My arm still isn’t much better, and it’s been almost three weeks since I first started having problems. I’m still experiencing numbness/tingling and weakness in my left forearm, and it’s still neither better nor worse. I saw my doctor’s PA a couple of days ago, and she couldn’t pinpoint the problem. She suggested an MRI, and somebody in the doctor’s office made an appointment at the hospital for me to get an MRI, but when I found out it would end up costing me $750–after my insurance pays their portion–I said “No thanks!” and canceled the appointment. The physician’s assistant said that, worst case scenario, this is a spinal problem, probably a herniated disk. Most people can recover from a herniated disc without surgery, so I couldn’t justify spending the dough just to know for certain what is wrong with me, when the treatment would likely the same regardless. I plan on just taking it easy, trying not to strain my neck, back, or shoulders, and if I don’t get better in a few more weeks I’ll consider the MRI.
I’m planning on taking Michael and Bradley for a hike this weekend while Traci is out of town. I haven’t left the house much in the past couple of weeks, and I think it’s time I got the hell out of here. We’re going to check out a canyon that branches off of North Salt Wash east of Ferron. I have been eyeing that canyon for a while, hoping to use it to make a long loop hike up McCarty Canyon. I tried getting a glimpse of the mouth of the canyon from the rim of North Salt Wash in June, but the canyon makes a sharp bend just before entering North Salt Wash, and I couldn’t see past the bend to determine whether the canyon was passable on foot. I took some photos then, and from looking at the photos there appears to possibly be a natural arch at the mouth of the canyon, but if so, it’s mostly hidden behind the bend in the canyon. This weekend I plan on seeing if there is in fact an arch, and whether the canyon would be passable on foot if I was to hike down it from the top end after hiking up McCarty. My biggest obstacle to doing the hike is that the truck needs an oil change before being driven that far, and with my back/neck/arm problem, it’s going to be difficult without setting my recovery back. I think I’ll put the oil change off until the last possible minute (Friday evening) to see if I feel up to performing such a task.