From Frozen Shoulder to Nerve Pain: I Finally Heard the Message

 In this episode I share a follow up from When your body Whispers, Listen - Before it Screams. I thought I was listening but was I really?  I  share a deeply personal story of navigating frozen shoulder and ulnar neuropathy—a physical unraveling that revealed a deeper spiritual and emotional truth. This isn’t just about pain or diagnosis. It’s about finally tuning in to the body’s signals after pushing through. 

This is a message for the over-doers, the high-achievers, the ones who tell themselves “I’ll rest later.” In this moment of stillness, I’ve learned that healing doesn’t always look like hustle. Sometimes it looks like slowing down, tuning in, and finally listening.

If you’ve been feeling worn down, this one’s for you. Your body is talking. What is it trying to say?

You can find me at:
https://www.instagram.com/cataton/
https://www.facebook.com/casey.taton/

You can find what sparks me at:
https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1AgeRtyojY/
https://www.instagram.com/lmbdcelebrations/

Music by: Jason and Ashley Scheufler
Artwork by: https://www.instagram.com/graphx_ink/

Transcript

0:04

Hey friends. Welcome to the Enter Spark podcast. I'm your host, Casey Caton. If you're looking to hear stories of transformation and personal growth, this podcast is for you. My guest and I will be sharing those sparking moments that has changed the mental living a more fulfilling authentic life. I'm so excited for you to hear each unique story. So sit back, relax, and let's get started. Hey friend. Welcome back to the Inner Spark Podcast. I'm your host, Casey Taton. This is shower sprinkle episode, this is a little follow up episode from April 12th. Wow. Time is going by. It is officially summer. That episode was when your body whispers, listen, before it screams. I just wanna follow up on that episode. It's been a while since I have put a podcast out. And there's been a couple reasons why. And with all honesty, that's what this podcast is about, is filling your feelings and just being honest and some of the daily struggles we go through. So this experience that I have been going through and experiencing the symptoms of Frozen shoulder,. I was really aggressive, when I figured out, um, when I started feeling those frozen shoulder things and I got diagnosed with it, I was like, what can I do to make this better and how can I speed this up? And I was very aggressive. I did everything I possibly could for a few weeks It's been months now. To get things going faster. I was like, you know, a couple people have said it took them two weeks and they were better. I had a ton of people reach out to me saying all different things. Some people were like, oh, it took me two years. Some are like, I'm still experiencing this discomfort. And. If you know me at all, I talk about my medical journey that I've been on, and how I'm not a person that sits still. And even though I thought I was slowing down, I was slowing down some, but I'm gonna be honest, I wasn't slowing down enough. I was probably actually a little too aggressive and. Maybe did some things too intense. I'm not really sure. I questioned why, and I let myself feel the feelings. I experienced a symptom of, well, I experienced, my left elbow or my left arm went completely numb on me. And my hand like clamped up into a claw hand. I remember that happening on a Friday night and I panicked. I remember my grandmother who had a stroke and that's how her hand was. And she didn't have function of her left hand. And that's all I could think of is, oh my goodness, what else? And I completely went into that zone of why is this happening? I was scared and then I felt my feelings of I'm not going to the emergency room. I don't like that place. I have had some not so good experiences there and I'm not gonna go sit and wait for 18 hours because our hospitals are full. So I try to function, um, a couple days. Friday, Saturday went by, Sunday I realized I was gonna have to do something that my hand was still a claw hand, my elbow was now swollen. I was in more pain than I had been in, and I thought my shoulder was making a little bit of progress. I then, this happened, so I went to our orthopedic immediate care and. I'm gonna be honest, I panicked when I was going in there. I cried every time I have to go to a new appointment or new, something like this. It takes me back to going to any type of emergency room, and I knew this was just an ortho emergency room, but. Sometimes the way you've been treated in the past, it, the triggers come up and it was real. I was scared. I cried. I was in, in a lot of pain and I ran every bad scenario through my brain that would run through. And so, um, my mom took me to the orthopedic immediate care and. I was lucky that I got a very, very nice doctor who sat down with me and explained things and said, yes, you're still experiencing the frozen shoulder. And, now I was also experiencing, what she thought to be nerve damage in my, she wasn't sure if it was coming from my shoulder or my elbow, but, she saw that my hands were clawed up and I couldn't move my pinky away. So she sat down and acknowledged that yes, she would be scared too if something like that happened. She showed me some pictures and we talked about it and. I, um, obviously she's, I was seeing the surgeon for my shoulder that week, so she gave me a splint to help re straighten out my wrist and help keep my fingers straight and straighten them back apart. And, oh, sorry. Medical journeys are hard to talk about. So, yeah, it, it takes my breath away sometimes filling my feelings. It's real, it was scary and I'm grateful that she took the time to sit down and talk to me and show me that the nerve path where she thought I had nerve damage and that was what was causing my finger to my fingers to claw. I got the splint and I went home, and then I saw the shoulder surgeon, later that week and he referred me on to get some nerve testing, muscle testing to see what was happening. I went on and did that, I am so, I'm so, so grateful that, you know, sometimes when you're struggling and you're scared, you're feeling all the feelings, you're like, what's the