PRE-OP DAY

Short note: The bats seem to have gone but we are still sleeping with the doors closed and John still does a bat check in the bedroom before we go to bed. He finishes his rabies shots next Sunday, May 13. I'm now allowing him to sleep in the bedroom instead of locked in the basement and he no longer is required to wear the muzzle out in public. So now we can get back to me.  

  Tomorrow is my surgery day. I'll be getting my rotator cuff tear repaired, and then I can start my journey to having full use of my arm again. I'm not looking forward to surgery, but I'm looking forward to having had it. It's a lot like many other things in my life. I've discovered that while I thought I wanted to write, I really wanted to have written. While I thought I wanted to be a great musician, I wanted to have accomplished it. While work was often rewarding, I was always looking forward to retirement. 
Rehabbing my shoulder will be work, but much less work than the previous items, and with a relatively clear map of how to get from there to here. So today I'm posting pictures of how much range of motion I have now, so I can compare after rehab.

This is how far and how straight I can get my arms up, which for the time being is retarding my goal of being an NFL referee.

Here I am with my hands outstretched. This limitation is probably all that stands between me and a successful career in ice skating.

Not sure what career you need this move for, but not being able to do it sure restricts moves like pulling up your pants and hooking up a bra. I guess succeeding at this would be the don't-have-to-live-in-a-nudist-camp move.

As for this one, well, if you can only move your arm this far, try washing your armpits. I guess I'd call recovery from this the friend stabilization move.



  Okay, I've fooled around with this long enough. Now I've got to go clean the house in case well-meaning people decide to drop by, I don't want anybody to know what a pig I really am. Plus, I sort of want to get the worst of the dirt and grime out of my post-surgical resting places.

These last two pictures are just comparisons of how far the other arm moves.