The Fat Positive Lounge

[Ginger]

Originally Posted by nycfembbw

Hi, I am a cortisone success story. It was a miracle for me. Years ago I developed a progressively more excruciating pain in my left hip such that I began to use a cane! This went on for a year! Of course, family and "friends" told me I'd better lose weight or expect to live this way forever. I went to my doctor, and he told me I had bursitis in my hip and gave me a single quick shot of cortisone before I could even think twice about it. The pain went away what felt like over night, and it NEVER came back, EVER (Everyone still told me that this was only temporary, that I really needed to "lose the weight" or it would come back. Guess what, it's been almost ten years and not a moment of pain!). It was a reminder to me not to avoid a doctor because everyone around us ascribes our health problems to our weight. And, for those who don't yet have one, finding a doctor who doesn't only see through the "fat is the problem" lens is worth all the frustration so that we can be healthiest as possible at whatever weight we are!

I just wanted to chime in and say I'm a cortisone success story too! I had an impingement in my left shoulder that was severe from August of last year through the winter. It was awkward and painful to put on my coat or get dressed in the morning, I couldn't reach up or back with my left arm without severe pain.

Finally I saw a doctor and he gave me a shot of cortisone that provided instant and dramatic pain relief. I know multiple cortisone shots can cause deterioration but that one shot gave me the relief I needed to go into physical therapy and really allow my shoulder to be stretched. I did the exercises at home—still do—and returned to the doctor triumphant.

He admitted I had made great progress but still thought I should have surgery; what he often sees, he said, was progress at first, then the shoulder re-freezes. I said No thanks, that I'd be back if it froze up again but till then I was going to continue my exercises, ice, and stretching.

They are so full of shit sometimes.