After years of actual and near shoulder dislocations and unsuccessful physical therapy, I decided to visit Dr. Samuel Taylor to see what options would be available to stabilize my shoulder, in particular to allow me to participate again in triathlons - the open water swims were just too hard on my shoulder. Dr. Taylor was very frank after having looked at the results of the MRI and X-rays: either I do not have surgery, but then the arthritis that had already started might become a serious problem down the line and the dislocations would continue, or I have surgery, which would stabilize my shoulder, although I might lose a little bit of range.
I decided to go for the surgery.
As someone 'addicted' to physical exercise, the first months were difficult. I was in a sling for about six weeks. It took another couple of weeks before I could start using my shoulder in a normal manner, and another couple of weeks before I could actually start lifting some weights. As a result, I missed the New York marathon, which came a little too early. The big test was, however, the swimming, and whilst the first few times were not without any pain, it got better and better. Here we are, fourteen months after the surgery, and I completed my first Half Iron Man, in which I swam, biked and ran without any pain at all. I may have lost about 5/10 percent of my range of motion in my left shoulder, but even there I feel that with consistent training I will be reduce that loss even more.
I experienced moments, of course, in the last fourteen months where I felt that I made the wrong decision, but I could not be happier with the final result, and a lot more races, including the Lake Placid Full Iron Man is waiting for me next year. I could not be more thankful to Dr. Taylor and his team for their treatment, support and guidance!
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