Shoulder Update

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving long weekend. It's been over a month since I've posted a new #TmacsBlog time flies when your busy with school, swimming, dryland, university information sessions, therapy for my shoulder, and more. Aside from that I'm back and providing an update on the current status of my shoulder. I hope this blog does post properly as I'm writing on my iPhone away from the office.

Today I had two doctors review the MRI results from a few weeks ago. I could tell something didn't look right and the doctor was closely looking at the images provided. After a few minutes of reviewing the images I was told the rotator cuff is healthy. Great news to hear that and the rotator cuff had been healthy for sometime now, however a problem has come up that needs further investigating.

I'll do my best to explain this injury I have. It is a bit complicated to put into words but I'll do my best, bare with me. 

The shoulder has a ball in the front (if you place your hand you can feel it move around if you move your shoulder back and forth). This ball provides movement for the shoulder and allows it to swing and in swimming pull. Where my ball attaches to other bone structures like the rotator cuff there is some tissue type martial that has worn down and is beginning to come apart from the bone structure.

How to fix this new problem? 3 options. 

1. Continue with therapy and just leave it. There is a 90% chance of the injury healing on its own. However I may have to limit most of my overhead activity AND OR modify the activity (as I'm doing now) to ensure no pain, tearing, or clicking occurs.

2. In 8-12 weeks have another MRI done. This time dye would be injected to the shoulder and attach itself to torn areas and show clearly on MRI pictures. The dye injection MRI wasn't conducted because it wasn't nesesary for a rotator cuff injury. The assumption was nothing else was wrong with the shoulder. Now we know there is a different area to target.

3. A very unlikely option surgey. This would require a lot of thought and time. Normally patients don't see recovery results for 8-12 weeks at a minimum. Surgery at this point is a last resort and not on my radar. I'm confident that the therapy will be enough for a full recovery.

Where to go from here? 

I don't go back to Brampton to see the therapist till Friday. After Friday I'll have a better idea of where things stand. At this point I'm not sure when I'll be back in the pool to race. Late November early December. Maybe... At this point I'll be taking training one day at a time and doing a lot of kicking as I have been for the past 4 weeks. Limiting swimming will continue and any sign of pain will have me stopping and going onto kicking.

I know and understand this won't healed tomorrow. I have the best team on my side helping me recover as quickly and healthy as possible. They have the best interest in me which is awesome. The situation at self still makes me bitter and is tough to deal with some days. I'm not pointing the figure or putting the blame on anyone because that is childish. This experience is a true test of patience, working with others, learning about the body, and knowing limits. The road is long but I'm beginning to see the light in the distance. I have every confidence when I'm back this whole process will have been worth it. It's a bump in the road but a learning curve but I'll be the bigger person coming out of this!

As always follow me on Twitter, Facebook, & Instagram for the latest. I'm going to try a bit better to jump back on the blog wagon. Until next time always remember to face your challenges head on.