Last day of summer…
And what a summer it has been. There’s so much I could say about the work I put in, the fun I’ve had, the friends I’ve made… But I’ll just say this: I’m so happy. Just blissfully happy. Tomorrow I get to go to school and have an amazing two weeks of playing the sport I adore with a passion… And then I get to enjoy my semester studying and playing soccer before going to Europe and doing the same (while ridding a motorcycle)!
Everything is… Perfect.
Took this photo of Hope from the treadmill after the women won the final. I was crying tears of joy… GREATNESS HAS BEEN FOUND. United we stand.
A lot of my coworkers have heard about my shoulder and have asked to look through my MRI with me and I’ve learned from each of them a lot about shoulders but also that I’m in bad condition… The gist is the same but here’s what I’ve been told…
Fabiana: “you have the shoulder of a 60 year old”
Turan: “don’t play soccer anymore, why don’t you swim instead? Or tennis?”
Jip: “Oh. Crap.”
Zeeshan: “
And the more medical responses:
Dave: “severe edema in your humeral head… Looks like you’ve had a previous fracture in your scalpula. Rotator cuff tendinitis, burstitus, surface frame early pre-stage tear, tiny bursa, bicep tendonosis, transient dislocation of humeral head, periosteum stripped (alpsa lesion), sasd bursitis, periosteum off glenioid, bankart lesion.”
Dr. Carrino (head of MSK at Hopkins): “definite labrum tear, I’ll speak to some ortho surgeons.”
Ortho surgeon: “6-8 weeks no boxing”, but no comment regarding soccer!
Take home message: Just another hurdle to overcome.
On a separate note… If I do end up going into ortho surgery, I think I would specialize in shoulders! Maybe with the goal of reducing the necessary recovery time. We’ll see…
| — | Marie Curie |
This is a screenshot of the last text I read before I got my shoulder MRI.
It’s from my boxing coach, Coach Dent. He’s been such an inspiration and source of confidence. His lessons made me prepared, his encouragement made it possible, and his words made me fearless. He made boxing make a transition in my life from a unique summer opportunity to one of the most exciting times of my life. For me, boxing this summer was more than a way to strengthen my shoulders and improve my footwork… Boxing was a way of life. Wrapping my hands made me feel like I was putting on the uniform of a solider… “fight for your life”. I made some amazing friends (among them Flacco) and met some cute guys along the way (date with professional boxer Josh on Thursday). But more than all that, I built my confidence in such a way that no hit could deter it. Consider this shoulder injury just another hit I’ll recover from and return with a 1 to the head, 1 to the body, and 2 to the face. It’s not KO for me yet.
I read somewhere that it is essential in goalkeeper training to master one’s own bodyweight (push-ups, pull-ups, etc.).
At the DC pride parade Ilyssa and I volunteered at 7 weeks ago or so, there was a booth with a chin-up bar. Passer-bys were challenged to attempt a chin-up… Knowing how hard I had been hitting the gym, I wanted to try it. 3 assisted chin-ups later, I dropped to the ground. My abs were angry with me the rest of the day.
Yesterday, I went to substitute at a soccer game in Fed Hill. While I was chatting with a friend and standing under the goal, I had an urge to hang from the crossbar. Instead of just hanging though, I pulled myself up for two chin ups… With little effort.
Thinking about it makes me swell with pride. It’s paying off… All my hard work is really making a difference. Results like these, and yesterday’s 85 lb bench press and 155 lb deadlifts, make me so excited to start playing at pre-season.
24 days.
