Suddenly, a few weeks ago, I felt some pain on the front and back of my right ribs. At first it was mild, so I did some stretches on the bed (I sat with my but on the bed, bent my back from the waist down, and then got up very slowly, always with Eric’s help) and put a hot pack on my chest. But the pain got worse and worse. I realized what was happening when I was doing my arm exercises: I was compensating with my right rib muscles the movements I was doing with my left arm. All the progress I was sure I was gaining was, in fact, the product of my right muscles’ work! And when I walked, I noticed that instead of grabbing the crutch, I was gripping it and tightening my muscles as I gripped.
I stopped doing some of my arm exercises, but then the pain got worse, to the point that it hurt when I was coughing or spitting. No matter how many methods I tried, how many exercises I stopped, the pain increased and expanded to my armpit. It was so excruciating, that I could barely stretch my arm to grab things. The pain kept growing, so much so, that I started waking up in the middle of the night. Neither heat nor stretching on the bed could bring release. And the worse thing of all was that I couldn’t locate the source, and therefore couldn’t know what to refrain from doing or what to do to stop it. We couldn’t think of consulting a professional during the pandemic without my having been vaccinated. Fortunately, Eric was an athlete during a good part of his life and is able to learn from experience. So, he could advice stretches that would reduce the pain, and I added heat on my back ribs. Then, my nurse aid suggested some extra stretches and how to eliminate and modify the previous ones.
Step by step, repeated stretches and heat, and ceasing to make any movement that would increase it (such as writing on bed, which I was doing unawares), have reduced the pain considerably. I no longer feel it when coughing, spitting, and breathing deeply, but it always threatens with coming back; it hasn’t left my front right ribs, although it’s much more bearable. To keep it at bay, I need to do my stretches religiously, be cautious when I’m writing and exercising, and wear an ice pack on my back after working out and a hot pack when going to sleep. The sole idea of suffering excruciating pain fills me with irrational fear. So, I’m taking all possible precautions. In any case, I may be suffering unbearable pain, but as Eric told me, nothing compares with the effects of brain injury.
I stopped doing some of my arm exercises, but then the pain got worse, to the point that it hurt when I was coughing or spitting. No matter how many methods I tried, how many exercises I stopped, the pain increased and expanded to my armpit. It was so excruciating, that I could barely stretch my arm to grab things. The pain kept growing, so much so, that I started waking up in the middle of the night. Neither heat nor stretching on the bed could bring release. And the worse thing of all was that I couldn’t locate the source, and therefore couldn’t know what to refrain from doing or what to do to stop it. We couldn’t think of consulting a professional during the pandemic without my having been vaccinated. Fortunately, Eric was an athlete during a good part of his life and is able to learn from experience. So, he could advice stretches that would reduce the pain, and I added heat on my back ribs. Then, my nurse aid suggested some extra stretches and how to eliminate and modify the previous ones.
Step by step, repeated stretches and heat, and ceasing to make any movement that would increase it (such as writing on bed, which I was doing unawares), have reduced the pain considerably. I no longer feel it when coughing, spitting, and breathing deeply, but it always threatens with coming back; it hasn’t left my front right ribs, although it’s much more bearable. To keep it at bay, I need to do my stretches religiously, be cautious when I’m writing and exercising, and wear an ice pack on my back after working out and a hot pack when going to sleep. The sole idea of suffering excruciating pain fills me with irrational fear. So, I’m taking all possible precautions. In any case, I may be suffering unbearable pain, but as Eric told me, nothing compares with the effects of brain injury.
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