Sketchism

This past Tuesday I visited the Orthopaedic Institute at Holy Cross Hospital in Ft. Lauderdale for a better examination of my shoulder. The assistant to Dr. Levy was very kind and asked me all the appropriate questions concerning the injury. I had an x-ray taken which confirmed there was no particular bone damage. The Doctor then examined my arm’s range of motion and did a few stress tests on me. I was able to perform and resist most of the arm movements he asked me to do. In fact, I was complimented on my flexibility, which I took with pride. There was one particular resistance I had trouble with, though. It occurred when I placed my left arm in front of me and bent my forearm to the right with my thumb down. Dr. Levy put a bit of weight down and asked me to resist it and that’s when I winced with pain.

To make a long story short, the doc prescribed 6 weeks of physical therapy for my rotator cuff. This would strengthen the muscles surrounding my shoulder, thereby stabilizing the weak tendon and pocket in the periscapular region. He said that therapy would give me an 80% chance of fixing the problem, and if that didn’t work after 6 weeks then we would explore the next step which would most likely entail surgery, but let’s not rush to that.

What this means for me is that all jiu-jitsu and judo will have to be put on hold for a few weeks. And that means no more NAGA next week. I’ll still attend to root for my team mates, but I would have loved to compete. It’s not the end of the world. I’ll eventually be able to compete, hopefully even in October. It’s just a minor setback. I guess I’ll stick to running, basketball, and I’ll try some light boxing for now.