Ramblin' On

My shoulder still hurts. It's nowhere near as bad as it was before the cortisone shot, yet there is this near constant dull aching pain. It's bad enough that I continue to take the T3 painkillers. It still creeps up my neck to the base of my head, although it seems to be gone almost completely in my arm itself. It's only in the core of the joint where this ache resides.

Is this normal, this continuing pain after a cortisone shot? I wonder how much of this slow effect is related to having ALS. All? Some? None? Others who have this treatment talk about miraculous effects, where their pain is gone almost immediately. I know that some of that immediate effect is the freezing used to numb the joint while the doctor injects the cortisone. He himself told me I would have no pain in that shoulder, then the freezing would wear off leaving me with some possible pain, but witnin a few days I should be fine.

The injection was Monday. It's now Saturday. On Monday I am going to see my Family Doctor. Perhaps by then the injection will be working as expected, so we will have nothing to discuss but my ongoing battle with infection. I think I might be developing a resistance to the anti-biotic I am taking right now. Even after another five days on it, there are still signs of infection in my urine. It's not bad; in a healthy person the sediment I produce irregularly would be waved off as nothing, as long as my urine wasn't cloudy. In my situation, that sediment seems to be a precursor.

Of course it would help if I drank more water. Today I'm at a half litre of water and a pint of beer. I didn't even finish my coffee this morning, so that doesn't count at all. I'll drink another half litre before my night HCA, Kabira, arrives to put me to bed. It will be better, but not good enough. I wonder if the water will impact the pain?