It was Thanksgiving 2022. We went to our kids’ for the holiday, and because I’m a dad who loves his children and family more than anything in this world, I totally forgot I was in my 50s and thought it would be just fine to play badminton with my boys.
Turns out it wasn’t. After the thrill and adrenaline and fun of playing a game I’m terrible at with my adult children who didn’t take it easy on me even a little bit wore off, I started feeling pain and weakness in my shoulder. By the following morning, it had spread to my elbow. When we got back home, my wrist had joined in on the action.
Something you need to know about me is that I’ll do literally anything in the world before I will go to the doctor. I know that’s not the smartest thing, but it’s how I’ve been forever. But I’m trying to actually center myself and my self care more consistently as I enter this part of my life, so I only ignored this for a little over a year; a new personal record.
About five weeks ago, I woke up and couldn’t lift my left arm. It was completely dead and my forearm hurt like crazy. What the fuck, Wil’s Body? All I did was sleep!
Well, all I did was sleep and ignore an injury for a year. So I went to see the doctor about a month ago, and told him the whole embarrassing story.
He ran all these tests on me, and looked at my medical history. He pointed out that when I was 18, I was a goalie in a recreational hockey league. I took a slapshot to my face that defied physics and engineering, collapsed my helmet into my forehead, where it split open like an orange peel that was squeezed too tightly. It also gave me whiplash, and herniated two discs in my neck.
He said that it was a serious injury, and while I had always known that in the abstract, I hadn’t even really thought about exactly how serious it was.
I don’t remember much of it (I was in shock at the time), but I spent hours in surgery with a cosmetic surgeon who did such a good job closing it (with something like 30 stitches), I don’t have a cool scar to show off today. Nobody said anything about my skeleton, my neck, my spine, or the herniated discs, so I never followed up about what turns out to be the most serious and lasting part of the whole thing. I don’t know how a person goes over 35 years with a neck as messed up as mine without knowing it, but all I can do is point to myself and make the “i dunno” face with the hands up.
So when I woke up with a completely dead and aching arm (because I slept on my left side like a maniac), I admitted to myself that I’d chosen poorly for over a year, and I made an appointment with the same doctor who has provided excellent care to Anne.
I fully expected that I had a soft tissue injury, possibly a tear in something. I thought maybe surgery would be involved, which would not be great but is entirely my fault for choosing the “ignore it and it will go away” approach to being a middle-aged dude.
But it turns out that, according to the X-ray and other tests he did, I have no soft tissue injury or any tears in any part of my body. The badminton and associated activities just pushed my body past its ability to barely hold itself together.What I do have is no curve in my neck, three almost entirely compressed discs, and a bunch of muscles all doing their best to compensate. These things work together to form Voltron, where Blazing Sword is my arm feeling like it’s experiencing an electrical fire that also itches. Really great stuff. I’ll form the head.
The good news, according to my doctor, is that physical therapy will heal all of this. The great news, according to me, is that I get to start it today after waiting a month for a spot to open up.
I’m so excited to go do this, I woke up two hours before my alarm this morning and I’ve been counting down for the last six hours until I get to leave.
That’s so fucking middle-aged, isn’t it? “Oh my god, you guys! I am so excited to start physical therapy, I woke up early! What a great day! See you all at 4pm for dinner, after my nap!”
…still punk as fuck.
I wonder if it’s a guy thing? I hate going to the doctor for any reason, but then I remind myself that I have a duty to my wife and daughter to make sure I’m at least vaguely healthy. You clearly have the same mindset, namely that you realised what your body was telling you, and did something about it. That’s the biggest takeaway, that you had the sense to do that! It may have taken a while, but I’m guilty of that too!
Hey, there’s nothing that says you can’t be punk and still take naps. I’m only a few years older than you and I’ve developed a habit of taking a nap after I get home from work. My cat gladly helps by demanding I lie down so that she can turn me into a mattress immediately after I arrive home. I’m sure you understand the soporific effects of a purring cat on your chest. I’m not punk, but I also wasn’t before I reached a stage in life that naps seem like a really good idea, so I think my logic holds that you can be punk and take naps. Especially in your 50s.
