Post OP Cont'd;

I know in a previous entry i mentioned that it was a major and a minor tear in my rotator cuff but after the doctor got in there, i guess it was worse than previously seen on the M.R.I. My wife briefly spoke with the doctor post op, as i was in no shape to speak with him, and what was suppossed to be an hour operation on me turned into three and a half hours, and he was then behind schedule with more patients, patiently waiting! Nonetheless the doc mentioned to my wife that he ended up putting a total of four anchors in my left deltoid and before he walked away quickly said that your husband, me, will be in a lot of pain over the next few days, believe me he wasn't kidding! I have slept a total of four hours since tuesday, two days ago! I do not mention this to complain but to pass along a bit of advice. My problem with my rotator cuff is a culmination of years of heavy lifting. I know when we are young we are capable of anything but believe me it catches up to you pretty quickly and my bit of advice to all is to warm up thoroughly any and all bodyparts before training them! Sometimes there is no escaping the injury that looms down the road and lifting heavy all the time and pushing harder and harder everytime in the gym will catch up to anyone, regardless if they warm up or not, as is the case for me. I still would have lifted the way i did even knowing this painful injury awaited me, sometimes it cannot be avoided but proper form and a proper warm up may prolong an injury or help greatly to not get one. I have been training hard and smart for a long time and i get a little smarter, i hope, with every passing year, but some things cannot be avoided, only overcome! One last quick note to my dear wife, THANK YOU AND I LOVE YOU, for taking care of me through this, you will never know how much you mean to me but i will spend the rest of my days trying to express to you how much i love you!

Post OP;

It has been about twenty four hours since my left shoulder operation, believe me i know, i have been up for most of them. I have to sleep sitting up on the couch, the two hours i did pass out last night, and i must say it feels like a very bad tooth ache in my delt at times and just a low grade bad toothache the rest of the time! I go back to see the doctor in six days and will be in a sling for four to six weeks! Yes i am typing this with one hand and i apologize for any misspellings. This maybe my last entry before christmas and i want to wish everyone a very merry christmas and happy holidays to those of you that do not celebrate christmas, may your days be merry and bright and may all your christmasses be white! Yes, by the way i am on pain meds and delerious from lack of sleep! That that does not kill us only makes us stronger!

Another minor setback;

Two weeks from today i will be on an operating table getting my left rotator cuff tendons, one major and one minor, sewn back together. The doctor, while reading my M.R.I with me, strongly stated the fact that there is much pathology in my shoulder from years of heavy lifting which finally caught up with me. I was perplexed when, on delt day i began my workout with front dumbell raises with a moderate weight and assuming i was warmed up enough, grabbed a set of moderately weighted dumbells to begin my set of side laterals. As soon as i reached peak position, elbow parallel with the floor, wrist just a little lower, i heard a loud pop from my left deltoid and wasn't able to raise my arm up with any weight other than the weight of my arm, even then there was some pain.
Those of you that have been following this blog are aware of the fact that i tore my left biceps tendon and was operated on in 2007. I came back in 2008 and 2009 to compete in bodybuilding shows and did well in my first and not so well in my second but the fact that i did not let that stop me was the biggest achievement for me.
I am approaching this injury with the same attitude, this will not stop me either! I was planning on competiting in my first powerlifting meet since my biceps tendon surgery, at the end of january 2010 but obviously, that is now on hold.
Life is about setbacks and the way a person approaches that setback is of utmost importance. Some let an injury destroy them and never achieve their dreams and some rise to the occasion and fiqure out a way to overcome and achieve, i like to think i fall into the latter category. I know some injuries are so catastrophic that creative thinking must be employed to overcome, but i have known and read about some amazing people that have done just that and i have found inspiration in their stories and abilities to overcome their situations and mine doesn't seem so bad.
I am still going to the gym to train lightly with the upper body and heavier with the lower body, as i said, after the operation i will be back as soon as the stitches are out, ten days later!