Things were bad, but now pretty good. I posted last week that my latest swim left me with sternum pain, but didn't elaborate more at the time. It actually triggered new symptoms, and over the week my chest and abdomen became painful and swollen, to the point that I worried something was going to burst. I ended up back in emergency this week to have it looked at, and the hospital ran xrays, bloodwork, ultrasound, ct scan.
The great news is that my rib separation appears to have healed, and my organs are doing just fine! So why the pain and swelling? My body is having a hard time adjusting, it seems. My nerves are still repairing, and are firing at a more extreme rate - this is called allodynia. My body is healed but is responding as if it's still injured, producing pain and swelling in my case - this is called complex regional pain syndrome. The doctor pointed out that my fall in the kitchen might have seemed like a small thing, but I effectively crushed my chest, so yeah it's a bit messed up on the road to recovery, it's going to do weird things.
So the good news is that I have meds to address these issues, and I'm free to move as I please as long as I can manage the symptoms until my body settles. When you know your pain is real and needs to be addressed, advocate for yourself, because you have to assume no one else will. I actually went to a hospital run by a different organization this time, and appreciated that they took my concerns seriously, and kept asking questions and running tests until we had what seems to be a pretty logical diagnosis.
On a funnier note, the meds will make me a bit woozy for a week or so, but one of my staff told me today they appreciated that I can't talk as fast as I normally do since I'm a bit loopy. Touché... thanks to everyone for your concern and support, I can't wait to get in the water and back to business.
