Thursday

AM

18:00 Airdyne, 42 RPMs with arms 

+
a little trigger point work

PM

1200m sled drag from waist, 65
~26:00


Appointment with Tim couldn't have gone any better. This was the first appointment that I've had with him that didn't end with me terrified and/or in tears. I'll try to summarize:

• This much pain is totally normal considering the extent of the repair. We are a little concerned about the amount of ibuprofen I've been taking (prescription dose since January), so I'm going to try a month of just Tylenol to give my kidneys a break. Continue to ice as much as I feel like, which helps with the pain more than the ibuprofen anyway.
• He maneuvered it around a bit, which hurt like a BITCH (Jesus), but there was never the feeling of apprehension or instability, which is a first.
• He's really pleased with my ROM, especially internal rotation.
• He's really pleased that we've taken it S-L-O-W up until this point to allow everything to fully heal and tighten up.
• The ligament and tendon repairs have fully healed, and just because it hurts doesn't mean that I'm hurting it. The only restriction is on abduction + external rotation, which is still a vulnerable position for me to damage the repair, and will be for 6-12 months.
• Because the repair is healed, it's time to switch gears at PT, and he wants me to start aggressively strengthening it. He was going to call Drew today and make a game plan.
• My left shoulder is definitely at an increased risk of this happening, but if I pre-hab the left shoulder while I re-hab the right, and always, ALWAYS stay on top of it, and always, ALWAYS be careful with form under fatigue, it should be good.
• He expects me to make a full recovery, eventually, although I won't be doing anything dynamic overhead for 12 months. I won't gain the last few degrees of ROM until I'm doing stuff overhead, but he thinks it will come back as the ligaments naturally stretch out over time. He said I'd jerk 300lbs eventually, and I said I'd settle for 200.
• He said I'm good to start with a safety bar and even deadlifts whenever I feel like it. (I don't feel like it yet, but maybe soon.)
• Follow-up in 6 weeks (September 15).

I left his office so incredibly relieved that I've made it 10 weeks without fucking it up, that I'm pretty much past the point of fucking it up, and that I'm progressing normally. Could the worst really be behind me? It seems too good to be true.

Also, Tim looked especially handsome today.