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Chinese hospitals are the best in the world… I used to say a little bit sarcastically, in a sense that if you don’t feel good, just the thought of going to hospital makes you feel better. It made my wife angry (she is Chinese) because, well …she knows and wants this little secret to stay within…

Today, there was no gimmickry, no avoiding, no excuse, no escape: I had a scheduled appointment They told me to show up in the morning at the military hospital, the one that handles sportsmen and women in Ningbo.  The drill is waiting in line ‘in bunch’ at different marked places to (1) pay for the visit, (2) attend the visit, (3) pay for the medicine, (4) get the medicine, (5) signal the doctor that I have the medicine, (6) get an injection…

Please don’t tell anyone, I was about to pass away; not that it was painful or anything, but even I closed my eyes, I just seem to have ‘a little heart’ for this kind of stunt. When the Doc was done with his needles injecting cortisol into my shoulder joint and it was time to dress and go, I suddenly felt cold sweat and an urge to throw up; I was seeing all stars and feeling weak… Deep long breaths allowed me to control my stomach and I was soon able to leave, but it was THAT CLOSE!

This drug is magic! Of course I had to sign a discharge in case I’d blow up with water retention or never wake up from the light dosage of anesthetic the vial was said to contain, but within minutes of the injection, the pain was gone. 2 hours after, it is still gone… No doubt my father warned me of the dangers, side & addictive effects of this drug – he used to tell us stories of athletes abusing the stuff – but this is the first time in my 46 years that I give in to the need of that sort of relief; I ought to be fine.

Gawd, I hope it works! I’ve had intense pains in my left shoulder joint for over 4 months now after I did weighted air punches, namely shita tsuki, hooks, oi & gyaku tsuki, a tad too intensely. I tried anti inflammatory local applications of cream, gel, rest periods, not working the shoulder, anti inflammatory patches, two different anti inflammatory pills and cortisol cream in local application (thanks to my workout log, I have records of what and when), with various degrees of success. The flaming pain always came back, with a vengeance.

This ought to put an end to it, I have my fingers & toes crossed. Mr. Liu the senior MD in charge of athletes’ next option is surgery: his proposal is to cut off the extremity of my collar bone… No, thank you very much, I just plainly hope the cortisone injection works.

I must stay put for 4 or 5 day; I’ll keep you updated.

(Note to self: get a small simple digital camera to share pictures with Dear Readers, the Chinese hospital rendition would gain from it.)