I'd like to lessen my lessons

Sure, yes, experiences can be a good way to learn, but, please, can I take a break from this class? My ankle condition seems to continue degrading. Friday night was unpleasant with my hip pain, which I do suspect is a result of problems with the support structure further down. I, and people who've experienced my reaction to injury...

(It consists mostly of bad jokes, like when a had a wardrobe malfuction with elastic skinny pants that sagged while riding and tore on the nose of the saddle. We kept ridding, and they sagged again, so after a dis-ass-trous lunge over a log, I rejoined the rest of the group with, "It seems more than my pants now need stitches." You get the idea, or if you don't, lucky you!)

...generally agree I either have a high tolerance or slightly deficient sensitivity to pain. Friday night hurt enough that I took additional acetaminophen and was considering a trip to the emergency room. I called a friend who was willing to transport me, but better, we chatted, which gave time for the pain reliever to make the discomfort bearable. I stayed home and slept.

Part way through the night, I needed another dose to sleep, and unlike my my prior experience, everything felt worse in the morning. That's bad. First world countries do have their advantages, and one of the U.S.'s is still health care when needed, at least until new federal cuts take effect (sigh). I went to the emergency room. Thanks Adele.

Out of the waiting room

and into the cushy medical chair room.

I know eau de toilet means purfume,

but the translation to English stinks.

Assuming those three buttons are for requests,

Does selcting "pain" call someone 

to turn the screws?

See, injury=bad humor

I really try, possibly overly, to avoid abusing this resource, but subsisting in that state until my primary care physician's office hours on Monday felt the wrong choice, possibly even for long term outcomes. The MRI on Wednesday was just my ankle. After it was ordered, I checked with my doctor to see if it would be simple and cost effect to add hip imaging while I was in the machine already, as my hip is often the locus of pain. Simple answer, no, insurance would grumble about that, so instead of an ounce of extra imaging, they ended up paying for me pounding the emergency room floor.

Actually, no, I didn't hit the floor that hard. Extra thanks to the member of the the check-in staff who, on seeing me hobbling with two hands on the cane, rushed out from behind the glass and down the stairs to help me into a wheel chair. Thank you! Still, I'm hoping the acute signal of an ER visit may push along the diagnostic process. It did at least pluck off some of the low hanging fruit in the form of x-rays of my hips and lumbar to confirm there was no bone issue, and the physician assistant also sent meds in the forms of muscle relaxers and anti inflammatory steroids to help ease the pain. He also recommended an osteopath visit, so hopefully those notes will sway my physician to order that.

The meds did seem to help, and yesterday afternoon, while still far from feeling good, was OK. I also wound up with some more current ibuprofen, which could have the advantage over acetaminophen in reducing inflammation, although I'm starting to hypothesize that part of my education is learning that it doesn't offer my body system much pain relief. 

My only memory of using it was in 1995 for the final race of my first adult New England series title. Just before the prior morning's downhill race, a brief rain burst had slicked the course surface, and I crashed in the corner that I was running on a less obvious but faster line. Later, a friend who was spectating told me more than half the field crashed there, but I was the only one, with more speed, whose body bounced after the initial landing. I separated my shoulder, but if Slade Warner, who was second in the series standings won Sunday's race, I needed to race and finish at least eighth to win the title. On someone's recommendation, I took a heavy dose of ibuprofen, but I don't recall any decrease in sensation. I could still push on the handlebars to resist impact, but I couldn't pull to unweight over bumps, so it hurt, but with the support of friend Brett, who rode with me through the whole race, I did cross the line in eighth, only six places behind Slade!

I tried the updated ibuprofen just before sleep last night, and two hours later I was up with my ankle in possible the most pain I have ever perceived, possibly from the mere weight of summer blankets on my foot. I hobbled to the table where I left out last year's air cast in the hope that would help reduce the linens pressure on my ligament, and after popping an acetaminophen and five minutes of heavy breathing, I relaxed my body enough to scoot backwards on my butt back to bed for OK sleep, with one more acetaminophen part way through to morning. Today I'm walking with crutches, confident yesterday's choice to use medical resources was justifiable.