I yoinked my right shoulder pretty damn bad last September, in an accidental collision during one of my "non-contact" inline hockey games. Yeah, go me. Turned out it was separated pretty bad. At the AC joint, the clavicle stuck out the better part of an inch, which could be seen even through a heavy sweatshirt. ER doc said it was minor Grade 2 (out of 5), meaning the ligaments were a bit torn but not severed. He said they should heal on their own after a few weeks, so I headed out thinking I had dodged a bullet.
Well, I guess there's a reason this guy is a night shift ER doc and not an orthopedist. After a few weeks the pain had subsided a bit but it was still pretty sore, and visibly the joint hadn't pulled back together at all. So I went in to see an actual orthopedic surgeon. After a far more thorough gamut of X-rays (weighted, non-weighted, left shoulder and right shoulder for comparison), the doc told me I actually had a severe Grade 3 separation, meaning both the acromioclavicular and coracoclavicular ligmants were completely severed. Instead of the typical 6-7mm separation between coracoid and clavicle, mine was 19mm. Translation: surgery for Tedo.
I guess the upside of all this is that the surgeon was TOTALLY JAZZED. This guy fixes all sorts of knee and shoulder injuries all the time, with Monday and Wednesday of every week completely dedicated to surgeries all day long. But apparently the procedure I needed done he only gets to do 2-3 times a year. Its called a modified Weaver-Dunn, and it includes all sorts of cool stuff like drilling holes through bones and pulling cadaver tendons through said holes. They also lop off the last 1-2cm of the clavicle, apparently just for fun. Anyway, a more detailed description can be found here (although instead of the cord, imagine a chunk of hamstring tendon from a dead guy).
So, the deed was done Wednesday, December 8th. Doc said the timeline for full recovery would probably be about 6 months. The first 6 weeks my whole right arm had to be immobilized, which completely sucked. No picking up the kids, no driving my car, no exercise whatsoever, etc. I'm now at 13 weeks, and the progress since has been excellent. I've got most of my range of motion back, and normal everyday activities are no problem. Doc cleared me to start running again 3 weeks ago, and today cleared me to start back with weights. But most importantly, he cleared me to return to hockey in 8 weeks!! Perfect timing, as the next season begins in 9.
All in all, its been interesting, albeit a pretty sucky brand of interesting. Hey, but at least I got a sweet scar out of it.
Here is the pretty dramatic before-and-after comparison:
2 comments:
Holy crap! The original doc thought that would heal on its own?
On a side note, I wish my orthopedic surgery had been done at a point in history when I would be offered digital images of my effed up knee :)
Those picture are awesome!!! Shoulder looks good bro, you did a good job of messing it up
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