Need Advice!!! | Arthritis Information

This may or may not related to the psoriatic arthritis I've had since 1983...happily I have been in remission for about 6 years, I think. Ok here is my current saga and I am so at the end of my rope: On Jan. 25 I fell-actually, I DIVED-onto the pavement with my right shoulder taking the full impact. I was horsing around w/ my 15 yr old and went to give him kind of a shoulder slam and he unknowingly stepped aside. So, immediately after I fell I was unable to use my arm at all, had to go to hospital in ambulance etc. The xray showed distal fracture of clavicle-(broke collarbone at very end where it goes into the shoulder joint) now I'll try to make this story short..I have been off work since then as the pain has been incredible. Now, I am a person used to pain but this is just something I can't get beyond. It is now pretty apparent I would think that there is another injury suffered during the fall that has yet to be dx'd. The pain mostly is in my shoulder blade area and shoulder. There was an MRI that showed no rotator cuff tear, however it revealed that the collarbone is only in the very beginning stages of healing (this was 03/28/06) I have been in physical therapy for 6 weeks-my therapist was convinced that I tore rotator cuff. The 1st ortho guy referred me to a shoulder specialist who took the MRI but was a jerk so I went for a second opinion and this guy thinks I may have displaced the shoulder blade & tore a nerve-well I had the EMG today which showed no nerve interruption but I think may have revealed something more important-you know how the emg kind of hurts well that was how it was going but then when she put the probes or whatever in two different spots on my shoulder blade I about went through the roof-so it seems to me that apparently there is some kind of injury there, right? I am having a CAT scan tomorrow. Here's the thing, I need to get back to work. I need to get this fixed but the doc hasn't rescheduled me for three weeks! He referreed me to a pain mgt program who he seemed to think would take care of my disability but when I contacted them they first of all said they wouldn't even decide to see me until the CAT scan results (and did I mention I also have 17 xrays of this thing that I cart around, with my MRI from dr to dr?) AND they do not get involved w/ disability. I think I have been much too complacent and am wondering should I call the dr (the newest one who ordered the cat scan) and insist on having an appt as soon as the CAT scan's available? I have been telling all these doctors all along that my shoulder blade hurt like you know what. I don't know what to do as I need to get going on this because if I need surgery then I need it NOW so I can get back to work. I am the sole support of my two kids and was barely making ends meet before-now w/ 36% less income it's getting to a crisis point. And why is my collar bone NOT healing? I am 40 yrs old but other than some pre existing joint damage am in pretty good shape-so why is this lack of healing not a concern? I had a bone density test and while I have osteopenia in some areas, the area I injured is in not that bad of shape. I feel like no one is listening and when they do they kind of act like I am just trying to get out of work while actually I need to get back to work! The thing is I have been in this incredible pain w/ no improvement for three months!!!Any advice please??? blargady38827.4959953704

Bless your heart you have been through the doctor maze. Its as if the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. You may need to see yet another ortho guy. Can you get long term disability?

Shoulder pain is no fun I injured my recently and have a tear in it and a cyst which my rummy injected. That helped some. At least I can lay on the shoulder in bed now.

Your case is full of complications and I feel your frustrations. Bottom line is all you can do is take charge, fire the incompentent doctors and get the answers you deserve and sometimes that means stepping on a few toes. The bad news is if you return to work and your shoulder is still giving you a lot of trouble, you may not be able to get any more time off for the same condition you are out on now.

Because of an injury to my hip at 43 I finally had to take long term dissability and SS disability. Like you I was a single mom supporting two children. I did take a reduction in pay. The good news is you will save on gas, clothes, eating out, and that helps the loss of pay some.

Sorry I am rambling on. I wish I had a clear cut answer for you, however there isn't one. Big Hug

Good Luck

Thanks for your response-you're right about if I go back to work before being healed-but honestly do not see how I could endure a day of work-and I am usually pretty tough-last fall I stepped on a sewing needle that lodged in my balljoint, had the surgery after work to get it out and then took the next morning off but went in in the afternoon. So, you know, if I could be there, I would. But it feels like my arm is falling off most of the time...and I basically been walking around feeling that for three months!
I got a message today that my CAT scan was supposed to have been precertified so they were going to cancel it, so I called the doctor and they were all like, oh well it's too late today (it was about 3:30) so sorry, and that was it for me, I was like, oh no no...ask the doctor to get on the phone, I've been patiently waiting to heal for three months and I'm not doing that anymore! And I want my appt moved up to as soon as the cat scan results are back! And you know what...it took some doing but I did it, got it approved, am having the cat scan tomorrow and appt next Thursday! Ha! Incidentally, when I was talking to the doctor's office I had the speaker phone on and my kids (14 & 15 yrs old) were listening-they were all enraged, they couldn't believe the way I was being treated. And the office wasn't really being that rude, just lazy or maybe overwhelmed. I was like, Yeah welcome to the real world, kids!

