It happened so fast...a nagging sore throat, a visit to the $30 co-pay at the end of the street, 10 minutes in the waiting room, a 2-minute exam including a quick glance at my throat (I didn't even have to say "aaaahhhhh")...and before I knew it I had signed up for a steroid shot above the buttocks. Like Canseco, Sosa, McGuire, Bonds, Clemens, and now A-Rod, I took the easy path. The Doc sold me on a cortizone shot on the basis of ease and speed. Told me it would knock out my presumed sinus infection within seconds. Told me I would never go back to mere medicine again. Like the ignorant pro baseball players, I didn't even ask a question..."Sure, inject me" was all I said.
Within an hour, the post-nasal drip coating the back of my throat was gone. And the sore throat was feeling much better. But it did more than that. Since a Thanksgiving family football game, my right knee has been shot. I don't know what I did, or when it happened exactly, but I've been suffering from chronic knee pain for 3 months now. In the back of my mind I had succumbed to the reality that I will at some point need to see a knee doctor. That is, before I was injected with steroids! I don't know how long a cortizone shot courses through one's veins, but after 36 hours I now have fully normal knee function and no signs of sinus infection or sore throat. Last night I stayed up in bed reading till 4:30 AM, completely wired on the juice.
But now my concern...when the shot wears off, and the pain in my knee returns, will I become hooked on 'roids? Fortunately my job does not subject me to random tests for illegal substances. I could technically take the stuff as much as I need. But I'm telling you right here, right now, I'm nipping this thing in the butt. I've tasted the corrupt side of body enhancement, basked in the immediate payday, but I vow that my next medical setback will be treated with good, old-fashioned prescription medicines. Integrity will be restored.
Within an hour, the post-nasal drip coating the back of my throat was gone. And the sore throat was feeling much better. But it did more than that. Since a Thanksgiving family football game, my right knee has been shot. I don't know what I did, or when it happened exactly, but I've been suffering from chronic knee pain for 3 months now. In the back of my mind I had succumbed to the reality that I will at some point need to see a knee doctor. That is, before I was injected with steroids! I don't know how long a cortizone shot courses through one's veins, but after 36 hours I now have fully normal knee function and no signs of sinus infection or sore throat. Last night I stayed up in bed reading till 4:30 AM, completely wired on the juice.
But now my concern...when the shot wears off, and the pain in my knee returns, will I become hooked on 'roids? Fortunately my job does not subject me to random tests for illegal substances. I could technically take the stuff as much as I need. But I'm telling you right here, right now, I'm nipping this thing in the butt. I've tasted the corrupt side of body enhancement, basked in the immediate payday, but I vow that my next medical setback will be treated with good, old-fashioned prescription medicines. Integrity will be restored.
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