Spring has Sprung

More on the Shoulder Problem

I had to go back to the Ortho guy today because my Physical Therapy prescription expired. Fortunately, I was in the middle of a self imposed "body" experiment (I do these occasionally) and my shoulder was much worse. If there is something going on with me, I'll often do an experiment, like with the shoulder I abstained from all exercise involving the shoulder for 10 days. The shoulder actually got worse. That led to valuable info for the doctor, he feels its more muscular than joint related. Well, to tell you the truth, I could have told him that. But I was glad to hear it none the less.

So after much discussion we elected to treat the issue from 2 different avenues, as a chronic inflammation in the shoulder joint and as a muscular problem in the pectoral/shoulder region. So, I have 4 more weeks of Physical Therapy and today I had my first cortisone shot. I was fairly freaked out about that whole cortisone shot thing. I thought they were going to come after me with a 14" needle, but it was just a little needle, was actually less painful than when the vultures try to get blood out of my arm, and the shoulder hurts less already. Also, when we discussed that physical inactivity worsens the problem, he said to get out there and play more golf and go to the gym more! WooHoo!!!

Another update will follow in a few weeks, as I'm sure you're dying to know about my health....

Things that happened a long time ago....

It's interesting and disturbing how things that happen a long time ago affect us for the rest of our lives. I was just in Boulder, CO and something that happened to me ~ 10 years ago came up again. I've not told anyone except maybe Dena this story, but I'll share it with you now.

About 10 years ago I was in Calgary, Alberta working on a VoiceMail project for some oil company. I was staying in the Sheraton by the airport. One night I was sleeping and was awakened by noises. I laid there confused as I was just in a dead sleep. I heard loud banging like something was being thrown against a wall. I was still kind of confused. Then I heard a door slam and I heard what I thought was sobbing in the hall. It began to dawn on me that someone was beating this woman. At first I was momentarily stunned and a little at a loss as to what to do. I quickly regained my senses and got up and peeked out the peep hole. I could see nothing but as I had made my way to the door I heard someone open a door and probably pull her back in as the door slammed again.

Shaking, I reached for the phone and called 911. Well, as you can imagine there was a swift response. The hotel front desk was miffed that I didn't tell them first. Yeah right. The cops came and since I could not pin point which room they could do nothing. Sounds come from all over in a hotel and they are hard to tie a direction to. The floor was deathly quiet for the rest of the sleepness night I had. It makes me tear up now just writing this blog. I feel so sorry that my response wasn't quicker for this woman and often wonder what ever became of her and the asshole that was beating her.

Now, sometimes I lie in a hotel room, sounds freak me out. The other night in the Courtyard Marriot in Boulder I heard what I thought was either crying or laughing in the hall. I can assure you I was out of bed in a flash! They were right in front of my door and she was kind of laughing and the man was cooing to her. So, no 911 calls that night.......

Movie Review -- Departed

Don't read this if you haven't watched it.

*************** SPOILER WARNING ***************

This movie was not oscar material. It was entertaining for sure. It was typical Martin Scorsese, definitely. It was disappointing in that it was apparently a complete remake of a Chinese film called Infernal Affairs, actually, so much a remake that it was scene for scene. Infernal Affairs (called Mou gaan dou in China) it is said was actually better than Marty's take on it. And it wasn't like Marty was making a remake of a 50 year old movie either, the movie was made in China in 2002. Jeesh, what is it saying about us that not only are we getting product from China and lessons in globalization but now we have to get our film ideas from them too? Sad.......

So why did Martin Scorsese win? Let's face it, he was given the Oscar as recognition for all his work. Do you really think people will remember Departed as a ground breaking, memorable film for years and years to come? No. But people will remember the type of film that Martin Scorsese makes and for that, he deserves an Oscar. Should it have been this year? Should he have been "encouraged" to stretch and make something even more innovative? Who knows.....

Physical Therapy Update

OK, so awhile ago I posted how I put off going to the physical therapist because I was concerned about the $1,000 a year coverage limit. I finally couldn't take the pain anymore in my shoulder and went to the PT place. I asked them to check coverage for me, just to be sure. I didn't want to run over the limit. She called and checked, it's unlimited. WHAT! Woohoo!! So, now I'm like, well why did my insurance company screw me last year when I went for my neck and only cover me for $1,000 leaving me with a nice $400 bill before I was notified I was cut off? I called them to find out the scoop. After many menus, much button pressing and speech activated menu navigating, I finally got a real person. Although, I'm not too sure you can call them real since they read almost every single word in our 10 minute conversation from a script. I could tell because she wasn't a good reader. A little slow. That's the new thing you know, almost every call center of any size has "scripted" employees. They read all questions, answers, etc from a set of scripts. It can be very aggravating, but don't try to bypass it because they cannot function if you veer from their script. Automatons.....

So I discovered that my "health" plan has 2 special exclusions for physical therapy. If you go for your back or your feet (your feet, really??), you have a $1,000 limit per calendar year. Your neck is part of your back because it's part of your spine. How stupid. I'm sure these exclusions are because most people who need physical therapy need it on their back, or apparently, their feet. The US system allows insurance companies to basically deny or limit coverage based on any whim they may have. Let me just tell you how ridiculous the American health care system is. How rigged. How against the normal everyday person and frankly, to some degree against the doctors, too.

Life Update

Well, I thought I would just throw out some info about all that's going on in my life right now cause I'm sure you've been wondering why I haven't been blogging. I've been too busy! It feels overwhelming, invigorating and exciting to have so much going on. As I mentioned to you all before I've been going to physical therapy for my shoulder & neck. Wow is it hard and very painful. I had to go 3 times a week but now I have to go back to the Ortho guy for a re-evaluation. My therapist, Darlene (who I'm pretty sure is gay but she is very, very professional and cleverly doesn't let on about anything in her personal life) is recommending me for more visits.

I am currently planning for a 4 day scrapbooking getaway at the end of March. That'll be a blast but there is a lot of planning that goes into these sorts of things. How much alcohol to bring, which pictures to scrap, who the masseuse is going to be, etc.

My mom and 2 of her sisters are coming in April 6th. I'm very excited about this. We're going to have a lot of fun. They all come in 3 hours apart at LAX. So, all day Friday I'll be driving back and forth to the airport. We'll be going to Disneyland, the Griffith Observatory, the Huntington Gardens for high tea (that reminds me, I have to make reservations for that....) and all sorts of fun, touristy stuff. I hope to be blogging that whole trip so stay tuned for that.

Just Stuff

My personal trainer (yes, I have one. I live in Los Angeles don't I) suggested that I let my hair grow longer and have it cut to look like Ellen Degeneres. He says she has baby fine hair, too. What do you think? Think I'd look good with an "ellen" haircut?

On the way home from the gym I pass thru Beverly Hills. Today I saw 5 cop cars and 9 cops arresting a guy. There's a joke in there somewhere right? How many Beverly Hills cops does it take to make an arrest?

By the way, if you live in Los Angeles you MUST know what IMDB is. People use it as a verb or noun in conversations. It's THE movie website with all the scoop.

I love singing in the shower with my parrot. He cracks me up. He sings and dances with me. He's bobbing and weaving and squawking....I wonder if he thinks I'm bobbing and weaving and squawking?

Hey all those Canadians reading my blog. Big shout out to all of you! How many of you are out there??? You can post comments even if you don't have a blogger account by doing anonymous. Jeesh that's a hard word to spell.