shoulder surgery

It was great to see you last night. Just don't forget that lane 2 will keep you on the straight and narrow path to a successful recovery. (We won't be afraid to tell you to get out if you are working to hard!). Don't want to lose you again anytime soon! Just one question: Who gets to lead the kick sets?

Ok so its been brought to my attention that I was tooooo easy on you. So Bruce, as much as you want to be in the water, give your shoulder the proper time to heal. This is important so you don't end up injured and out of the water again. You wouldn't want to inadvertantly extend your healing time. Was I stern enough?

Bruce, Thanks for the update! I'll bet you're glad it over. Remember to take it slowly. No one takes this advice to heart until it's too late but...a word to the wise. Be the first one! Make some goals that are technique oriented, kick a lot and improve your core strength, learn new drills, feel your stroke - anything but speed goals and distance goals. I'll tell why. If you have speed and/or yardage goals you will up the ante every time you achieve one. We all tend to do that and it's not long before they are unrealistic for your rehab situation. Never forget that for many months you are in a recovery situation, you are a recovering injured athlete and in the long run going slowly now, will pay off down the road. Going too fast now will definitely impact your ability to be the best you can be (as a recovering injured athlete) in August for the Worlds. Have fun with your recovery, improve your technique, enjoy being in the water, and treasure your opportunity for a second chance to do what you love. Nancy

Marcia, You'll never know why your left shoulder now shows arthritic changes, but it doesn't necessarily point to a bad repair earlier. With my 3 surgeries, the first one was considered to be the most serious - so many full thickness tears you could see through the shoulder - but actually, the arthroscopic bone repair on the other shoulder turned out to be the most serious. There were arthritic changes that caused the doctor to doubt that I could ever swim again at the level I aspired to. He told me he wished he could get me to try another sport. The first surgery had nothing to do with it, it was the result of poor technique, heavy weight training, etc. that caused the changes on one shoulder and not the other - the luck of genetics I guess. The result was that the doctor told me I could never put any weight on that shoulder again - ever. No pushups, getting out of the pool over the edge, nothing that would put all my weight on my shoulders. So far, so good. I'm swimming and after two 1/2 years training with lots of intensity. Hang in there and good luck! Nancy

I had arthroscopic surgery for subacromial decompression, they said I would be back in the water in 6 weeks. I was, but not to swim. I had the surgery in August and did not swim a full workout until Dec. In Jan I swam the hour swim. No fly allowed until later. I was 55 or 56 at the time. I had an RC full thickness tear repaired in april 2005 and was ready to swim in July, I don't know if that was the dr. or what (different surgeons). Now I have a tear in the left shoulder and the MRI showed all kinds of arthritis there, which the right shoulder never had, so this makes me wonder if the first operation didn't set up the conditions for arthritis to develop.

Nancy....thanks for checking up on me...yes, I'm glad the operation is behind me, not because I had any qualms about it, but because I'm now that much closer to being a recovered subacromial decompressionite....I'm sure I was one of their most enthusiastic patients veritably leaping onto the gurney and plugging the IV into the vein myself wilst cheering encouragement to the surgeon as I faded into anesthetic oblivion....I was so excited I thought I'd burst, having tried nearly every other feasible remedy, to no avail, and, believing surgery to be my deliverence I was like a kid waiting for christmas morning.... yes, but that was the easy part and I now, only lately understand the difficulty and importance of the next phase...I have heard the "now..take it slow Bruce" so many times I'm actually starting to believe it...I mean REALLY believe it and understand it, and its been absolutely necessary for me to hear it so many times because otherwise, the advise would make nary a dent in my prideful armor of hubris....the whole concept runs counter intuitive to the psyche of a proud and aging athlete because we, as a group (you included I'm sure) are people of action and the success of this lies with inaction....an almost unbearable paradox and so difficult....until I began adjusting my mindset, I found myself vowing to set a record for quickest recovery...fastest to discard the sling...fastest to put a sweater on over my head...if the therapist prescribed 2 sets of 10 reps I wanted to do 4 sets of 20...I'd "make" the best recovery happen onstead of "letting" the recovery happen.... ...I'm gradually accepting the concept...but, man, it ain't easy.... thanks for your thoughts rereading this I seem the tortured soul...It's not like that...I'm ok, really...Bruce