shoulder

Got a call from Dr Kunkle's office yesterday regarding my shoulder. The MRI shows some encapsulitis but does not show any damage from injury or otherwise. That's good news because it means that no surgery is needed to make any repair. Instead, it is a wait & see while the shoulder heals itself. Dr Kunkle is not recommending physical therapy since he doesn't feel that gets the shoulder to heal any faster. And, if not careful, certain physical therapy can actually irritate the shoulder and make it more painful. He offered a cortisone shot if I wanted; but, again, this would not really improve the healing time. At most, the shot might provide some pain relief. He did provide an Rx for an anti-inflamatory med - etolodac which is generic for Lodine. I will take it in the AM and PM with brreakfast and dinner. Will stop taking Advil since they expect that this med will also alleviate my AM headaches - and it did today. I plan to pass on the cortisone shot and see if I can deal with the pain with the help of the anti-inflamatory. I am to get back to Dr Kunkly in three months to review status at that time.

Also, I took the first Ambien that Dr Einhorn prescribed for me to help with my trouble sleeping. It was nice to basically sleep through the night. I will need to see how I can use the Ambien and control the frequency so that I only take it when necessary.