WARNING: Contains graphic surgical image
There is a fine line between badass and dumbass
– Jim Bridwell
Crap…. What was that sound?
Didn’t feel so good either… oh well just keep cranking out sets of one arm push-ups. A bit o’ ice later will fix it up. Well, the ice didn’t really help. Rest didn’t help either. Only certain movements elicited any pain so just don’t make those kinds of motions and things will be okay…right? But it was only getting worse, and soon it was starting to impact not only my everyday life but climbing as well. My time honoured method of just training through it, was for some reason not working very well… Finally, in October I guessed that it was time to go see the shoulder doc.
My ortho guy is good, real good, and he suspected right away what the issue was, but scheduled an expensive MRI and CT scan just to be sure. He was right in his diagnosis. Torn Labrum of the right shoulder. He said that normally he would not do surgery on someone my age, (really! Grrrr) and just prescribe some physiotherapy and tell them to adjust their lifestyle. But because I am so active and a climber; I would not be able to continue climbing without the surgery. The procedure as he described it was pretty simple for him to do; but he was very upfront and clear that I would not like the recovery one bit. The only good thing was that the rotator cuff and other bits in there appeared to be fine.
It looked as if years of high mileage (without any particular concern shown to shoulder strengthening activities) coupled with some trauma of the one-arm push ups caused it to tear away from the bone.
This doc had done over 1200 of these particular procedures and actually had fellowshipped with its inventor; and had a track record of between 96% and 98% of his patients seeing FULL recovery to pre-injury activity. He works on pro-athletes (baseball pitchers, football players, etc.) plus had done several rock-climbers. Linda knew him and had been in the OR with him, so it all seemed good.
It was Halloween when I went to the hospital. They marked up the various incision points on the shoulder using the images from the MRI, and signed it as well so that there would be no confusion. I was wheeled into the OR and soon it was lights out. They drilled 4 holes in the bone and sunk 4 small plastic pins (not unlike drywall anchors) the pins have eyelets to which the surgeon threaded through the suture material and cinched the ligament (labrum) back to the bone. This causes the tissue to bunch up thus causing interference with the socket, so then they had to shave away some bone with the Dremel. I actually have the HD arthroscopic video of the entire procedure…. Pretty cool. In the end you could barely see the scars and they were able to miss the tattoo on that arm.
Less than forty minutes later I was waking up in recovery with an ice machine strapped around my shoulder. Within the hour I was home, and not long after that I was beginning to wonder just what the hell I had done.
I had been given some fairly serious painkillers. There wasn’t excruciating pain or anything; but rather a constant sharp ache that precluded any chance of comfort and would not allow focus or concentration on much else. I took the pills for a day or so, but they didn’t seem to have any effect at all. Sleep of any fashion was a big joke. I had the surgery on a Thursday and was back at work on Tuesday of the following week. I couldn’t drive so Linda had to take me to and from work for almost a month. It was close to three months before I could drive my jeep. Simple day to day things like brushing your teeth and shaving are brand new when doing them with your non-dominant hand.
The doc gave me several choices of where I could go for physio. I told him to send me to where you would send one of the Chicago Bears. I wanted the best chance of success. The physiotherapists were top notch and worked real hard with me. I wasn’t cooperating however. Sure I did my physio homework diligently; twice a day. There was just not any improvement happening. My range of motion was only imperceptibly getting better, and the sharp ache would just not go away. It got down to me going to physio six days a week, plus what I was doing at home. Months passed…
It was almost two months in before I got the go-ahead to even run. They were concerned about jarring the repair. Even then I was admonished to run thirty seconds on then walk for a minute and so on. I was so outta shape that was actually a good thing.
I was pretty fed up with the whole thing and I went back to the doc. Even he was getting concerned. Thought it might even be what they call ‘Frozen Shoulder’. He talked to the physio about some alternative therapies and prescribed me another different painkiller so I could maybe sleep a bit. Then the strangest thing happened. I took one of these pills at work. I got sicker than a dog. I was throwing up like crazy, sweating like a whore in church, weaker than I had felt in a long time. I was getting ready to call and cancel my physio appointment for that afternoon, but for some reason I didn’t. I was even thinking of cancelling as I walked into the reception area, but I didn’t. I did my warm-up stuff then my guy Mike started on me as usual. But I was totally relaxed and my arm moved way past its prior sticking point; and with minimal pain. We were both totally shocked! It was as if a switch had been thrown or a door opened. This was a whole new deal.
From that day forward I was improving rapidly. Every day I could see, and more importantly feel progress. Before long I was actually lifting weights, and other fun stuff. Now instead of dreading the visits I was looking forward to them. Eventually I had one last trip back to the doc, where he gave me full clearance to do as I please. Said I could play rugby if I wanted to. He did caution me to ease back into climbing, especially on overhanging terrain, but basically I was good to go. I went to the climbing gym on Jun fourth; about seven months after the surgery. The funny thing…my climbing partner who had been waiting so very patiently broke her wrist the day before.
I was a good boy and eased back into things gently. I stayed on slabs and vertical walls and kept the grades low. It was a real challenge not to get onto the fun stuff right away. We had a trip to Zion planned for the fall, so I needed to be in shape for that. It took time but I believe that it paid off in the long run. It’s been close to four years since the surgery and I still don’t have my range of motion back; but the doc said that I never would. It’s pretty close though. I still have pain from time to time when I overwork it. But all in all it’s in pretty decent shape.
Lessons Learned:
Dont be a wimp
Don’t be a pain in the ass to people around you
Start your physio as soon as you possibly can after surgery, do not delay at any cost.
Take your physio seriously
Do pre-surgery physio to help benchmark where you are and to ease the transition into post-surgery physio
You will need a recliner or similar piece of furniture to sleep in
Don’t hesitate to question all of your medical care professionals
Ease back into climbing
Keep your shoulders strong. They don’t get strengthened by climbing; but they do get stressed by it.
Always keep your shoulders engaged or ‘packed’ when they will be impacted by training.
– Pay special attention to this during pull-ups, any hanging, Turkish Get Ups, Kettlebell Swings. Etc.
If you live in the United States…have good health insurance. This whole escapade could cost close to $50K.
Never take your health and fitness for granted
There is a fine line between Badass and Dumbass