Hot on the heels of yesterday’s visit to the Cardiologist, today it was a trip back to Fleming to see a different traumatologist (in the aparato locomotor dept) about my shoulder. You may recall that when I stopped by Fleming back in May to ask why I’ve been waiting since October to see the knee surgeon I was told that they were presently seeing people whose doctors had requested appointments LAST JULY. So while I was there today I thought I’d ask this doctor about the long wait and she just rolled her eyes and very sympathetically said to me that a year’s wait was normal so I shouldn’t be surprised if I don’t see anyone until next October. Fuck.

But, back to the shoulder. An old problem I’ve had for years, comes and goes, and the reason for the aborted MRI in April (I lasted maybe 10 seconds in there). When I reported that to today’s doctor she nodded her head and said a lot of people have the same problem. Then  she gave me an examination, had me try various movements, strength testing, etc. and said I had ____________ (a long techy description I can’t remember – short version: fucked up shoulder). Then she put in an appointment request to get an ultrasound done and said she’d see me again after that. Fine.

Then it was back to my knee. She seemed actually concerned about how I was doing and concurred with the previous doctors that physiotherapy wasn’t helpful for a torn meniscus, but said cycling would be good for me (thinking about looking for a stationary bike during the summer sales, or I might be able to rent one from the hospital). I appreciated that she didn’t tell me I need to lose weight; I got the feeling she knew I knew that already. She also said I could try this stuff, which I found out my pharmacy stocks, but I need to do some research first. Her recommendation was to take it for three months, then take two months off, and then another three months. We’ll see. Not sure if this isn’t just more woo woo whatever, like all those useless creams I’ve tried over the past couple of years.

So what does any of this have to do with that fabulous breakfast up there? Well, Fleming is just around the corner from Mercado Las Palmeritas, which I went to for the first time while researching my Sevilla Food Markets article on Substack (and decided it’s now my new favourite market), and so it seemed like a great opportunity to drop in again. I actually shared that massive tostada with Peter, then did a little shopping and, yep, it’s still my favourite market. Pico de gallo coming up…