If The Bowling Season Were To Begin Tomorrow There Is No Way I Could Hold A 14 Pound Ball No Less Than Roll It 60 Feet. Rewind Two Years Ago This Month. I Was Experiencing Piercing Pain In The Upper Shoulder Area. Since My Father Had Heart Related Issues In His Early 50's I Figured It Would Make Sense To Have It Checked Out. His Pain Was In The Upper Shoulder Area As Well So There Was Reason Enough To Be Concerned. My Brother Just A Year Earlier Had A Heart Attack And Had Stints Placed Inside Him To Keep His Blood Flowing.
Long Story Short, They Kept Me Overnight For Observation. I Was Released The Following Morning Showing No Signs Of Heart Related Problems. Yet I Still Had This Pain That Would Not Go Away. What About That I Asked? They Knew It Wasn't Life Threatening So It Seemed They Weren't Too Concerned. I Could Only Stand The Pain For An Additional Day Or Two So I Decided To Travel To Champaign And Go To Carle Hospital.
Please Don't Get Me Wrong, The VA Hospital Is Very Good To Me. If It Weren't For Them I Would Not Be Alive Today. I Hold No Grudges But I Had To Find The Source Of This Pain. I Consider Myself To Have A High Tolerance For Pain But This Was Becoming Unbearable. When I Arrived At Carle They Eliminated Any Kind Of Heart Related Problems. They However XRayed Where The Pain Was Located. It Wasn't But An Hour Later When They Found The Problem. In The Cervical Area Of My Spine The Cartilage That Separates The Disk Were Breaking Down. It's All A Part Of The Aging Process And There Was Nothing They Could Do. They Prescribed IB Profen And Told Me That Should Help. Ofcourse I Gave Them A Rather Odd Look Because That's What I Take For My Daily Headaches And I Thought They Could Prescribe Something A Little More Stronger.
They Informed Me The IB Profen Was Not For The Pain But For The Swelling. The Past Couple Of Weeks Before Finally Going To See A Doctor I Had To Raise My Arm In The Air To Get Some Comfort From The Pain. They Explained That Just The Weight Of My Arm Was Causing The Pain And It Would Be Relieved Once I Raised My Arm. That Made Sense To Me. Since The Swelling Was The Source Of My Pain The Main Objective Was To Get It Reduced So I Could Go On With My Everyday Activities. After About A Month Of Taking The IB Profen All My Pain Was Gone And It Hasn't Returned Yet.
For The Past Couple Of Weeks I Have Been Experiencing The Same Type Of Pain But This Time On My Right Side. Yes, My Bowling Arm!
This Pain Appeared Just A Couple Days From A Scheduled Doctors Appointment So I Tuffed It Out Until I Saw The Doc. She Agreed With My Assumption That The Pain Was Associated With What I Was Experiencing Just Two Years Prior. However This Time She Gave Me Something A Little Stronger For The Pain But Told Me To Continue With The IB Profen. It's Been More Than A Week Since I Saw The Doctor And The Pain Is Still There. A Friend Of Mine Was Having Some Of The Same Type Of Problems And He Told Me To Try Naproxen. I Told This To My Doctor A Couple Years Ago And She Agreed That It May Help. It Did Help But They Wouldn't Let Me Have Both IB Profen And Naproxen. After The Swelling And The Pain Went Away I Switched Back To IB Profen Because The Naproxen Was Not Relieving My Headaches. I Still Have Some Naproxen Left So This Morning I Decided To Begin Taking It. At This Point I Have Nothing To Lose. I Decided If The Pain Doesn't Go Away In A Couple Of Weeks I Will Have To Return To The Doctor To See If They Can Take Some XRays To See Exactly What The Problem Is. We Both Assumed It Was Related To What Happened Just Two Years Ago. You Know What They Say About Assumptions.
Bowling Is Another Couple Months From Now And It Is My Hopes This Will Be All Healed By Then. I Am President Of The League And I Would Have To Resign If I Am Unable To Bowl. Being President Is Not As Important To Me As Bowling Is. My Brother Is Returning To Illinois To Live Off His Pension And He Will Be Joining My Father And Myself And Bowl On Our Team. I'm Not Sure How Much Longer My Father Will Be Able To Continue To Bowl. He Has Been Having Hip And Back Problems And Every Week Is Different For Him. He Briefly Quit Last Season Because Of The Pain He Was Experiencing. It Is My Hopes His Condition Improves And He Will Continue To Bowl.
So In The Meantime I Have Two Months To Heal Or Otherwise Quit Bowling.
Let's Hope For The Best!
