What I Expected...

Surgery.

I went to see Dr Dugas today at Andrew's Sports Orthopaedic Center in Birmingham.  In a nutshell he said it's time to go in and clean up my shoulder.  The MRI I had a few weeks ago wasn't "normal" although he said it wasn't terribly impressive (nothing was "flapping in the wind").  But I've tried every conservative treatment available and nothing has worked to get me back out there the way I want.  So, January 7th I go under the knife.  He knows he is going to cut out a piece of my bicep tendon and reattach it.  He said he would look at every other part of my shoulder/rotator cuff and repair/clean up anything he sees in there.

That's the good news.  The not so great news is that this means it will be 6-8 weeks of doing NOTHING after surgery.  He said I'll start PT the day after, but it won't look like anything I'm used to so he wants me to get it in my mind that I'll be doing NOTHING at all so it won't be such a shock.  He said I could plan to start "training" about 90 days post surgery and if Iron Man training was six months I could plan to race again in October!!  I'm taking that as EXCELLENT news.  The 6-8 weeks of "nothing" is just my ticket to train hard later.

Not the best example...but you get the idea...

He explained that the tendon tear is not exactly what we think of when we hear that word.  It's not like
a piece of paper.  He compared it to a green limb off a tree.  He said if you take the limb and twist it, the fibers would split apart.  If you twist it back together, it might look just fine from the outside, but it's "torn" and not as strong.  He plans to cut that "torn" part out.  From the way he talked there could also be a tear in the labrum that he'll need to repair.

So...from now until the 7th he said I could do what ever I want to do.  He said the shoulder is already beat up, I might as well burn it out!!  I instantly had visions of swimming and running!  The only thing that stands in my way is pain, and they make pills for that!  Seriously I feel like a teenager who has just been given keys to the car and told to have fun!!  (Ask me tomorrow how I'm feeling and I might have a different answer...)

January 7th...19 days and a wake up.  The countdown has begun.

Learning The Cries of My Body...

I've been talking about my shoulder injury for a while now.  I really started feeling it about mid-September but I didn't start paying any attention to it until I went to my TRX certification training on November 30th.  I remember thinking on the way over to Atlanta that morning I should maybe opt out of doing the exercises, but quickly poo-pooed that idea when I got there.  I decided I would listen to my body after the class was over with.

Have you ever tried to not listen to a fit-throwing child?  If they are really good at it, they will follow you around until you pay attention like this toddler:



That's pretty much what I thought was going on with my shoulder.  I didn't realize there was an actual problem until I found myself not recovering from one workout to the next.  When it hurt so bad I couldn't even hold a brush long enough to dry my hair I decided to do something about it.

Almost three months, 2 MRI's, a nerve conduction study, and countless visits to my favorite chiropractor (Dr Olsen, P3 Chiropractic and Sports Care) later I have finally gotten some answers.

Drum roll please....

Turns out I not only had a raging case of tendonitis but I also have a pinched nerve in my neck.

Now...tendonitis is a real thing.  It's basically inflammation of a tendon.  (No, I'm not a doctor, and I don't even play one in my blog...this is just my understanding and not to be used for anything other than that.)  The only thing that will make the pain go away is reducing the inflammation.  You can do that with a pill or a shot, or reducing/limiting usage of that tendon.  Well...I took pills, I had a shot, and I reduced/limited activity of that shoulder as much as humanly possible without resorting to keeping it completely immobile.  And yet I still had strange pain that I couldn't get away from.

I like to think of tendonitis as the tantrum-throwing child.  There may be a real reason for the fit, but it's just blown way out of proportion.

The pinched nerve, however, is even "more" real.  Not only was this causing pain, it was causing my arm to tingle and go numb all the way down to my fingers.

Thankfully a good bit of the results of both of these issues have resolved.  I do still have some pain in the (bicep) tendon, but it seems the "child" is calming down a bit.  And, the numbness and tingling in my hand has mostly resolved, for the most part.

From what I understand, the nerve is still pinched.  The orthopedic doctor at Sports Med pretty much said there's really nothing that can be done short of surgery.  I haven't fully accepted than answer yet.  My suspicion is that Dr Olsen and even my favorite physical therapist, Jay Austin of Austin Physical Therapy, will have a different opinion about that.  I think I'm going to like their answers better than the one I got from the Sports Med doctor.  (Although...I have to say, I left my appointment with him very encouraged since he didn't tell me I couldn't train for IronMan Lake Tahoe.  In fact, he said I would have to train as a 43 year old woman who is trying to finish and be healthy for the rest of my life.  I agree completely with that statement.  I just think I may have a different opinion about what that might look like than what the good doctor does.)


I think the question is the same as it's always been...how do I discern the difference between a temper tantrum and a real cry for help.  Learning that distinction is like a new mother learning her child's different sounds.  The problem is my body has thrown more tantrums than it has had the need for real screams for help.  Unfortunately I have a history of giving in to those tantrums, creating somewhat of a brat for a body.  Consequently, now, I hear every cry as "WOLF" and don't pay attention like I should.  This is precisely how I have ended up with three different injuries.

There's a balance in there somewhere...and I aim to find it.  I love my body enough to take the time I need to learn the meaning of each and every cry.  More importantly, I love my body enough to respond in a healthy way.

Thanks for stopping in.   Come again soon.  I have some exciting news to share with you!!
:D