Bad News, Good News? Not Sure, really.
I had a great day of skydiving out at Skydance on Saturday - I did four 8-way jumps with a good group of folks. Unfortunately, my landings weren’t going so well and I couldn’t quite figure out why. My depth perception was off, and for a while I thought it was solely due to the fact that for two of the first three jumps I was landing in grass that was 2-3 feet high and was choosing my flare point for the top of the grass. But finally, on the last jump, I realized that my new full-face helmet’s visor was causing just enough distortion to screw up my (already-not great) depth perception.
I thought I’d gotten away from the day with just a slightly twisted ankle (first jump) but that last jump I landed hard on my left shoulder. I shook it off and thought it wasn’t a big deal, till it didn’t get better. So, yesterday morning I went to the urgent care center as soon as they opened at 9 a.m. … and was sent over to the ER (something about recent injuries needing to go there). Fortunately, it wasn’t too crowded and I got in and out of there in about an hour and 45 minutes, including x-rays and prescription pickup. Unfortunately, though the x-rays showed nothing was broken, based on his exam the ER doc believes I have a rotator cuff injury.
Sigh. I have a referral to orthopedics (waiting to hear back to find out when I can get in), and will hopefully know more after that. The ER doc seemed to believe given my age/health status/range of motion that it won’t require surgery (whew!) and from what I’ve read, it seems to be something that can be treated with just physical therapy. Now I just need to get confirmation and get rolling on that. I have very little patience for waiting!
I was worried that Noah would feel uncomfortable moving forward with training sessions given the situation, but when I called to ask about whether I could workout without the use of one arm he said hell yeah. So, this morning we did all legs and abs … ugh! It’s hard to get quite as intense a workout without the arms, but we did pretty well, and continuing with my sessions will at least allow me to maintain the level I’ve achieved without taking huge steps back while I get through my treatment. I’m so glad that I’m able to keep training - I’ve made so much progress that I’d really hate to have to stop now.
I’m hopeful that it won’t ground me from jumping for more than a month or so - any longer (especially this time of year) would frustrate the hell out of me. But, we’ll see once I’ve seen an orthopedist. Till then, I’m trying to stay active and stay optimistic. Vicodin is helping to take the edge off the pain (though as long as I don’t move my arm in certain ways, there isn’t any pain), and I’m taking a low enough dose that I can stay functional.
Stay tuned.
April 27th, 2009 at 5:05 am
Dang girl, I busted my shoulder once going over the handlebars on a bike, actually cracked the head of the humerus and did a number on ligaments & tendons in the shoulder. Did a little bit of PT but was up and running (literally) in about 2 weeks time. Gave it about a month before going back to swimming, but would say I was 99.98% back to normal within a few months.
Do your PT work, work with your trainer, keep it light and easy but do absolutely everything you can to preserve the range of motion and heal up quick!!