I can’t say yesterday was close to a good day. I had been waiting around Vail for the past two weeks to have this follow-up, two week appointment with the surgeon. I was hoping that the guys at PT would tell the doctor, or the doctor would see himself that my arm is doing stellar, thus accelerating the whole process.
But, that wasn’t to be. My doctor wasn’t even at the appointment, the fellow that had been at the surgery met me and pretty much just gave me a physical therapy protocol that I was told the day after the operation.
So, that means, 4 more weeks of having my arm tied to my side, then I can start riding inside (which I’m already doing) and if everything goes according to the standard plan, he told me 3 to 4 months before I can compete again.
I can’t really comment on the whole day, publicly, right now. I need to get a physical therapist at home now. I’m going to wait for a referral from the head guy here, Dirk, before I decide. Dirk, and Brooke, and the other PT people were the highlight of the experience so far. Seems like the hands on people have the most knowledge sometimes, but since this is all new to me, I’m not really sure what to think right now.
Plus, this sinus thing has moved into my chest, so I slept about 2 hours the last 2 nights. I’m not sure I’ve been so miserable in recent memory. And I don’t really care much right now. And yes, this is all considered whining.
The upside to yesterday was, even though I felt like shit, Trudi and I walked over to the Burton US Open snowboarding competition at Gold Peak and made our way up to the half pipe to watch the first qualifying runs, between doctors appointments.
It definitely wasn’t the smartest thing to be doing with my arm in a sling and a huge risk if I fell down. The hill was so steep and so slick that it was incredibly hard to get up the half pipe. Coming down was much worse. I think if I did that 3 times, I would have destroyed my shoulder operation at least once. Luckily, that didn’t happen, but I wasn’t in control of my footing at anytime.
Once up there, it was incredible. I don’t quite understand how this sport got to this point, but the pipe is so huge and these guys are flying so high. There were a bunch of 13 and 14 year old kids from Japan and Australia. I didn’t hear the announcers saying an age over 20, but I know that some of the guys were. I think Shawn White qualified 2nd, and he’s “old” in this sport.
Anyway, it is super cool. I think the winner of the half pipe gets $45000 for this competition. That is more than most total prize lists of the biggest bike races in the country. Man, sport is fickle the way the wealth is spread.
We’re heading back down to Denver today to give Vincent back his dog and spend the night. Then back to Kansas on Saturday. I think there is still a lot of snow on the ground there, not that it really matters to me. Funny how that is.
After getting all the bandages off at the doctor’s office.
This was between runs. The snow patrol guys go down the pipe to smooth out the ruts. Looks how small they look compared to the structure.
It is amazing what great photos you can get with just an iPhone.
Here’s Trudi intently watching.
We were nearly at the bottom of the half pipe and the guys were way over our heads when they came out.
This guy came up a little short, right in front of us. There was a big wind from the West, so alot of guys were getting blown over and had problems on our side. I don’t think this worked out well for him, but don’t really remember.
This is the middle jump for the slopestyle competition. It is so huge. I would love to see that too.
Bromont is going to miss his buddy Jack.
Yes, there is a lot of snow still on the ground here in KS. However, most all of the roads are clear now.
Hang in there. 3-4 months to compete? Goal race: TOAD.
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I saw you race Lincoln or was it Omaha Pioneer Park a few years ago.
Ride Bike,
Ken
Yes, stay away from the halfpipe. It looks like snow but it is just hard ice. I learned that the hard way at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Italy. I fell hard on the HP and banged my left shoulder, which was aggravated later that day by a snowball fight. 7 years later I’m still getting PT for that shoulder. But no surgery. Get well, go home and get ready for gravel season. You’ve had enough fun for one winter.
Man, sport is fickle the way the wealth is spread.
Not in cycling. The sport is structured to starve the second tier pros. The UCI go to great lengths to create/enforce an artificial scarcity.
You would be a good person to get a comparison of wages between the 80’s and now racing at the National level. You of all people could get a good cross-section over time and level from lots of people. So, what say you?
Your doctor must haver really underplayed what you’d be experiencing after the operation. I’ve had two operations on my shoulder to bring it back after being hit by a car. Before the first operation my doctor told me I’d wonder why I’d had surgery for at least four months. Eight months later I had another one to fix what he hadn’t been able to fix the first time. It was almost half a year after that before my shoulder really felt good enough that I didn’t think about it every time I moved my arm.
What you’re experiencing, the pain, feeling down, frustrated. All normal. And the schedule the doctor has you on is normal too. My doctor didn’t show up for my follow up either, neither one of them. That’s par for the course. That first follow up is mostly to take the dressings off and make sure there are no obvious problems.
Give it time, follow the doctor’s directions, don’t let it get you down and you’ll have a real good chance of coming out of this in good shape. Shoulder surgery sucks. There’s no getting around it.
Steve,
Impressive wins at nationals and the world championships. That sound typical for an orthopedic surgeons office. I’m sorry it is that way.
When you get home you don’t need wait to wait for a prescription or referral for physical therapy to start looking for the best PT in your town,most likely you can start treatment right away. Try and find a physical therapist owned facility as you’ll get the best service, preferably one where you are the only patient for the hour and where the PT specializes in manual therapy, Myofascial release or other soft tissue therapy. Good luck.
Aaron