Shoulder Saga Update-Week 12

Saw the sports medicine doctor again today. I'm not progressing quickly as either one of us would like, so we decided to try shooting me up with cortisone to give me pain relief while I continue with physical therapy. Along with the cortisone, he threw in a substance that had a similar, but immediate and short-term effect so that he could test whether the cortisone would actually work. As a result, I have had 90 minutes of shoulder-pain free bliss. It should wear off in an hour or two and the cortisone should kick in in about 48-72 hours. Ahhhhhh.......

Tuesday Shoulder Update: On the Road Again. Sigh.

Just returned from the shoulder doctor. No muscle tear, but some serious tendinitis and fluid build-up that is probably a direct result of the fact that I continued to mountain bike after the injury.

The prescription: physical therapy and NO MOUNTAIN BIKING until the inflammation is gone and I'm pain free. Either that or I can probably kiss cross season good-bye. Fuck Fucking Fuckerton.

So I'm stuck on my road bike for at least the next few weeks. GRRRRRRRRRRR.

Friday Shoulder Update: No News is Good News

For everyone that has asked (and thanks for that!), I won't know the results of this morning's MRI until Tuesday morning. That is, unless, someone out there knows how to read the MRI film sitting in the backseat my car.

All I have to report is that the MRI facility at Providence is very nice. They give you a warm blanket and really good earplugs. I actually fell asleep (if you have ever had an MRI, you will understand why this is nearly impossible), but that probably had more to do with getting up this morning for a 5AM run than the earplugs.

I'm going to hash again tonight and will post a report sometime this weekend.

Supraspinatus-e-ala-do-cious

On Tuesday evening I was out for a short recovery run around my neighborhood when I tripped and hit the deck on the bike path in Willamette Park. I landed with my entire body weight on my left side, namely my left arm and hand. After brushing myself off and lugging my asphalt burned knees and palms back up Corbett, I started to notice that my left shoulder was bothering me.

As the evening wore on, the discomfort increased and I couldn't raise my arm laterally without a significant amount of pain. After two restless nights of sleep and a bit of panic (I am scheduled to start my race season in 9 days), the wonderful David McHenry at Therapeutic Associates did an evaluation this morning.

His conclusion is a strained supraspinatus muscle-- one of the rotator cuff muscles. Nothing torn and nothing that ice and rest won't alleviate. No swimming, cage fighting or chicken-dancing for a few days. So the Hagg Lake 4K swim is out for Sunday, but hopefully I will still be able to race at Granite Man.

I am now looking for a dry-fit bubble suit to run in.