Surgery Sucks

My return to the keyboard may be short lived in this instance, as I have been rehabbing from my third shoulder surgery and I can anticipate some pain creeping in as I continue to type.  I just wanted to use this post to make a brief Public Service Announcement about shoulders and sports.  Anyone who has ever dislocated either of their shoulders, even just once, I would strongly recommend getting an MRI to determine if there is any structural damage.  Even if there isn't, start PT immediately.  I learned the hard way that shoulder dislocations rarely if ever are an isolated incident. That is unless you take preventative measures to make them so.  I have dislocated both my shoulders a grand total of 30+ times; perhaps some of it has to do with genetics, but I was not smart enough as a high school kid when this problem first occurred, to start Physical Therapy at the outset of this disorder.  Instead I waited until 10+ dislocations and one surgery to start a PT regiment.  Following that, I have had to be carried out of the UVM rec center gymnasium on a stretcher 4 or 5 times due to dislocations while playing basketball, that were too severe for me to relocate my shoulder capsule myself (which I have been trained to do).  I am a cautionary tale; if you like playing sports and having fun, and have had a shoulder dislocation or something similar, start physical therapy and get ahead of it so you can avoid having to endure multiple surgeries like myself.  Also, don't drink too much.  That's a good general life rule anyway, but alcohol lubricates the shoulder joint like nothing else.  Therefore, especially be careful when drinking and cliff jumping.  The picture below illustrates the arthroscopic nature of the first two procedures I had done.  Unfortunately my third surgery was so serious that I had to be opened up by means of a six inch incision, not to mention my surgeon had to cut my rotator-cuff tendon, not because there was anything wrong with it but simply because he needed to make more room to operate.  That concludes my PSA; your shoulders are precious, covet them.  As pleasant and effective as semi-synthetic opiate based painkillers can be, and as much as I enjoy having a license to be lazy, its not worth it.  And if you can relate to what I describe, preventative PT is the way to be.