allison - no, it's not stucco. There are two big manufacturers - James Hardie and CertainTeed. Most the advertising refers to it as fiber cement composite. It's a formed product that mimics the look of any other siding. They even have a pattern that resembles the stucco! The one we're using will be similar in appearance to the T-111 (cedar plywood) siding that we have now. While it's brittle and difficult to install, once it's put up, it's very, very durable. And if the color is applied in the factory, it has a 25 year warranty against fade/flake, etc. I think the reason we don't have a lot of stucco in Michigan is the freeze/thaw cycle - one chink in the armor, and it's in trouble.

Hi all,

Does anyone know what type of doctor one goes to for a shoulder injury? An orthopetic something? This happened slowly over the past several months of lifting at the gym, not at any one moment, but I'm wary of a rotator cuff injury and if something really is wrong, don't want to make it worse by ignoring it. Twice in the past six months I've "rested" my shoulder from any lifting for 1-2 weeks because it's been bothering me, this is the third time and it feels worse and the discomfort is lasting longer. I will probably have to go to the city 80 miles away to get it looked at. Oh well... I could use a real haircut, too.

I've resigned myself to being a cardio queen for a while. Of course I can still do a lot of abs and core work, and lower body, just need to kick myself to do it. NRLW will have to be on semi-permanent hold. It calls for a lot of upper body stuff.

Michele, Shannon, I hear what you're saying. I also take the "D" cold meds. They work so much better than their totally ineffective reformulated counterparts. I have to take ClaratinD 12-hour, not 24 hour, early in the day. Sometimes on really bad days I add a little Sutafed D, or take the Sutafed D when I'm only feeling really mild allergies. If I take them too late they keep me up at night. I usually only get fall allergies and felt a niggling itch in my throat last weekend, so I ran to check my supply of "D" meds. Because I can't buy too much at once, and have to sign away my first born to get them, so I need to plan ahead. Dagmar I do sound like a junkie needing my fix, lol. Life is just so miserable when allergies are miserable - and from what I've seen from my Mom & DS, I have the mildest ones in the family.

All eyes here are on TS Isaac as the current forecast path sets him landing squarely on my house. I'm definitely going to cook a bunch this weekend so I won't be trying to grill in the rain during this hurricane party, like the last one. I love hurricane season (not). :dizzy:

Saef, I completely understand what you mean about struggling with flexibility. I think I am a very linear thinker, so if my schedule is changed sometimes planning how else my schedule will go helps set my brain at ease (e.g. I can roast the veggies Thursday night, and spend more time at the gym Saturday morning). It will be ok, though, it's just one day at the office.

Dagmar, your plans, or lack of, for next week sound wonderful. Do enjoy yourself!

Michele, I'm sorry to hear about your DD's service dog. These kinds of delays and needing to reschedule dogs does happen, unfortunately. My parents dog was supposed to be a seeing eye dog. He went through most of his training and did well but would pee when he was supposed to be "working" - and knew he was supposed to be working, so apparently he would sort of waddle and trickle while he was leading his trainer down the sidewalk. They couldn't break him of it, and the person he was assigned to had to be given a different dog. I'm sure your DD's new dog will be wonderful, even if waiting a bit longer seems tough.

My I'm long-winded today. Ok. Gonna stop blathering now. :blah: Have a good one all!

Megan, I originally visited an orthopedic surgeon for mine. He tested every range of motion, poked, prodded, and sent me for an MRI. Mine was ruled tendonitis caused by impingement. I also have a confounding cause in my C7/T1 vertebrae ... longer story. He said he could go in and cut some bone away to make more room, but shoulder surgery sucks (his words) and that I should explore every possible avenue of relief first. A sports medicine specialist would be a great consult - if you can find out where the nearest professional sports teams go, that's a bonus. Always good to follow the money - their goal is fast, complete rehab! GOOD LUCK - shoulder pain is a true PIA, give or take a couple of feet. :D

Megan~yeah, orthopedic doctor or possibly someone in the sports medicine field for a shoulder injury. I don't know for certain, but I believe that most minor rotator cuff injuries can heal themselves with the proper rest. I suspect I've injured mine a couple of times and when I do, the pain is pretty bad to the point that I have to immobilize it while I sleep (so I don't inadvertently try to put my arm above my head while sleeping as that is excruciating and of course wakes me up with the pain).

Good luck with the tropical storm! I think I'd be in a total panic.

Megan, it could also be something as simple as bursitis, which is also nagging and uncomfortable. Certain kinds of lifting or lifting motions can make that flare up. But definitely have it checked out. I agree with the suggestion of a sports orthopedist as a consultant doc. Be aware, however, that anyone with "surgeon" in their title wants to do surgery and likes to recommend it. That's why they went that direction.

Jay

Also, Megan~my MIL had rotator cuff surgery. The pain post-surgery was worse than the pain of the injury. Had she known what the recovery was going to be like she would have opted for resting instead of surgery. But at the time she wanted it fixed so she could golf. Turns out it took 2 years to heal to the point where she could golf comfortably.

Rest followed by PT might be a better alternative.

I'm still amazed at what my daughter got out of PT when she injured her foot/ankle running. She had always been a clumsy runner and after going to an amazing therapist was taught proper form and now she runs and it looks so natural rather than clumsy.

