Date: 2018-07-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I've been Off Trail for a little over a month and I thought it was time for a little post trail update.So, if you have been following here, you may remember me whining about my shoulder from about May 22nd until I finished Phase III on June 14th. On the 22nd, only about a week into the Phase, I fell on a sloped grassy and muddy part of the trail as we rushed to finish Push 10.  LoGear was ahead of me and Dilly Dilly was behind and I don't think either of them heard my squeal of pain when I fell, but at that moment a vision of not being able to continue was very clear in my mind.  When it happened, I couldn't move my arm for a few minutes and then I couldn't lift it above my head without helping it with my right hand, but as I continued along, I found that I could still hike. I just had to be careful to not fall again. (Good luck with that)LoGear and Dilly Dilly went home at the end of Push 10 and I continued on for another three Pushes. Each day, I could hike with my poles with negligible pain and at night I would deal with the constant throbbing as I lay in my hammock. Vitamin I, Tylenol PM and Naproxen became my new hiking partners. I was able to finish the next three Pushes and completed Phase III on schedule. When I got to Rockfish Gap, I was pretty sure that I needed to get my shoulder checked out as I was also pretty sure, it would be a lot harder to hike injured up in NH and ME which is all I need to hike (along with VT) to finish this Quest.Also, I won't sugar coat it, I have confirmed that about a month is my limit for being out on a long distance hike. After about four weeks, that whisper in my mind telling me how much I miss all the comforts of the Other World becomes a scream. I'm perfectly OK with that. I have come to realize that I can only handle so much Type Two fun. With close to 600 miles left, I was pretty sure that Phase IV was going to have to wait for next season (or beyond?)So, back to my shoulder. A couple doctor's visits, an X-Ray and MRI confirmed what I already was quite sure of. I have a couple tears in the tendons of my left shoulder.  I was given four options.  1. Do nothing and see if it will heal (six weeks of that already, no).2. Physical Therapy: (from what I have seen, it's real hard to fix a tear that way, no)3. Steroid shots: (those don't really agree with me. I tried some steroids when my back went out. I didn't like the feeling, no)4. Surgery to fix the tears. Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. The Ortho Dr said I may have an 8 to 12 month recovery time, but I took that as a challenge to be back and ready to go in about six. Time will tell.So the surgery is scheduled for Aug 16th. I still have a lot of trouble sleeping every night. A bed is not as forgiving as my hammock was, but I hope to get my shoulder back to working order (or at least start in that direction) next month.  Until then, I will enjoy this Other World and all its comforts like showers, toilets, food that is kept in a fridge, TV, Computers, WiFi, clean clothes, driving and the insider life until I am once again ready for some Type Two fun.I'll let you know how it goes.