next step? And I just want it to be over. Right? You want it to go fast. Well, the truth is, It's not going fast. I did the testing and it happened to be with my neurologist. That was really, really comforting. I see one of the most gentle neurologists around. He's so kind, so caring, and just the way he delivers his words is, he treats you like a human. I have my family doctor that treats me like human as well, but I've had some bad experiences and so the fear of doing more, testing, more things, it just became overwhelming. I really had to tap into, I'm gonna be okay, this is just temporary and I am gonna slow down even more. I did the nerve testing and it did show that my ulnar nerve is, is compressed. I'm experiencing, ulnar neuropathy and. I will see a hand surgeon at the end of June. But the thing I really, well, I wanna say that I thank him for being so gentle and kind. It's not really fun testing, sticking needles all up and down your arm, you know? But I got an answer and the good news, is it's fixable, right? And I also realized it's summertime. This is like my favorite season. I love the water. I love surfing. I love just paddle boarding. Being in the lake, that's what my family does. And I was like, this is taking up my summer and it's taking away my joy. I'm gonna be honest, I've cried and I have been through a lot and a lot of feelings. Um, and then I came to realization that it's okay to fill your feelings. And I did, and I'm not saying there's still days that I am not in discomfort, that I don't feel my feelings and cry or feel the pain. I also learned that it's okay to ask for help. I was basically forced to ask for help, which made me realize that I am what I thought. I'd slow down and I thought I'd already was asking for help. Um, when you only have one arm, one hand that's working, daily tasks, cutting up your food. Even like taking out my trash. You know, when you're on a weight restriction of, I was on a two pound weight restriction. Well then I went to, okay, now my hand's not working at all. Okay, what am I gonna do now? And I'm so grateful because honestly, the truth is, is when you ask people will help you. I'm just so used to just going and doing and doing things myself that. I am learning to ask and receive help. So that is huge for me. When your life gets slowed down, and I am super grateful that I still have one arm that's functioning and I still have a gym that I get to go to every morning. Although I don't get to, do all the things, lift all the weights, I still get to go and move my body. So I just wanna say that I'm super grateful for that. And just a reminder that things are temporary, right? I ask for support with my pod sisters and, Whatever you guys believe in, I don't know. But I believe in healing the power of healing and talking to your body and really just being compassionate about myself because I was really hard on myself. Um, you know, I went to all the why's, did I do this to myself? Did I cause this myself? What is happening and why is this happening? And I know better. But when we're experiencing something like that, it's really easy to go back into being into victim mode. And at the same time, I also had so many good things happening at the same time. One of my coaches was launching a course. I got to help in there and, just be a big part of that. That was a blessing and there was other good things helping. I leaned in towards my pod sisters and we did a healing session. A group healing session I believe that my shoulder is getting better. I don't believe, I know my shoulder is getting better. I'm gonna rephrase that for everybody. I am still going through discomfort but I am also learning that when we live for one thing or two things. It's simple to forget the daily joys and the daily things we're grateful for. I was super angry about that. Hey, I may not be able to surf this summer, but then when I step back and I think about it, it's like, you know, I'm really lucky and I'm really grateful that I have pod sisters that were like, Hey, let's do a healing session and, let's surround your shoulder with love and healing and. I have another coach that, a well-known healer that I'm gonna do a healing session with him as well. I'm really excited about that. I will believe in the power of telling your body it's okay, and you have to fully believe that and fully trust that. Just fully trust that this is a temporary thing and I'm grateful for that. And no matter what happens, I could have to have surgery. I don't really know right now, but I do know that I can't still my joy and I can't steal my everyday life. I am so, so grateful that just for everybody that's reached out to me and everybody that's offered support, my parents, I'm grateful that I live close to them. You think about, you know, opening, um, opening your water bottle, anything like that is, it becomes a challenge to, with one hand. And so. All the things that I've taken for granted. I have now realized, like, you know, I had a grandma who lived like this in her eighties, in her nineties, and she lived paralyzed, and she lived with one hand. And I remember, you know, we cut all of her food and we opened her bottles and everything and I was like, she was so, she was so strong. And so it's possible to live with one hand, right? There's several people out there that have these things and I, this is just a temporary thing with me. So whatever the outcome is, it'll be, and I, I'm honestly just doing this to let you guys know that, um, it's taken me some time. It's slowed me down. It's made me be more intentional about the things I do. And it's just a daily reminder that to be grateful and to really love your body. We only have one body, right? And the more we show our body love and compassion, the more our body's going to heal for us instead of fighting against it. And I know that's a lot easier said than done, but I'm here to tell you that things are temporary. There's beautiful people in this world that are willing to help you when you ask, and you also have to be open to receiving, receiving help in so many ways. And I thought that I was open to receiving and so I had to ask for even more things like, can you please put my hair up for me? Can you