I’d criticize you for waiting so long to see a doctor if I wasn’t at least as bad about that sort of thing as you seem to be. So I feel simultaneously seen and embarrassed. Glad the prognosis seems to be good.
I’m sure you know this and have been told, but it bears repeating – physical therapy will at first make things seem like they’re getting worse, because you’re asking your body to do the things that hurt so you can get better. Power through, take pain meds as you can, and do the things you’re supposed to do as often as they tell you to do them. It will get better but you will have to go through what one of my favorite content creators calls “the ugly middle.” Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Having sneezed my way into Dr visits and XRays, this hits pretty hard.
I used to live in the Gulf South, and had pretty bad allergies back then. Mostly related to grass. I threw out by back the first time during a sneezing fit when I was in Highschool (Class of ’94). Been fighting with a bad back ever since. I am actually lying on my living room floor right now because I threw it out again a couple of weeks ago. The sneezing your back out of whack seems like a definite design flaw.
I am sorry, I snorted beer over my keyboard after reading those last two lines! Get well soon, sir!
Me, I’ve an appointment with a knee specialist the middle of next month. My old doctor is slowly retiring, so I saw the new doctor the time before last I went to the surgery to renew my prescriptions, and he said “Why are you taking so many of this one?” “Cos I’ve no cartilage left in my knee and it’s quite sore and I can’t run any more.” “Uh-huh… you know this stuff is really bad for your kidneys? Can you cut down?” “… the other doctor told me to take it, I’m not doing it for fun!”
Anyway, I cut that stuff in half and now my knee is really sore! But hey, maybe they’ll replace it with a metal one and I can go back to “Zombies, Run!”, so there’s that?
I have not had a traumatic hockey injury, but so much of this resonated with me that I was forced to comment (I never comment). Enjoy PT!!
Loved the Voltron reference. After enough years go by, you tend to think you’re the only one who responds to life events in the form of 80s cartoons. “Thundercats, Ho!” Sorry about your messed up body. I think we’ve all been there. For me, it’s not a gender thing so much as a being broke thing. When I have good insurance and income, I have the docs on speed dial. As it is, I’m nursing a hematoma, poison ivy rash, and several bug bites. (2/3 have had before, looked up the third and followed advice). Maybe it’s a GenX thing also? We got knocked down, but got up again… Anyway, I hope the PT yields good results!
It seems like this is a man thing. I’m ok with going to the doctor as a woman going on 46, I just need time to process anxiety over routine cancer screenings. My 60 year old male partner tho, hasn’t been in 30, and has no interest in going.
Try dry needling. I have a bulging disc at c5 I didn’t know about and last August I woke in the middle of the night in agonizing pain so bad it sent me to the emergency room.
Pinched nerve pain shooting down my arm. It was awful. Couldn’t lay down, couldn’t sit up, couldn’t lift my head.
Took lots of Motrin/Tylenol combo pills and that helped alongside steroids and topical pain ointment.
The dry needling actually felt really good and helped release the tension in my neck/shoulder. I still have some numbness but I can use my arm and hand with no pain and my neck is fully functional again.
I’m about the same age and I feel you. Wake up sore because you slept wrong. In case you haven’t done PT before, the first session may be expensive because it’s a one-on-one eval. I did PT for knee arthritis about a year ago, and it has made an amazing difference. Yeah it will ramp up and not feel good, but it will pay off in the end. Ask them whether you should keep doing the same exercises at home, get weights, etc.
…something clicked and I can’t move now… I know it all too well OFA (Old F*****g Age) Syndrome 😉
I had a semi-similar experience… I injured one of my hips, but didn’t go see a doctor about it right away. It was right when I was in the best shape of my life, and I decided to start running for the first time since high school. Not even 5 minutes into the run, intense pain shot down from one of my hips, and I limped home. Didn’t go see a doctor, and it SEEMED fine the next day. Pain came and went but generall wasn’t too bad. Fast forward about four years, one night all of a sudden I collapse when that same hip goes out and I can’t put any weight on it due to the intense pain. Aaaand 3 hip surgeries later… O_o It was an important lesson for me about going to the doctor sooner rather than later.
