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Sometime in the next 2 weeks, I'm going to get a flu shot. If I were thinking of it as a civic responsibility to help stop disease from spreading through the community, I'd probably do it November 4, after voting. (If any of my neighbors are thinking in that direction, the CVS at Fresh Pond is selling vaccinations from 10am-4pm.) The Walgreens in East Arlington has flu shots tomorrow, so there's a certain temptation to just go there and be done with it. Once I've done it, I won't have to worry about scheduling it.
The last few years, a flu shot gives me a couples of days of pain in the arm where I get the shot, a couple of days of low fever, and 3 or 4 days of feeling achy and exhausted. This is so much better than how my body deals with the flu that it's not hard to decide *whether* to get a flu shot, but it's unpleasant enough to make it hard for me to decide *when* to get a flu shot. If I put it off too long, the end of vaccination season can sneak up on me and I need to scramble to find one of the few places still doing flu shots.
My shoulder hurts from a steroid injection this morning. I hope that's going to be better soon. It also hurts from trying to do OT with ELIZA. I'm afraid that's going to get worse. Unfortunately, the one thing she says that I really believe is "the way you've been doing it may seem comfortable, but your body mechanics are out of balance and that contributes to your shoulder problems." (So I can't just ignore her.) Furthermore, PT is about to get scary again, probably starting next week.
I could get the flu shot tomorrow, in the left shoulder (the one that hurts most), in the hope of getting it all over with as soon as possible, while keeping one shoulder as fit for use as possible. Or I could get the flu shot tomorrow, in the right shoulder, in the hope of avoiding swelling and muscle spasm on top of swelling and muscle spasm. If I have the flu shot tomorrow (in either arm), driving before my next OT appointment is going to be problematic, and part of my OT is supposed to be working on driving.* I can go back for the next appointment and say, "thanks for lending me the prop, I'll get one of my own," or "thanks for lending me the prop, now I know that doesn't work for me," but it seems wrong to come back and say, "I have no idea if it helps or not because I was in too much pain for a valid test." Dither. Dither.
*I was really hoping occupational therapy could make driving hurt less. The OT seems determined to adjust my driving posture for the benefit of my lower back, in the hope that it will help my shoulder, once I got past the "I don't like it because it feels weird" reaction.
The last few years, a flu shot gives me a couples of days of pain in the arm where I get the shot, a couple of days of low fever, and 3 or 4 days of feeling achy and exhausted. This is so much better than how my body deals with the flu that it's not hard to decide *whether* to get a flu shot, but it's unpleasant enough to make it hard for me to decide *when* to get a flu shot. If I put it off too long, the end of vaccination season can sneak up on me and I need to scramble to find one of the few places still doing flu shots.
My shoulder hurts from a steroid injection this morning. I hope that's going to be better soon. It also hurts from trying to do OT with ELIZA. I'm afraid that's going to get worse. Unfortunately, the one thing she says that I really believe is "the way you've been doing it may seem comfortable, but your body mechanics are out of balance and that contributes to your shoulder problems." (So I can't just ignore her.) Furthermore, PT is about to get scary again, probably starting next week.
I could get the flu shot tomorrow, in the left shoulder (the one that hurts most), in the hope of getting it all over with as soon as possible, while keeping one shoulder as fit for use as possible. Or I could get the flu shot tomorrow, in the right shoulder, in the hope of avoiding swelling and muscle spasm on top of swelling and muscle spasm. If I have the flu shot tomorrow (in either arm), driving before my next OT appointment is going to be problematic, and part of my OT is supposed to be working on driving.* I can go back for the next appointment and say, "thanks for lending me the prop, I'll get one of my own," or "thanks for lending me the prop, now I know that doesn't work for me," but it seems wrong to come back and say, "I have no idea if it helps or not because I was in too much pain for a valid test." Dither. Dither.
*I was really hoping occupational therapy could make driving hurt less. The OT seems determined to adjust my driving posture for the benefit of my lower back, in the hope that it will help my shoulder, once I got past the "I don't like it because it feels weird" reaction.
