Aches and Pains

Karl has a pinched nerve in his neck.  And it's a pain in the neck for me, too!  :)  He's been in pain for almost three weeks now.  He's seen several doctors, but none has been able to alleviate the pain!  He's had an ultrasound, massage, laser therapy, freezing therapy, electric shock therapy, ultraviolet ray therapy, medicines, and more.  The latest doctor says it is degeneration in the vertebrae in his neck, with two bones touching.  Now he has to wear a neck brace to try to help, as well as to continue with therapy.  I went by his physical therapist yesterday to reschedule his appointment, and they had a poster on the wall saying they were certified to do a "hot chocolate therapy" where they pour hot chocolate on your back.  Maybe he should try that!!

When I googled "Hot Chocolate Body Treatments," there were over 3 million results.  This is the new thing at spas, apparently.  All of the goodness, none of the guilt?  (Although I really never feel guilt when I eat chocolate!)  I'm just not too sure about having chocolate poured over me.  I can't stand it when I get a little on my chin or leave a little smudge around my mouth!  I can't imagine having it on my back.  Hmmmm....

And Scott has been fighting ear infections over the past week.  I took him to the doctor on Monday, and he immediately began the standard treatment of penicillin injections every day for five days.  Fun!  What's even more fun is the entire process.  We went to a private doctor, but he sent us to the public health clinic for them to give Scott the shots.  First, we had to go to the pharmacy to buy the penicillin and other meds.  Then we went to the clinic.  Thankfully, our friends Nena and Jovana were with us.  Nena used to be a nurse, so we were hoping that she would be able to navigate the system better.  It's not a problem for adults - Karl had the same thing earlier in the summer and had no problems.  But when kids are involved - different story.  So, we went to the main office, they sent us to the children's building.  After explaining over and over that we had gone to a private clinic and needed someone to administer the shots, they sent Nena to the DENTIST office to pay a fee.  Why the dentist office is involved in this, I have no idea.  It's not really the dentist, though, it's just the name of the office that is in charge of the billing for all of the medical procedures including dentistry.  So, she paid for that, and Scott got his first day's shots.  What was really funny was the nurse who was giving the shot talked nonstop and hardly even looked at Scott's rear when she gave him the shots - just stick and go!  But on the third day, Scott had a different nurse who asked him a million times "Does it hurt?  Does it hurt?" and gave him the shots slower than anything I've ever seen before.  She stuck the needle in then took about a minute to inject the medicine, all the while asking him if it hurt.  I wanted to reach over and just finish giving him the shots!  Ironically, Scott said that those hurt the worst!  Thankfully, the last two days we were back to the fastest shot in the west!  :)  And on the last day, I had to do more running to the dentist office to pay another fee, so I wasn't with Scott when he had his last injections.  Unfortunately, Scott didn't hold the gauze on the spots long enough after the shots, so when we were ready to go, he realized that he had two big blood stains on the bottom of his shirt, one on each side!  Well, battle wounds, I guess.

Unfortunately, the penicillin didn't help.  We went back to the doctor for a follow-up, and he still has infected ears as well as a cyst in the canal.  We were sent to a specialist at the hospital.  Scott is leaving for Germany on Monday (flying!), so the doctor didn't have time to really do any treatment.  He gave Scott a prescription for antibiotic ear drops and told him to see a doctor in Germany.  So, that's the plan for now.  Please pray for healing before Monday!  Please pray for no pain during the flight.  And please pray for good treatment in Germany.  Thanks!

I had an enlarged thyroid (and all the symptoms of hyperthyroidism) as well, but, thankfully, my bloodwork came back fine, so the doctor thinks it was just an infection and will just watch it over the next few months.  I'm already feeling better.  And so we go on.  And I may just have to check out that hot chocolate body treatment after all of this is over...