I thought I left career-threatening injuries behind when I stopped playing baseball seriously when I was sixteen. And as a sysadmin type by day and a writer by night, I always thought the greatest danger to my livelihood was braving insane St. Louis traffic twice a day. In February I started feeling weird pains in my lower arm. In my baseball days, I always played in pain, so I didn't think much of it.
Athletes rest and heal between games and during the off-season.
So I figured I'd just tough it out, get my new book finished, and take some extra time off before starting another. Besides, the pain didn't bother me. It just felt a little weird. But as time passed, the pain became excruciating. Finally, I went to see my doctor, who uttered the three dreaded words.