The bones are good Bob
Nope, nothing bad was showing with the xray, no chips or spurs fractures or cracks, which is what I thought going in. I was hoping that this new specialist would have odered a CT scan or an MRI, whichever one it is that shows soft tissue like ligaments the best, but sadly, he didn't agree & settled for the xray only.
While sitting in the waiting room, I googled the Dr. and was a little concerned by what I found. I don't know how things are done/scheduled as far as doctors go in your part of the country, as I'm sure with all the different insurance companies, HMO's and plans, it can be done many different ways, but here's my experience.
After 3 weeks of not much improvement, I called my regular doctor (General Practicioner) and explained my continuing issue and was referred to call a specialist thats 'in my plan' & to make an appointment to be seen by one of their specialists. I was referred to the Cincinnati Hand Surgery Specialists as they deal with all faccests of the hand, wrist, forearm & elbow. So I called & the soonest I (being a new patient) could get an appointment was 3 weeks out unless my issue was considered as an emergency, which it wasn't. The first available appointment was with Dr. F as the group contained a number of specialists, so I agreed, wanting to get in as soon as possible to hopefully get relief from my symptoms. Hindsite being 20/20, I guess I should have researched the group and their doctors before calling, but I didn't know what to expect & didn't do that.
When in the waiting room, another patient there with her elderly mother was taking a census from all the other patients about their appointment times, cause she wasn't happy with how long they had been kept waiting. When I signed in, I was told the Xray machine had gone down earlier, and that the doctor was running a little behind, but shouldn't be all that long of a wait. I got there at 2:50 for my 3pm appointment & was finally taken back about 3:40, so that gave me plenty of free time to google the Dr. just to see what came up. Seems there's now websites like MedGrades among others that keep track of patients experiences with doctors and shares their ratings with the world.
Whereas the average rating of similar doctors in the same specialist field from across the country was around a 8 or 9 out of a scale of 10, my doctor rated a 5-6 which left me feeling a little deflated in the hopes of my inpending experience with him. Have to admit, my experience mirrored very closely with the ratings other patients of his had given him. Seems many doctors pay more attention to inputting data onto charts instead of acutely paying attention to their patients communication with them at the time, or at least this was my experience among those of his other patients as they rated him low on the scale as well for 'Giving attention & Understanding your issue'.
It wasn't until I was about to leave & asking his reccomendation to where I should propperly keep my forearm brace placed to provide the best support. When originally explaining that the Spyder fell off the lift and I basically caught the entire weight of the bike in the soft tissue inside crook of my elbow, that's where he concentrated his investigative prodding. Noting that the Xrays showed my bones were fine, I had to have suffered a soft tissue trauma, to which my thought was 'No Duh!' On the inside of the elbow, the only thing really that attaches there is the bicep muscle, which I've not had an issue with. I had explained the dibilitating pain is only when I'm applying pressure using my hand, especially my thumb, like when trying to turn the key in an ignition. If he was paying attention, I think that should have clued him in to my issue, but he didn't get that connection & was concentrating on my bicep muscle connection instead of the tendons on the back side of my elbow. Upon my showing him where placement of the brace provides the most relief, he said he thought I would have it in the front instead of at the rear. Upon this realization, he stopped his paperwork & prceeded to poke and prod some more, now dealing with the tendons and ligaments of the elbow. After this, he declares I have Lateral Epicondylitis or more commonly referred to as Tennis Elbow. Really??? I've played tennis 4 times in my life, not that that really matters, but ok, your the specialist, so how do I fix it?
I was hoping he'd order an MRI or CT to visually see what trauma had actually occured, but he said he'd rather I try a dosepack of steroids & start a physical therapy routine and see how I'm progressing in another 3-4 weeks. He's thinking the steroids should help with the pain, try heat applications and take Ibuprophen to help ease the pain.
So, thats where I stand today with my arm issue. No matter how this progresses, Teddy and I are making preperations for making SpyderFest in the Ozarks for 2013. Unfortunately, I have no personal time left at work, but as long as my department is caught up and well ahead on parts, my boss shouldn't have much issue with me taking off that Wed. Thu. & Friday as unpaid days off. Just to get things rolling, I even talked with my co-worker Mary about it & she agreed, it shouldn't be an issue & she even commented, after you guys not being able to ryde for so long, you guys NEED this. AMEN!!!