INDIA EIGHTYTWO -- PART TWO

It's 4 am and I'm in the shower but not getting ready for an early morning race.  Instead I'm sitting on my granny shower stool with anti-bacteria soap getting ready for my early morning surgery.  The hematoma formed on my hip from my bicycle accident 5 weeks ago did not re-absorb as hoped. Instead it is forming a pseudo-bursa as the scar tissue encapsulates around it.  Time to remove it so I can get ready in a few weeks for the major surgery on my rotator cuff.

The surgery was performed under a "General" by a Plastic Surgeon, so it must have been a bit more consequential than I originally thought.  I now have another drain and bag and complication to performing life's daily rituals.  I did feel holistically better following the surgery. I had noticed that
the hematoma felt a few degrees warmer to me than the surrounding tissue, so maybe the body was working hard to defend against this unwanted bulge.  Glad it's been removed so I can get on to the bigger issues.

I've also started Physical Therapy to reduce the chance of the dreaded "frozen shoulder" which can follow shoulder trauma, or just occur out of the blue, as a bodies natural protective defense.  It seemed odd to me to be doing PT prior to surgery, but I've been assured it's the right thing to do.  In my case, I do have very restricted range of motion.  I thought it was just due to the fact that some of my muscles are no longer connected to where they are supposed to be connected, and my scapula was broken.  But no, it's due to the rotator cuff capsule clamping down on the ball of my shoulder bone. Adhesion's had developed, but so far they have not called it frozen shoulder.

This rotator cuff PT is range-of-motion only, no physical loading, as all my shoulder parts are not connected or in the correct place.  Already my left arm is about 3/4 the size of my right due to inactivity.  The range-of-motion PT is more painful than anything I have ever experienced even when I pre-load my body with Advil.  Having run marathon's at sub 6 pace, ultras as long at 100K, and numerous Ironman races, I know a bit about pain. Or so I thought.  And, un-reassuring, doing this PT prior to surgery is just a precursor of the pain I'll have with PT following surgery.   The normal recovery time following surgery is 6 months, putting mid-October as my back-to-normal target.

Its now approaching 6 weeks since the accident and the enormity of the emotional and physical constriction is making itself clearly felt.  Only to be able to do any kind of workout, to repair small things around the house, to do anything but read, watch TV, second guess, and try to figure out what to do with the rest of my life.  I am an active person, as most of you reading this are, and this type of long-term confinement is beyond frustrating.  I've had bouts of self-pity and questioned whether being active after 70, at the level of intensity I've carried to this date, was part of god's design for the human body. Quash that thought, quash it, quash it.

I've found that having a race as a goal, I'll train more consistently and focused.  Consequently I'm thinking about what year-end goal I should plan on tackling if I'm to progress out of this mental and physical confinement. Since it's my shoulder that will be the last to heal/recover, triathlons are not realistic racing goals for 2016.  But maybe a running race?  It's not an optimal goal for me as my knees have been my limiting issue in the past 10 years, but it's where I can realistically have a chance of developing fitness given my slate of injuries.  My son has already registered for the Javelina 100 mile desert trail race in late October. It's just 15 miles from my house. They have a concurrent 100K race.  Am I nuts?

......to be continued.....