Long Time No Musing

Wow, when you fall off the wagon, you really fall off. I haven't written here in so long that there is no way I could catch up. So instead, I'll try and get things up to speed for the recent year.

In March I finished (note I say finished) tearing my rotator cuff in my right shoulder. Two events precipitated this. The first was playing co-ed indoor soccer where I got turned in a wall by some guy in a pink jersey (let the jokes commence). The second was playing in the parents-kids game for Sam's soccer team. The problem with the second event is that I was sprinting when it happened. Nothing like crashing into a bunch of 9 and 10 year olds, nor going shoulder first into a goal post. Just the natural action of pumping my arms to sprint for a ball finished it off.

I went in for surgery in April and when the bandages came off the Dr said "Oh yeah, the shoulder from hell". I was like really? He also went on to say that someone my age shouldn't have a shoulder that looked like that. Of course that made me feel really good about how I'd been treating my dominant arm over the years.

I spent six weeks in a sling and slept in a "recliner". The only saving grace was the Cold Therapy Unit (CTU). This device uses ice water pumped from a base unit into a "pad" that is strapped to my shoulder. This delivers the cold needed to reduce inflammation and provides some blessed relief from pain. Of course the medication I was given kept me in a blissful state for the first couple of weeks.

After 2 weeks I started Physical Therapy. This is a glorious system where you get to pay people to basically "beat you up". Ok, it's really not that bad most days, however when the therapist stretches you out there are some really good grimace moments. I like to think that I handle pain well and am determined to not invoke the "$5.00 charge for whining" that is posted on one of the walls.

Physical Therapy also comes with "homework". This is designed to help speed recovery, but I also think it is a devious plan to make me feel like my kids who are in grade school. Of course it also means that I get to use the CTU (I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to its cooling properties at this point).

All in all this hasn't been too bad. I'm at the point now where I feel like I could do everything I could before, so I still have to be careful because well I can't. So don't expect me to be making plays at shortstop anytime soon. On the other hand, I've been cleared to jog again, so I can start preparing for soccer season and playing the game I loved.