An ode to Prednisone

Dear Prednisone,

I want to thank you for finally giving me relief from the agonizing pain I’ve had in my neck, shoulder, and left arm since last week. At the time, it didn’t occur to me that I needed to be mindful of my degenerative disc disease and thought that moving a few bags of top soil wouldn’t be a big deal.

Boy, was I wrong.

For the next six days, I powered through crippling pain that left me unable to work, even though I have a desk job. Simply holding my arm at the required 90 degrees so I could type caused my upper arm to feel as if it was stabbed by 1,000 knives.

Stubbornly, I self-medicated with OTC pain relievers, heating pads on high, ice packs, and the stupid notion that it will get better eventually. The only position that offered any respite was to hold my affected arm up and rest my hand upon the top of my head. Sleep was impossible. Smiling at my sweet dog was impossible. Everything was impossible.

Finally today, I got over myself and saw my ortho who did new scans. My C4-C6 discs were compressed. Only real meds and PT will help and, because I hate opioids, my doc prescribed you…Prednisone.

Omg. Ahhh.

After a week of agony, I’m finally free of the pain. I can look both ways and even up and down! I can hold a full mug of tea and bring it all the way to my mouth! I can bend down and hug my beloved poodle and feel the authentic joy he brings me! I can….breathe.

I know you are a short-term solution and that I still face a decently long road ahead that involves traction to mitigate the underlying issues, but for now, I am grateful to this wonder drug for giving me some hope.

Thank you again, Predisone. You gave me my life back. You deserve credit where it’s due. 👍