Injured Reserve
I officially have come down with my first cold of the fall season. It seems like right about this time is when it occurred last year too.
The cold, however, is the least of my problems. The problem that is taking most of the focus right now is my gimpy right shoulder. Ready for a story? Here goes...
Back in January, 2003, I was playing hockey at the University of Richmond as a forward, due to the small number of players we had (normally I'm a goalie). During the third period of the first game I was about 4 feet off the boards with the puck when I got checked. I fell, shoulder first, into the edge of the boards. It immediately hurt and I knew something was wrong, as I couldn't grip my stick. I could move my arm, although it was with a LOT of pain.
So, after the game we go back to the hotel. I am unable to sleep, as the shoulder hurts too bad. I recruit Zoo, another player, to take me to the nearest hospital. This was at about 2am. We got there, and we are the only people in the waiting room. Of course, I sit there for two hours before finally seeing a doctor. When I get in, the doctor takes x-rays of the shoulder. After the x-ray, the doctor tells me that nothing is broken, and to maybe, if it keeps hurting, to go see a doctor back home in Richmond, VA.
Fast forward to summer, 2006. I'm playing softball and my shoulder is killing me. It has been getting worse since about late 2004. I decided it was time to go get it checked out again, seeing as how I couldn't do a bench press or pushup because of how week (and painful) the shoulder is. The orthopaedist took some x-rays as soon as I got there, and guess what he found? I have a broken collarbone!
Essentially, what the doctor thinks happened is that when I hit the boards, my shoulder separated, striking the edge of my collarbone on the way out. Because of this striking, a significant chunk of the edge of my clavical broke off. I now have a piece of bone floating around in my shoulder. Not only that, the doctor thinks that I may have torn my Labrum and/or rotator cuff. I have to go in to get an MRI on Thursday. So, the hospital in Atlanta didn't catch the broken collar bone, which pisses me off. It's not med mal, but annoying nevertheless. As soon as the doctor gets the MRI results he is going to make the determination as to whether I need surgery, or if PT will suffice.
The moral of the story? Don't trust hospitals in Atlanta.