I feel very lucky that I got a surgeon who wasn't knife-happy. Physical therapy did get me to 90% better, because I was definitely unbalanced (chest much stronger than back due to swimming). The second PT spotted that right away - my collarbone being very prominent tipped her off. Over the long haul, I did have to deal with the neck problem, and still do when things get out of line. I try to remember to get to my chiro once a month for that. I have a good friend who's a maniacal tennis player - she recovered a bad rotator cuff tear through lots of rest. It can be done!

Megan - I have had some rotator cuff issues too, from impingement. They seem to repair themselves with rest and therapy exercises. My grandmother tore her rotator cuff and apparently continued to live with it torn for a number of years, tearing it further here and there until one day she couldn't handle the pain anymore and had surgery. I wonder if she had done some pt early it would have healed - the early part of the tear had apparently started to repair itself when they went in to look at it.

Megan, I'd start with a sports medicine specialist. They will refer you to an ortho if you need it.

Good luck Megan with the shoulder and the impending hurricane!

I'm going to see a specialist next week for my hip. Of course since I scheduled my appointment 2 months ago, the hip feels much better (after hurting for months and months). I'm going to keep the appointment because the xrays showed some things so I want to the doctor to explain to me. Since then, my back has been hurting but I think it is finally resolving itself.

I'm worried about my doggie, Jozi. She is my 8.5 year old Great Dane. She has been doing some coughing and the vet had previously diagnosed a heart murmur. I'm worried she may be starting with congestive heart failure but I know that meds can help alleviate the symptoms. I'm bringing her to the vet tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'm going to try to juggle Dewey (the dachshund) at the same time as they both need bordatellas for boarding-- should be an interesting sight at the vet!

OK. It is August 23. I just saw big packages of those little candy bars for Halloween at my local grocery. I think they are using the "back to school" snacks excuse but - REALLY?

Dagmar :dizzy:

michele, good luck with Jozi - I hope your fears are unwarranted.

dagmar, ugh - really? Like a kid needs garbage in his lunch for school?

megan, yes, dittos on best wishes for Isaac missing you!

I'm picking up DS13 from his 3-day choir camp. There's a mini-concert at 4:30 to show off their "extensive and intensive" rehearsals. Sounds like he might have been placed in the Alto section this year, even though with a warmup he can still hit high A's and B's with ease. Quite a few of last year's altos had to move to the tenor/bass sections! Also on deck, this morning I have to make the phone call to launch our re-siding project. :eek:

Dagmar, recently I was looking at a large craft store called Hobby Lobby for two gilded letters, both the same. (It's the number of my apartment, which is a double letter. I wanted to put them on the door.) But they only had one letter. When I asked the clerk if there were more letters stored away, other than what was on display, she said, "No, all our storage is filled up with Christmas stuff."

So it's there already. I should just be grateful that it's not yet out on display.

Probably they're just waiting for Halloween to pass before they put it out, as Halloween is likely a very craft-y holiday with all its special decor & parties & costume-wearing.

I can feel summer ending, with these cool nights, earlier darkness and later mornings, and raucous insect chorus. I feel as though I have almost entirely missed it while being preoccupied by moving and resettling. So I am not in a hurry to get to Halloween right away. And definitely not to get to Christmas.

Hi all,

Thanks for the recommendations. I found an orthopedic clinic referred by a physical therapy place that had been recommended by two friends, and after vacillating between "I'm just being silly and wimpy" to "you need to make sure nothing serious is wrong" I made an appt in about three weeks, their earliest opening. Even if the pain has subsided I will go, bc this keeps coming back. (Obviously I'm telling myself here! I do not like doctors, and I was raised in the school of thought of if bone is not visible and blood is not gushing, you don't need to go.)

BF is getting his boats ready for a possible storm surge, and other than making sure I've got more batteries and clean out the fridge better than the last time around with TS Debby, I will probably enjoy a nice sunny day at the beach tomorrow with friends. Oh, and I will try to wear out the dog before the downpours, lol. They are only forecasting Isaac to be a cat 1 when he comes to shore, so we will probably lose power, but nothing too extreme.

Saef, I'd imagine the city is not at its finest during summer. Perhaps it's not a terrible season to miss? But fall, ah, fall will be lovely with its cool weather.

Becky, you are making me remember my own childhood choir rehearsals, camp, district choirs, etc... Sometimes directors need to shift voices around to balance sections, even if one can since another voice part as well.

Michele, how did your vet appt go for Jozi? Please let us know what you found out.

Surely it isn't time for Halloween and fall yet. I did step out of the house this morning and it was actually pleasant to be outside. Usually August is still very warm and muggy here in FL, so today was unusual. I really hope to get to Georgia or North Caroline this fall to see some colors.

Pretty well overall. She actually needs to go on a reverse diet though as she weighed 106 pounds, which was down from 117 last time, and she was 128 1.5 years ago. She is looking pretty emaciated. Her heart murmur was only slightly worse than a year ago so the vet wasn't too concerned-- she said that could definitely be causing her coughing episodes. Her teeth are horrible and they have a traveling dental clinic (without anesthesia) that just happened to be coming today and had an opening! So I left her to get her teeth cleaned. She is ready to be picked up so I'll get her after work and see what they say. Now I just need to encourage her to eat a little more. Dewey clocked in at a still chunky 16.5. I really need to make it a priority to walk him more.