please open this? Can you please cut my food? The list goes on of even like getting dressed in certain clothes and what can I wear? I have an, you know, a brace on my arm and I'm grateful that they make braces for things like this because it's helped straighten my arm back out and my wrist back out, and my hand back out so my fingers aren't all clammed up again. So as time goes by, I know that I'm going to heal. I have done a interview. With Dr. Jen, um, that will be airing next. We talked about frozen shoulder, we talked about hormones, we talked about stress, the stress we put on our bodies. It's just full of so much goodness you guys, so it'll be airing after this one. So I highly encourage you to go listen to it when it comes out. I just wanna to hop on and catch you up of, I was feeling discomfort and, I thought I'd slowed down and then, you know, something else happened and it caused me to go back through those thoughts. And here's the thing. Every time we grow and we learn. We may experience those feelings every time, but the true key is if you know inside your heart, I'm gonna get through this, and I'm still grateful for everything that I have and that I get to do. I'm so grateful that I got to help my coach on her calls and that I got to interview some amazing people while I was taking some downtime, and I'm just so grateful that I get to get up and move my body and still gotta do my hospital parties, and I'm grateful for all the people that have reached out to me. It's just showed me that, there's so many people experiencing different things and they don't talk about'em. We should normalize, um, we should normalize that people, and I guess here's the way, the thing is, you can normalize talking about it without complaining about it, and. And actually you have the right to complain. You have the right to be angry. Feel your feelings as you're, as you're telling somebody, and everybody needs somebody that they can call and tell and cry. Say, I'm feeling this discomfort, I'm feeling, you know, I'm scared. I'm worried because I went through all those things and, you know, I had to feel all I, I felt all those feelings and now I get to look at it as. I'm lucky that there's medical treatments out there. I'm going to do a injection in my shoulder, coming up and then, um, meet with the surgeons again and I'll continue doing my physical therapy and all the things. And I'm also still looking for a hormone doctor. I do believe with the amount of people that have reached out with me and people I've connected with, that it does play probably a role in something in some of this, because the amount of people experiencing this, the majority of them are women. Dr. Jen talked about that on our, the podcast interview with her. So I can't wait for y'all to hear that, but I just wanna come on and say it's okay to take a break when life throws you these things. Growing. It's like an EKG line, you know, good things are happening and then things can kind of slow you down. But the good thing is, is we always have these toolbox of things that we, with us, you know, I, I know breath work, I know meditation, and I do those things. But some of the things that was really missing was self-compassion and allowing myself the rest. So I am taking more time to do that, and I just wanted to update y'all because I feel like it's been, well, it has been a while. That episode came out on April 12th, and it is now like we are in June, and I want you all to know that it's okay to fill these things, take a break, take time, and when other things come up, it's, it's fine. You're allowed to fill your feelings, acknowledge them, and then I. You're also allowed to still find the joy in the daily things that you have around you. And the fear is not going to ruin my joy. It's not gonna ruin my fun. I love the lake, and so whatever the lake looks like this year for me, it's still gonna be a good time. It's still a happy place. You know, it's just being out in nature and, and not only that. The thing is, is when we slow down, we find joy and peace everywhere around us. You know, they say, stop and smell the roses. Let's be intentional. Let's really do that. Stop and see. Stop. Sit outside I went outside this morning and before I went to the gym and I just kind of stood there in my backyard and the birds were chirping and it was dark and peaceful outside and there was little, bunnies running in my backyard and I was like, oh, this, this is joy. I still can experience it as I'm going through some discomfort in my body. And that's okay. We can have more than one feeling and more than one emotion at once. I just wanted to update you guys and I'm still here. I'm still going, just a little temporary setback. In the meantime, I have recorded some amazing episodes that we'll be following, this one. I appreciate your patience. I appreciate everybody that's reached out and everybody that's took the time to help somebody. As I leave you today with my update and finding the joy in your everyday life, I wanna leave you with this is take a look around when you're going places, do you see someone that maybe is struggling, open the door for them. Really just take the time to be intentional and help other people because we don't know what they're going through. Before I had a brace on my wrist, I didn't have a sign walking around saying I can't lift my arm up. And, I still needed people to help me. It doesn't matter what a person looks like on the outside, what they look like at all, just take the time to be a good human and open the door or help someone get something off the shelf, or just do something kind for somebody else. Thank you for tuning into another episode. I hope today's story inspired you to embrace your own journey of growth and change. Remember, transformation isn't always easy, but it's always worth it. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe. Share it with a friend, and leave a review. If you found something that sparked you in this episode and may spark a friend, I encourage you to go share with them. If you have your own story you would like to share, I would love to hear it. So please reach out to me. Until next time, friends, go have some fun and let those sparks lie.