The Cold Shoulder

Well, I got the results of the tests on my shoulder last night from my doctor. After almost an hour's wait, I was informed that the x-rays showed negative ...

But, the ultrasound showed a 4mm x 6mm tear in a ligament in my rotator cuff!! Finally, confirmation that there actually is something wrong with my shoulder and that it isn't just tendonitis. I asked my doctor what the next step was and he said, "Physio.".

My jaw dropped.

He noted my disbelief and said that he doubted a surgeon would want to repair the tear. I calmly looked at him and asked what he thought physio would acutally do because I've done that schtick a number of times over the years and, in my opinion, it's actually lead to degradation in my shoulder's performance capabilities.

"It'll allow you to strengthen the muscles in the shoulder that will increase your mobility." I thought that through for a moment ... or two ... and realized that that was bullshit and that I really would like to talk to a surgeon to get his thoughts on the subject. I mean physio isn't correcting the problem, it's hiding it. The tear will always be there ... the physio isn't repairing the tear, so my discomfort/pain will always be there.

His reasoning was based upon my statements of not being able to throw a ball anymore. He believed that the strengthening of the shoulder through physio would allow me to throw a ball again. My confidence in him hit rock bottom on this matter instantly.

It's not that I want to throw a ball again ... mind you, it would be nice ... it's that I used the stories of my prowess of being able to throw a ball with speed and accuracy from the outfield to home plate has been replaced by barely being able to throw from home plate to first combined with intense pains that drops me to my knees with tears in my eyes.

I WANT THE PAIN AND DISCOMFORT TO BE GONE!!

So, I straightened his thinking out and got him to complete a request to consult a surgeon.

If there wasn't a shortage of doctor's in my hometown, I'd get a new one immediately despite the fact that he's actually been a good doctor. He's the one that detected an issue with my urine sample that lead to the diagnosis of my iGA Nephropathy in it's earliest stage, but his "poo-poo'ing" of this ... combined with the previous issue with finding out my shoulder results and the one hour wait ... makes me want to find a new doc.

I guess there'll be more updates on my surgical referal and events thereafter.