i'm back in san francisco for the weekend, my first visit back since we moved to Alaska last June. it's been a whirlwind trip, but very fun. today I had brunch with those members of the tuesday night knitting circle who aren't in australia eating kangaroos and fighting off dingoes. B was good enough to host us at her lovely new home on alameda (the GFI), and we had mimosas and hello kitty waffles and sausage balls and dreamy SF pastries while I got caught up on all the happenings at the mel-o-dee. I also read them my knit lit story and signed debbie's book, which is surely on e-bay by now.
my bay area visit has been fun but too short. i can't complain b/c it was an add-on to a work trip to seattle this coming week. i'm lucky to not just be at the office getting caught up on stuff before i leave. instead i'm enjoying incredibly perfect sunny weather, tasty ethnic food (eric's cakes and shanghai tofu from eric's in noe valley -- i would give A LOT to know how they make that stuff!), seeing lots of friends, and getting absurdly sunburned. (coffee this afternoon in berkeley has left me with a freakishly funny sunburn, complete w/ huge mark where my necklace was. classy....)
It's off to seattle on tuesday for (a) a work meeting, (b) a 3-day seminar and (c) an appointment to get a second opinion on my shoulder from an orthopedic surgeon. As i told the knitters today, my shoulder has continued to get increasingly worse over the last year. so i'm really in an incredible amount of pain, about 90 percent of the time. plus i have really limited range of motion, which is pretty frustrating. so i'm trying to evaluate my options, which at the present moment seem pretty slim.
my doctor's latest pronouncement (in july) is that I have to "wait it out, and in 3 - 5 years we'll replace it." well, that's not exactly what he said but it's the basic idea -- that the avascular necrosis (AVN) has to run its course before they can do anything further with whatever will be left of the bone at the end of that process. before the AVN finishes advancing or whatever it does (e.g. before the head of my arm bone has completely "collapsed"), the bone won't have the structural integrity to hold whatever fix they would try to put in there (like a partial or total replaecment joint).
i'm hoping someone else has a better idea, one that doesn't involve 3-5 years in incredible, debilitating pain. that's me, always wanting something more...!
so wish me luck on tuesday. and if anyone out there knows anyone who knows anything about AVN/ON (osteonecrosis = same thing, different name) of the shoulder, i'd love to hear it. i'm looking for all the leads i can get.