I would try a kinesthiologist ( specialized chiropractor). They often know more than ortho docs. Also I would have someone else actually look at that x-ray that they say has hardly healed. Have you seen a rheumatologist also?

You know last June I took a hard fall and was rushed to the ER for xrays. My ankle hurt, ribs and hip. The ER doc said their were no breaks or fractures. I went to my doc in July sayiny my ankle is not right and my ribs still hurt. They took more x-rays. The ribs were cracked. The x-ray tech said your have a fracture in your ankle. The doc later told me no you don't. It's now September the pain continues in my ankle. I insist that my doc refer me to an ortho. Well it turns out I had two fractures in my ankle. The ER doc and my personal doc neither one could see them.

Sooooooo I believe we should always listein to our bodies and insist on an answer.

luv2beme:
Oh man! Sorry about your pain, I hope all is well now.
But you totally hit it-at first I was like, wow, I never knew a broken collarbone could hurt so much! But three of my brothers broke their collarbones and they all healed w/in a month...and after like the first week, nothing got better. I've had plenty o' broken bones, I know how they feel when they heal, like after a certain point it just kind of hurts in a healing way, sort of like a loose tooth. I have never gotten there, I am still at the point where I cannot be touched on the injured part w/out yiping & that is not me...and it is MONTHS later. You know, after my foot surgery in Sept, I slammed my foot against this chrome chair (I am a pretty bad clutz)-it hurt quite a bit but since I was still seeing the foot surgeon for my f/u I was like, well I'll just have him look at it my next visit which was like in a week & a 1/2-when he looked at it it turned out my toe and three bones in my foot were broken-so I'm saying, I don't usually feel pain as acutely as others I think. Here's the thing: I think there are two issues here 1. the collarbone not healing and 2. a second, as yet undiagnosed injury that occurred at the same time. After the emg I know that injury is somewhere in my shoulder blade. I know immediately after the accident and even to some point now that shoulder blade it sticking out at a weird angle.
My rheamatologist is the only doctor I trust at this point. I have made sure that he has gotten copies of everything that I've had done, mri's etc. As a matter of fact, I had to go to him to have the MRI report explained to me because the ortho guy didn't even take the time. And my PT he is very good, too-I know he knows somethings up, too and he's very sympathetic, which is not really his nature.
No way am I going to a chiropractor right now...like I said, the shoulder cannot be touched much less manipulated. the collarbone is still broken! But thanks for the reponse, I was really struggling not to fall into a woe is me depression yesterday when I first posted but was able to rally and stand up for myself...so far. It's just that doctors always seems to make me feel like I am a hypochondriac or something ...but I so absoluteldy know there is this other injury & obviously it is not going to get better until it is diagnosed & treated.
My shoulder was out of the joint for over a month, stuck out funny and hurt like heck. The docs never did get it. Just a thought to see if on top of everything the shoulder is dislocated also. Good luck. So, how was it resolved? And would that show up on an MRI?? And where did it hurt? Sorry for the questions, it's just that I'm open to all possibilities. Mine hurts, other than the pain from the collar bone (which less than a month ago was only on the first stage of healing!?) like directly on the other side of the collar bone-in the back, where the shoulder blade is-my actual shoulder joint doesn't hurt at all, it's totally normal. But the shoulder blade-oh man, serious pain! Which, actually I would just deal with if it hadn't been three months and no progress whatsoever. I couldn't use my arm - could not raise it up as the shoulder was out of joint. The whole shoulder hurt, sharp pain. I did go to an excellent chiropractor who does not jerk you around, but gently felt it and popped it back in. Then massage after. Obviously do not know if that is your problem, just know I have personally had shoulder problems for years and that I got no help from medical docs. I would think an MRI would show shoulder dislocation, but am not sure. For me I spent 40 dollars to get a whole different view, but , that was my experience. I feel for you. The chronic pain thing is so depressing. I have always felt though that if one doc or a 100 cannot diagnose me, I will keep looking for a "fresh set of eyes" until I find someone who gives me answers, and help. Good luck!! Thanks for your input-no that's definitely not it-there was a concern about the rotator cuff but that's been discarded-it's not the round shoulder joint, it's the shoulder blade, in the back. I 've had to deal with different types of chronic pain since I was 16-this is different, it's pretty intense pain (although not like constant-usually builds throughout the day-by about two I am worthless) I'm talking like an 8 on the pain scale. Like the kind that makes it so that eventually you can't think about anything else. Ugh!

Shoulder joint flare up is common. Pain and restricted movements may last for a few days.

My method of treatment is strictly herbs, so the concentration is to get the toxic wastes disposed quickly to bring down and get back to normal. It is one of common arthritis flare up.