off. We got there at about 8:30 a.m. FabGrandpa had made an appointment with them last week to get this work done, so they were expecting us. They took the truck right in and started working on it.

We called Enterprise and got a rental car for the day so we wouldn't have to just hang around waiting. They came and picked us up at Chuck's and took us to their office to get the car. It was a Chrysler Sebring, not the smallest car out there, but after riding in a Ford F250 for years, I felt like I was riding in an enclosed skateboard. It was a nice enough, but close to the ground.


The nice people at Enterprise told us about Fast Eddie's Diner. They have been in business for a long time, and have a lot of regular customers. Their breakfast is $3.99 all day every day. It was pretty good, and had a great counter. I just wish they weren't so far from where we are staying so we could go there every morning. It was that good!


We went back home after breakfast. I washed my hair and FabGrandpa took a nap. I had an appointment to get the ultrasound on my arm at 2:00 p.m. The lab is only two miles away. We got there with plenty of time to spare. I forgot to take my camera with me to get a shot of the ultrasound, dang it! To see what it looked like, click here: Ultrasound of lipoma in arm That's not my arm but it looks just like mine. The mass was sort of oval, shaped like an egg, definitely there. She did one scan of my right arm for comparison and there was no egg shaped thing in that one. I guess I am eating too many eggs, as I am growing one in my arm now.


About 4:00 p.m. the guy called from Chuck's to let us know they were finished with our truck, so we went back over there to pick it up. Here is what the new pipe looks like:


And FabGrandpa got these two really cool gauges:


The top one measures the temperature of the air coming out of the new exhaust pipe. The second one measures "turbo boost". He is in "guy heaven", he is such a gauge kind of guy. They even light up at night.