Well, up until now it had been a date circled on our kitchen calendar. What had seemed so distant is now approaching fast. Three years ago I was told my right shoulder had deteriorated to the point of bone on bone and the only fix was a rebuilding of the shoulder. I had always thought God had given me body parts to go the distance but He managed to throw in a little osteoarthritis just to drive home the point that I was not perfect. Surgery is now one week away.
When I was a boy my absolute favorite thing to do was throw a ball. Actually, I loved to throw anything that would fit in my hand, even rocks. My grandfather would take me to a local river bed where there were thousands of rocks along the bank of the river. Always aiming at a target I got quite accurate with my throws and the flat rocks I could make skip almost all the way across the river.
As I grew older I did not lose my passion for throwing things but it was mostly a baseball or a football. As a quarterback on the football team I could throw with the best of them. Later, as my kids grew up there was nothing I enjoyed more than throwing the ball around with them. I would holler “everybody out long” as I would heave it as far as I could or we would play a mythical ninth inning, bases loaded, two outs with Mickey Mantle at bat, my kids pitching and me at the plate calling balls and strikes.
Now I am paying the price. Somewhere along the line it became very painful for me to even lob a ball to one of my kids. Eventually I had to stand off to the side and watch as they played catch. While there was joy in watching it hurt not to participate. The last straw was having to give up surfing. I had long since given up board surfing for a boogie board but that raised shoulder stroke required to catch a wave became too much for me. It takes a great deal to dampen my enthusiasm for a day at the beach but lounging in my beach chair and not being able to surf is like fishing on a boat where everyone around you is catching fish and you can’t get a bite.
Three months ago I decided the pain was to the point where I must do something. A visit with an orthopedic surgeon convinced me the only option was a total shoulder replacement. Once a date was set for surgery there were a number of pre-surgery requirements to be met. There were x-rays, scans, blood tests, heart tests and meetings with doctors and the surgeon. Now I can’t stall anymore.
Hopefully I can squeeze in one more blog before that day. If not, the next blog I do will be with my left hand only. Thankfully, I have spell check.