My sympathies, and I’m glad you’re getting taken care of! And that it won’t require surgery for you!
Ooof. I feel ya. I had similar issues with my neck (degenerated discs (genetic, sadly), no neck curvature). Tried PT, tried injections… ended up having to have surgery when I was 51. The discs were removed and a spinal cage was put into place. Things are much better, I have a neck curve, spinal bling, and a scar on my throat that I can tell everyone I got being shanked in prison, LOL. Hope the PT helps!
My sympathies! I had something similar (degenerative discs at C4 and C5 (genetic, whee) and no curvature). I had injections, I did PT, nothing helped. Ended up needing surgery at 51 to have the discs removed and a spinal cage installed. Things are a lot better now: I have a curve in my neck now, sweet spinal bling, and a scar on my throat that I can tell everyone I got being shanked in prison, LOL. Hope you’re feeling better sooner rather than later!
(My comment disappeared into the ether the first time around, so I’m trying again; sorry for any dupe post)
Those compressed vertebrae probably robbed you of an inch of height. You could have been taller, Wil. TALLER!
Came here to say I have a similar compressed/bulging disks problem in my neck that periodically makes the left side of my neck and my left shoulder very sore, my left pinky and ring finger numb/tingling, and my forearm numb/burning. Physical therapy will -address- it and give you exercises to keep it away (some of which will make you look and feel like an idiot), but sadly will not permanently fix it. Sorry. :/
My sympathies! I dealt with something similar (degenerative discs at C4 and C5 (genetic, whee) and no curvature) that caused immense pain down my left arm. I had injections, I did PT, nothing helped. Ended up needing surgery at 51 to have the discs removed and a spinal cage installed. Things are a lot better now: I have a curve in my neck now, sweet spinal bling, and a scar on my throat that I can tell everyone I got being shanked in prison, LOL. Hope you’re feeling better sooner rather than later!
(…third time’s the charm? Comment keeps disappearing, sorry if this appears three times)
I hurt my right knee on October 30, 2021. (Woke up hurting on Halloween.) I went to a doctor for it last week. I hear ya, Wil. I hear ya. Here’s a speedy recovery and as much function back as possible. And what that person above said about PT is true. It’ll be worse at first, but then better. The only way out is through.
How did I hurt my knee, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. I competed in (and won) a Star Wars trivia/game show at a con. There was a dare component (which I later gave feedback on as being ablist) that involved some physical tasks. I had to be a porg. I waddled around in a weird squat for…entirely too long…on my somewhat already crap right knee. And here we are.
Yup getting older sucks. In my 50’s now but still think I can do things I did in my 20’s and 30’s. Father time needs a big ol’ C*ck Punch!
Wil, I just love your style of writing. It makes the mundane punk as fuck. Thank you!
I can’t say I’ve EVER had trouble going to see doctors. After an episode of neglected double pneumonia at age 4(!) which almost put me in the grave(!), doctors and illnesses were just another part of my life. (If you’re keeping score, that’s 63 years of chronic illness.)
I can utterly sympathise with your cervical woes. In my late 20s, I blew out my C5-6 disc and have been dealing with the knock-on effects since … oh, 1986? Atm, my neurologist says “oh yeah, you have cervical radiculopathy (aka pinched nerves in my neck) and at some point we’ll have to do surgery on your neck again(!) to whittle away the overgrowths.” (The last surgery was a C5-6 laminectomy and fusion, about 2012, to address the ruptured disc.) In the meantime, I’m using a combo TENS/IFC/NMES unit to relieve pain and stimulate myo-growth. It’s done a lot for me, so I’d recommend you talk to your own doctor about “would a TENS unit help me?”