Another Roadblock

Life is full of surprises. That’s nothing new. What’s new, apparently, is that my body is not as resilient as it used to be. I have been playing in a pickleball league a couple times a week to stay in shape. One day, while reaching for a ball, I threw my shoulder out. I decided to sit out a week and let it heal. When I went back to pickleball, the same thing happened again. So I decided to take 10 days off, which was very difficult for me. When I went back to the courts, the same thing happened again, but this time it was worse. I went to the doctor and he ordered an MRI for the following week. He said it was pointless to have an x-ray because I hadn’t fallen. When the time came for the MRI, the insurance company said you can’t have an MRI until you’ve had an x-ray. Finally I had both the X-ray and the MRI under my belt and went looking for a surgeon to talk to. The next available date was 2 months out. I felt a sense of urgency, so called around to seven different hospitals/clinics/doctors and finally got an appointment on March 14. The diagnosis was a ruptured bicep and a 70% torn rotator cuff. “It’s too bad you didn’t come in earlier, because we can’t fix the bicep after it’s been ruptured for two weeks or longer.” So I have a bicep in my right arm that looks like Popeye’s. As a matter of fact, it is called Popeye arm disease or Popeye deformity. It can do tricks, beat with a hammer, do a hula dance, look like a running dog. I hope to teach it more tricks because it’s going to be that way the rest of my life. As for the rotator cuff injury, the doctor said I could have surgery now but it would take 6 months to recover. I have to paddle to Hudson Bay in less than 5 months, so either no surgery or no trip. I chose to delay surgery, get a cortisone shot, and go to physical therapy. Whether that will be good enough remains to be seen. I’m beginning to wonder if I will EVER get to Hudson Bay.