Into The Machine He Goes

Today, at 12:45 pm, Roger is sliding into a machine. An MRI machine that is. First, he'll be given an injection of lidocaine in his left shoulder. Then, he'll be injected with a contrasting dye. We don't know as of this moment if he'll be in an open or closed MRI, but he'll be in one that will be taking pictures of his shoulder to see if there is any further damage.

Further damage, you say? Further in what way? We haven't even told you that last week Roger went to see an orthopedic surgeon to talk about the lump he has in his upper left arm. The lump doesn't really hurt, but his new GP thought it best to have it checked out and referred him to an orthopedic surgeon who took about a tenth of a millisecond to determine that what that lump was was in fact a ruptured bicep. So, Roger has a ruptured proximal bicep, which is now just a lump in his arm. It cannot be reattached to the shoulder and is irreparable. But Roger also has ongoing shoulder pain. So, the MRI was scheduled to determine what, if anything else is going on in the shoulder.

The surgeon suggested that Roger get this MRI done as soon as possible, before Obama outlaws such things. We were taken aback by such blatant political talk from a doctor, especially to the two of us, who look like renegade aging hippies who might as well have been wearing "We Voted For Barack Obama" buttons. It really is amazing what goes on behind closed doors.

I think Roger has pretty much decided that no matter what the MRI shows there will be no surgery and no further invasive interventions. He's undergoing this bit of nightmarish medical drama just for diagnosis and information.

We'll let you know how it goes. Wish him luck.