God's Tender Mercies - A phone call

The month of January was a rough one, and once again God chose this time to share another of His tender mercies with me. 

About a week after I came home from Hawaii, I started having some pain in my left shoulder and neck area.  I had the pain most days off and on, but it responded to Ibuprofen so it was tolerable.  I sought help from a chiropractor and massage therapist that I had been seeing off and on since last summer  when I had pain in my left shoulder blade area.  That issue had been resolved, or so I thought.  This time the pain was more in my left upper shoulder and lower neck area.  My chiro told me my muscles felt like a tight unyielding rope. She and the massage therapist worked on helping me get the issues resolved again and was able to give me some short term relief.

However, the week after Christmas, my shoulder muscles pulled into a extremely painful tight spasming knot that I could not get to release.  Suspecting this might have something to do with  Parkinson's I tried to get an appointment with my neurologist.  Frustratingly, I could not get in to see him until early February so I made an appointment with my primary care doctor instead.  Based on the MRI report I had done during the summer because of the other shoulder issue, which showed minor arthritis in my neck, she diagnosed a neck strain and said it was aggravating the arthritis.  She referred me to physical therapy.

I had now been dealing with this constant pain for almost 3 weeks and the pain was no longer responding to any pain medication.  When I saw the physical therapist, she tried several tricks to get the muscles to release, but they were unresponsive.  She said the muscles were pulling my left collar bone and ribs up towards my head about an inch.  She put me in a position to release the tension in the muscles,  but instead it actually cramped them even more.    "It should not be doing that", she exclaimed.  Well it was!  The next day, I desperately tried to get some relief from a message, but after it was over I was tighter than ever and still in terrible pain.  I left her office and got into my car and just sat there on the verge of tears.  "Father, I can not do this.  I can't live like this - what am I going to do?", I silently prayed. 

As I sat there trying to pull myself together so I could drive, my cell phone rang.  I didn't recognize the number and just about ignored it, but for some reason decided to answer it.  To my total shock and amazement, it was my neurologist.  "I haven't seen you for awhile and decided to see how you are doing.", he said.  I pulled the phone from my ear and stared at it for a couple of seconds.  No doctor has ever just called me out of the blue - ever.  "Really?" I responded, "were you inspired by God to call me?"  Surprised, he answered, "I occasionally call my patients to see how they are."  Yeah - right!!  I knew better! 

To make a long story short, my neurologist's phone call was literally a God send and he was able to determine that I was experiencing dystonia caused by the Parkinson's and helped me get the pain relief I so desperately needed - which included putting me on the gold standard Parkinson's medicine, Carbidopa/levodopa or in lay terms - the dopamine medicine.  The pain is gone and I am so much better.   I did not realize just how much the Parkinson's was really affecting me until I got some of that dopamine back in me!   That's good stuff - that dopamine is!!!!  Good Stuff!

Never before has a doctor called me out of the blue - ever, so I know in my heart of hearts who was really responsible for that phone call.  I am grateful that the doctor acted on a thought that was placed in his mind and even more grateful for a loving God who constantly showers my life with his very timely tender mercies! 

OOPS!

Hubby and I went to the movies tonight.  Unfortunately nothing we wanted to see was playing during the time frame we needed, except one independent film that had caught my eye, "A moment in time".  I enjoy going to independent films, although I have to admit, they are sometimes a hit or miss event.  I usually go to see them alone, as Hubby is not so enamoured with them.  But he agreed to see this one with me ...

... And his response to it was  ...   Several very loud exaggerated "just shoot me now" sighs throughout the movie ... and I think at one point he may have been snoring  ...  As we walked out of the movie he asked me why I thought he would like such a hideous, screechy, obnoxious, boring, horrible, sappy, sickeningly drawn out, torturous movie?  Hhmm - do you think he liked it?

Oops!  I think this is one I should have gone to alone! 

(Somehow I knew I might be in trouble when I saw the theater was full of Philippine teenage girls. Oops!!!!)

A wasted snow day! How sad!

My boss told us yesterday that if it's snowing today he was going to close the office.  It did snow, not that bad, so I thought maybe I would go in to work anyways and get caught up while it was quiet.  Hubby had to go in to work early this morning for something very important (not), but said he would come home around noon.  So I decided not to go to work and spend the day with him instead.

Did some laundry, got caught up on some of favorite blogs and Internet sites, read, watched some TV, and waited.  No Hubby!  I waited and waited and waited some more.  Took a nap and piddled away the rest of the afternoon.  Still no Hubby!   Finally at 7:30 p.m. he showed up (his normal work day time to come home). 

Such a waste of a perfectly good snow day!  :(

At least I had a relaxing (not to mention very non-productive) day.