whaaa happened?

it's only been 8 months or so since i managed to inflict shoulderly harm on myself. see, it was last summer when Justin and i walked to the park near our casa and threw a baseball around for a bit. of course i hadn't thrown a baseball for over a year or so, but i hardly ever stretch or warm up before i do anything, so why do it that day?

well, after 2 hours of throwing the ball back and forth sans warmup, i realized the importance of warmups. my arm was dead and i couldn't lift it to save my life. eh, give it a few days and all will be fine. except it wasn't. my shoulder still hurts today and i finally realized that if it hadn't healed with 8 months of rest, it probably wasn't ever going to heal on its own.

i called to make an appointment with my primary care doc, but they didn't have an opening until the end of april. (how does that help me?) so i went to "urgent" care and told the doctor that i put off checking my shoulder for so long because it's only very specific movements (like throwing or raising my arm and then moving it backwards) that hurt. i could get through the day and do the things i want to do without incident. sure, it's begun to bother me a little at night and later in the day, but it doesn't prevent me from playing hockey.

i got a referral to an orthopedist, and i'll have to call on monday to make an appointment. the initial diagnosis is a small, incomplete tear of the supraspinatus tendon, a.k.a. part of the rotator cuff. great. i'm not looking forward to the appointment (or even calling to schedule it) but i'm going to have to do it at some point.

while i was with the doctor, i asked about my right hand. i landed on the outside edge of it (heh, sounds like a skate) a few weeks back and it still feels bruised and i can't easily make a fist or even write. definitely doesn't warrant x-rays, but he says it's likely a hairline fracture or partial tear of the joint capsule. it actually doesn't really matter what it is because either way there's not much to do about it, and it should be better in 4-6 weeks.

i'm not holding my breath re: the shoulder. i'd like to remain optimistic, but it's hard to do so knowing that injuries are running rampant through the lab. let's see, there are 7 of us. my boss is having knee surgery in april to clean up his knee, one of my labmates is having ACL reconstruction done in 2 weeks, and another labmate is in a sling for at least 2 more weeks after messing up his shoulder. so, that leaves us with 4 healthy folks 3 healthy folks and me. i hope i don't tip the balance toward unhealthy.