I really hate the left

[JBillyGirl]

side of my body. (Made you look!)

The tendinitis in my left wrist that gave me such trouble last winter has flared up again in the last two or three months, and I am wearing a brace again (though not as consistently as I should, as I despise it). But now on top of this, I've developed a pain toward the outside of my left foot that is off and on but hasn't gone away, even with the Aleve my doctor told me to take when I saw her a while ago (she thought it might also be tendinitis, but she didn't know). I've been trying to ignore it, but yesterday my foot really started to hurt when I took a short walk for exercise, and I decided to go back to the doctor.

The doctor (actually a PA) couldn't tell me what was wrong, but she did have me get an x-ray to find out. She did say that my left pinkie toe seemed to be angled out (or in?) more than the other one, for whatever that's worth. Among the possibilities were "my foot settling out" (whatever that means) and arthritis (noooooo!). One thing she mentioned that freaked me out a bit was the (slim) possibility of a hairline fracture. If that were true and I had to get a cast, wouldn't I have to walk on crutches with my bad left hand? Argh.

The most immediate impact of this was that the doc told me not to go canvassing in Philadelphia today, which I had really wanted to do to help get out the Democratic vote. (I'll bet this will make some Republicans happy, though.) So I'm home, and I'm bummed. Though maybe I'll do some phone banking later today that does not involve my foot.

I also had my first mammogram yesterday (one-stop shopping!), which I've been putting off for the last 5 years. To my layman's eye, the scans looked good, but I hope my left boob doesn't decide to give me trouble like the rest of that side of me.

Anyone else feel like their body started falling apart when they turned 40? Middle age sucks.

[BackInTex]

We'd make a great pair.

I hate the right (side of my body). Tight shoulder and wrists and almost constant leg muscle pain when I lift my leg or try to run.

[TheCalvinator24]

Don't fell like I'm falling apart, but I took a spill last night at rehearsal. I missed a step going down a small stair unit. Flew several feet and slid for a bit, too. Scraped up my left hand and am sore on my right hip.

[JBillyGirl]

It does sound like you and I would make quite a pair, BiT, though your problems sound worse than mine. I hope they're not permanent and that you feel better.

And Cal, that sounds like a nasty spill. I hope the scrapes heal quick and that the hip soreness is temporary. I remember having a fall something like that in high school when rehearsing for the musical No, No, Nanette. We had a big set with a full set of stairs on either side, and in one number I had to run down them starting from nearly the top. I anticipated my cue too early, tried to step back, but lost my footing and tumbled all the way down head over heels. I was completely OK (though it gave me quite a shock at the time), but I wasn't middle-aged at the time, so that may have helped.

[Bob Juch]

Anyone else feel like their body started falling apart when they turned 40? Middle age sucks.

Mine started at 39.5. I had my cataract operations and my gall bladder removed within three months.

[ghostjmf]

I've had plantar fasciitis 3 times. The 1st time, 30+ years ago, every doctor in the world ignored it because "you haven't broken anything"; finally a doctor asked me if I'd fallen recently, which I had, explained I could have injured the tendon in my foot "reaching out" with the foot to break my fall, which I had, & that ripping the tendon could let calcium out resulting in a calcified tendon. OK, this was technically a calcified tendon, not fasciitis, but I've gotta look up whether they are one & the same. Felt the same as:

Years later, when I was told I plantar fasciitis. After 1st being told I "wasn't in enough pain" when various parts of my foot were pressed. After making my walk to about 3 different X-ray facilities (even though my foot HURT; what ever happened to phoning ahead: "Do you have the right machine?"), they were able to find a sports-medicine machine which would take a "standing up with pressure on it" X-ray. Musta actually been more than an X-ray, as fasciitis involves fascia, not bone. Whatever. They then said "you do have it, but we don't believe in any of those special bandages or exercises. If you still have it in a month, come in for a cortisone shot." I did the exercises I read on the internet web sites anyway. They seemed to help. Got no shot.


My 30+ years earlier calcified tendon went away when I got my period. Hormone levels changing are a great healer of various things. I don't have that hormonal fluctuation to help me avoid cortisone shots any more. But the exercises do help, either way.