Realization

About 6 months ago, I went to my GP with a complaint of shoulder pain. It’s something with which I’ve struggled every month right before my period, and it got to the point of being unbearable. This is an issue that began when I was pregnant with my first child 7 years ago, and it peaked during pregnancy and only really resolved with cortisone shots a few months after delivery. It was excruticating.

There has certainly been a hormonal component, since it flares right before my period. I have gone to a physical therapist for it, and she suggested that maybe it was an old injury (likely from high school volleyball), and that lots of female athletes struggle with old injuries and even tend to have new injuries in that week before mestruation.

Anyhow, I saw an orthopedic surgeon about 6 months ago on my GP’s referral, and he ordered an MRI for the next time my shoulder flared…. I still haven’t gone, because it hasn’t happened since. I mean, I have a little soreness or a twinge here or there, and it’s always a spot I ask my massage therapist to work on; but, it doesn’t limit my movement, and I rarely even need to take ibuprofen for it.

When I hit my 150-day mark a few days ago, I realized that everything happened together: I stopped bingeing (mostly) and purging (completely), I started going to therapy, and my shoulder hasn’t hurt since.

Coincidence? Maybe. But also, maybe not.

Day 154.