A beautiful bruise

I have a magnificent bruise over my left biceps from the muscle biopsy that was done 2 days ago. Turns out any muscle can be biopsied to look for mitochondrial changes. At first I had hoped he'd take a sample from a more affected area but the aftermath of the procedure makes me happy this site was chosen. Had he done the right quad then I'd still be limping. It was hard to sleep Friday night because my arm was sore and very sensitive to how I positioned it. Such is life. I'm on call today but it's unlikely that I'll have to go in for an admission; how my arm feels isn't an issue. The muscle spasms from time to time and that offers me a hands on anatomy lesson- I am well aware of the location of the long head of my biceps and how my pec insertion affects the biceps. Kind of neat in an observational sense. Once the marcaine wore off I used a meditation technique to keep the pain down. This technique works by taking the emotional element of pain out of the picture. I focus on and analyze the qualities of the pain input and in doing that my brain is too busy to process the emotional component. It takes concentration to do this but it works for me. Ice had been suggested but I have a tendency towards cold urticaria so I didn't go down that path.
This physician's bedside manner was wonderful and he lifted quite a burden when he told me that he felt I had identifiable deficits. After being brushed off by the Mayo docs in May and more recently by a neurologist and rehab doc at HCMC I worried that my illness would remain inadequately explored until it was too late for treatment. Now I have access to further testing, if that's necessary. But this is a weird place to be. If the biopsy is diagnostic then I'll be dealing with an illness that lacks great treatment and seems to be relentlessly progressive. If no answers emerge then I'll need to keep searching while maintaining my current treatment program (going back to lower weights and more reps as heavier and fewer has not improved my strength and has increased my overall pain). My regimen has slowed things down but I'm still declining. I dream of getting back to my baseline but would happily accept the status quo if it would stay like this indefinitely.
I've found another fine physician who sees me, the patient, and I'm thankful for this. Yes, he gave me quite a bruise and it's beautiful.