Twas the week and a few days before Christmas when…Twas…Yes of course, when else but this time of year can you use this word. I could have started this story with, It was, but would I have gotten your attention? So, I begin again. Twas a week and a few days before Christmas and all had calmed for the night, when I got a call from my 91-year-old Dad, explaining he had a water break and it was bad. He said it had damaged the carpet in his dining room and the carpet needed to be removed. He sounded winded from trying to do it himself. I said, “Dad, leave it till tomorrow and I will be over to help.” All was as planned as I removed the carpet and pad, until the last row of pad needed to be removed it proved to be a little tougher and I tugged even harder. The pad suddenly let go and as I hurtled through the air, my mind went into action. Thinking I still had the speed and agility I had while playing centerfield in college, I began to shift to catch myself on my out stretched arm. My mind may still be swift, but the 61-year-old body does not handle the sudden stop at the end of the fall as well as it did 40 years ago. As soon as I hit I knew something was wrong. I wanted to laugh because of my clumsy fall, but alas, I knew something was wrong. I hoped that I had broken my arm because all other injuries would have been worse. I sprang to my feet knowing I needed an x-ray to find what was wrong. My father had seen the whole thing and was concerned as I told him I would be back, that I was headed to Amelia Express to get an x-ray. It was a five-minute ride and a five-minute wait before I could get the images Dr Jake needed, to confirm, that I had not broken my arm. Not the news I needed to hear. A few days later I went for an MRI and it proved what I really did not want to hear. I had completely pulled the triceps tendon from the elbow. You know, I know muscle! This was not good. In all the years I have been doing muscle therapy I can’t remember ever anyone injuring only their tricep. So, I go to Google to see what I have gotten myself into. It’s not good. A couple of sites say this could be a career ending injury for a pro ball player and the rehab could take longer than usual. So, I prepared to see Dr. Taormina a few days later. As I waited in the treatment room I could hear footsteps in the hall, was he here to tell me nothing was wrong. Dr. Taormina confirmed what I knew to be fact and he also confirmed that I needed surgery if I was ever to come back. He explained the process and showed me the picture, he would be using a technique that looked like needle point with a lot of sutures. *(I have included one for your viewing pleasure) As I patiently wait for that surgery day to arrive, I have decided to let you guys in on the ride. Look for a post every few days to give you some insight on how the surgery goes, how I feel and when therapy starts I will let you know.
Surgery in two days, the countdown begins…