Update: Still Injured (August to Present)

Last update was over two months ago. Holding off on posting anything as there has been little improvement and I wanted to wait until I really had something to say. Very bored. Rereading lots of eBooks and I'm running out of shows to watch on Netflix. The short of it is that I really want to get back to some kind of activity but don't know if it will be strongman or just regular aerobic exercise. I have feeling I will get back to strongman if I'm ever healthy again. I'm of course worried that something would little would happen again and put me on my ass so to speak. At this point, I've almost spent as much time healthy as I have injured this year. Since last posting, I've had two epidurals in my spine. These really freaked me out as I felt every single one of the numbing shots before the big needle went in. First one (8/4/16) did seem to provide relief to my spine but still got pain in my hip and SI joint. Shortly before the second one (8/16/16) my left foot started to feel numb. No change after the second one. I wasn't able to see the ortho for 30 days to get a scheduled appointment (if I had "injured" myself I could be seen right away as "urgent care"). I wanted them to look at my shoulder (pain/discomfort not going away with rest) and see what the next step was with the pain. I was also concerned about my leg nerves as my left calf muscle is all soft. I was essentially told that my shoulder pain was from inactivity (didn't even look at it) and told to suck it up. He said surgery for something that small was not advised (surgery is the very last option for me, can't stand the thought of it on my spine). I had asked about Radiofrequency Ablation Procedure and was told that could be an option. I was given 30 days of Gabapentin at the appointment and I think this was only because I had inquired about another procedure or I would have been told to just keep resting. I broke into tears after the othro left the room as I was so frustrated and the pain wasn't getting better. I was then rushed out of the room by the staff for the next appointment. Decided to seek a second opinion at a competing provider, OSS. Unfortunately, the earliest that they could see new patients wasn't until 10/3/16 so I had to wait almost another month with no relief and there was no guarantee I would get any relief at this appointment as it could just be a consultation. There were definitely days I was reaching my limits. I tried to keep my mind busy, reading stuff by Tudor Bompa, Stuart McGill, Robin McKenzie, Mike Westerling, Louie Simmons and Mel Siff. So I have a lot of ideas swimming (unfortunately no relief of pain). The Gabapentin made me extremely drowsy the first few days. After reaching the max dosage for a few days and getting no changes, I tapered off it. Today I went to see the ortho at the new place. Had issues with getting my MRI from the old place (gave me a disc with the file but not the report) so that took some time to get it. I would like to think that health providers wouldn't be petty like that. The ortho felt that surgery wasn't the best option at this time (shared same concerns I had) and prescribed me PT to start on 10/6/16. Not sure on frequency yet. During this whole time, I was never prescribed or offered PT. The ortho also told me that ablation wouldn't work in my case as it is for the nerves between discs for arthritis type pain. Would have been helpful to know last month. He also felt that my shoulder is tendonitis. I'm thinking it had to do with one of those workouts I did in July this year for upper body. Shot of cortisone in the shoulder (hurts like a mother now) and a follow up in three weeks. Again, not really improving (still can't walk for too long or stand for too long without pain) but maybe I will get somewhere with PT. If my shoulder can at least calm down enough to let me train in some way, I feel it will help me a lot.