So, funny story. I woke up one night in late July with excruciating pain radiating down my neck and shoulder into my fingers. Pain that barely responded to medication, exercise, or anything else. I tried chiropractic massage and adjustments, acupuncture, physical therapy, round-the-clock meds, and it only just took the edge off. Suffice to say: age 46 was off to a bang-up start.
I spent almost all of August in a haze of pain and medication and not sleeping. My fingers went numb and I had pins and needles in my arm off and on, plus a lot of pain under my arm where the shoulder muscles come together.
I did see an orthopedist during that time and he prescribed steroids for a week, which helped the first couple of days, but not much after. Had imaging done and: (*cue the trumpet*) I have torn my rotator cuff and pinched the nerve in my C7 vertabrae.
The tear is relatively small, so the doc wanted to start with a cortisone shot in my shoulder, which did help some. I saw the neck person two weeks ago and she wants me to get a shot in my neck for the pinched nerve (pray for me!) as well as additional imaging. I’ve had herniated discs in my neck for a long time, but it looks like perhaps the herniation has gotten worse.
Here’s the funny part. I think I aggravated the whole thing with the embroidery project I finished recently. I did think initially I caused the injury that way, but that is ridiculous. Injury by embroidery! While things are better overall, and I’m on less pain meds overall, I still have to be careful.
My neck shot is in a week, as is the additional neck imaging, so I’m not out of the woods yet, but I still have costumes to alter for the fall play at my kids’s school, so I’m pacing myself with the sewing.
All that said, I’m quite pleased with how this blouse came out, pain not withstanding! I adapted a hoop embroidery pattern I found on Etsy, so it wasn’t too difficult. Sulky Stick-and-Stitch is easy to use, although I did baste it on again, since the piece was so large and I knew I would be carrying it around for a while.
It definitely makes me like this blouse more, and while I need to make some small fit alterations to it because I made it when I was much bigger than I am currently, I will be happy to wear it now!
