Ooooh, look what came in the mail today. It’s the latest collection from my very favorite short fiction writer, Ted Chiang. His Stories of You Life and Others (published 1998) is one of my top-shelf go-to reads – and I believe one of the stories in that collection was adapted to the big screen as Arrival. Anyway, looking forward to reading this…soon.
There’s about a month to go on this production – approximately two weeks shooting the final two-episode block, and then another two on location in The Hammer. And then it’s about three months of post-production.
Tomorrow, I am off to physio for my right arm. The doctor diagnosed it as tennis elbow. My physio guy informed me that “tennis elbow” is an all-encompassing term and suspects it may be a tendon issue. Hopefully, treatment will address said issue eventually. If not, I have a choice between cortisone injections or a stem cell treatment. Just hearing the process of how the stem cells are harvested was enough to make me opt for the cortisone. Or I can just ask Akemi for a nightly therapeutic massage.
Hey, isn’t history fun?
On #ThisDayInComics – 59 years ago, William Tockman, aka Clock King, made his debut in World's Finest #111, only to suffer the indignity of being outwitted and outpunned by Green Arrow and Speedy. #ThisDayInSupervillainHistory pic.twitter.com/rzveW0cvmD
— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) June 7, 2019
Imagine. If his name had been William Dominovski he could have gone with the whole dominoes theme and called himself Dominator.
Finally, here’s a volcano exploding at night –
If you’re quick, you can capture some of the lava your coffee mug!
I was diagnosed with tennis elbow last year and my doctor told me it is primarily damage to the tendons in your elbow. The pain can spread out to other nearby areas, but the initial cause of true tennis elbow is a tendon issue. I can attest to the efficacy of the cortisone shot and I can also attest to the lengthy recovery period before all the pain is gone. My doc said it could take 6-12 months before I was completely back to normal; it took right about 9 months before I felt no pain at all. Cortisone, a lot of patience, and taking it easy on the affected arm should do the trick. I also liked applying heat just because it felt good, but I really began to think the pain was never going away.
About those stem cells : no difference in benefit above placebo. But hey , look at the bright side: they are very profitable for those giving the injections!
Smiles cryptically
I get bouts of tendinitis. It tends to reoccur in other areas. 🙁 My tennis elbow was from swimming. It wasn’t as bad as yours. I didn’t have any swelling and I just avoided the breast stroke for a while. I hope PT helps you fast!
My orthopedic surgeon recommends taking 2 Tylenol with 2 Advil. He says the combination works as well as a mild RX pain killer. It’s in a new study: https://drugfree.org/learn/drug-and-alcohol-news/combo-acetaminophen-ibuprofen-effective-opioids-acute-pain-study/ Very interesting.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I slept late and attempted a run. (I still suck at running but I’m giving it a shot).
I’ve had cortisone shots before. Make sure you go to the best sports doctor where the professional players go. Cortisone shots are painful for about a week after you get them and then its smooth sailing.
Here, in the USA, most of our stem cell treatments are out of pocket because insurance won’t cover it.
Sorry to hear about your tennis elbow. I have a third option for you that doesn’t involve harvesting stem cells. It is called PRP — platelet-rich plasma. They take a lot of blood from you. Then they spin it and harvest platelets. Then they inject that back into your area of concern. They did this for me in my knee. You don’t have to be under anesthesia but I was for another procedure. They can do it in the office with some numbing stuff. It wasn’t covered by insurance and it cost like $1000. I was undergoing a surgery on my hand for a trigger finger and a de Quervain’s tenosynovitis. I got up in recovery to get my clothes on and the pain that was in my knee was GONE. I thought maybe they had mixed the platelets with some lidocaine or something to numb it but they didn’t. I told them this is a miracle product. It lasted a few years. I probably need to get another one. They can use PRP anywhere. A lot of athletes use this form of treatment. Here is a link to check it out. https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-blood-injections-that-might-transform-orthopedics