It all started in November 2010 when my right shoulder started to pop a little when moved. I had planned on getting it looked at in 2011. On a trip to Bowling Green for work, in late November 2010, I noticed a pain in my shoulder that didn't feel to good as I tried to drive. I made it back, but started looking for an Orthopedic doctor to get it looked at.
On December 9, 2010, I saw an orthopedic doctor to have my right shoulder looked at. Got a few x-rays of the shoulder, and found out that the doctor wanted to go straight for the MRI. So the wait begins.
On December 20, 2010, I had an MRI on my right shoulder. After the first set of images, they pulled me out and said they saw what looked like a snap in the shoulder area and wanted to look to see if I left something on. There was no snap. About 45 minutes later, I was done. Longest set of images took 16 minutes.
On December 23, 2010 at 9:30am, my Orthopedic doctor called to give me the MRI results. This was the day my family picked to do our Christmas. He stated that the MRI showed a lesion on the humeral head in the right shoulder and a possible tumor. A second lesion was possibly there as well but not clearly seen. My doctor said there I should not worry about cancer as there are more tests needed, and it was outside of his specialty. He was referring me to a doctor that specializes in shoulder tumors and oncology. I can't tell you how shocked this news was for me, and unsure what was going on. I was told that the office would call to schedule an appointment for me. Here comes the wait, my next appointment is January 20, 2011. Nice.
Due to whatever is going on in my shoulder, each weekend there was extreme pain throbbing in my right shoulder and nothing was helping, so I called the doctor for some drugs. 500Mg Hydrocodone, you would think that would do it. Not!
I toughed it out barely to January 20th, but I called numerous times to try and get in early, but it didn't happen. So my first visit went well with the new specialist, he didn't agree with the MRI results and felt that it was inflammation in the bicep and could be treated with meds and physical therapy. He did want to test for worst case due to the MRI report, so he scheduled blood work, a full body scan (nuclear medicine) and a CT Scan with Contrast of the abdomen, pelvis, and chest. Appointment for the x-rays was scheduled for January 26th, thats only a week later, was very excited. Follow-up for results was February 3rd. Blood work was drawn before I left the hospital.
So January 26, 2011 came fast, and I checked in to Norton's Brownsboro for the x-rays. Got the nuclear injection and drank the special lemonade concoction which was not bad. Had an awesome experience from the techs who did the cat scans and full body scans. Time to wait a little more.
February 3, 2011, not a peep from the doctor. I figure, no news is good news. So I get to the office and sit in the holding room. 45 minutes and still no doctor. Alas he comes in. He has someone with him, maybe an intern, and sat down asking how I was. By this point, I am anxious. Do I have a tumor, is it cancerous, what did the tumor marker test indicate. The doctor did not have the blood results so he left to get them and came back. He didn't really tell me much on the blood results, other than it looked a little anemic and some counts were off. He said the right shoulder showed a "hot spot" but didn't really see a tumor nor did he see the humeral head breaking down due to the lesions. Okay so now I am really confused. What he did concentrate on was that there were a couple masses in my stomach area in the lymph nodes, and the largest was 8cm's. He said it could be Lymphoma, but he needs to send me to another specialist to diagnose. He feels that the right shoulder "hot spot" is connected to the stomach lymph nodes, and maybe we will need to do some radiation on the shoulder to deaden the pain, but he wants me to see another specialist to proceed further. He gave me the option to have my primary care doctor refer me, or he knew two specialists he recommended, and I wanted his referral at this point. He said he was on text basis with both, and would try to get me in as soon as he could. So, he ordered a biopsy of the mass, and that is scheduled on February 9, 2011. However, due to the preferred specialist and being a new patient, I got a follow up appointment on February 22, 2011, are you kidding me? :)
Okay so on February 8th, good news came to me and my doctor worked some magic through texting and I am going in for results of the biopsy on February 11, 2011. I can't believe it!!!
I decided to summarize what has happened so far in a single post and build this blog on my journey to fix my shoulder pain and whatever mass is in my stomach. I don't know if it is cancer yet, but it could be. Either way, I am on the way to recovery for whatever is causing the pain in my shoulder, and wanted to share it with those that have supported me with prayers and support so far.
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