Biting the bullet (or "Going into the Tube")

Monday, August 11;

After a nasty shoulder workout and a few conversations with some concerned Crossfitters, I bit the bullet this morning. I called my doctor to schedule an MRI for my bum shoulder. I certainly had some interesting conversations with the receptionist with my doctor's receptionist as well as an interesting conversation with the guy who scheduled my MRI.

The receptionist told me that I'd be having a MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) with Arthrogram. That means that they will inject my shoulder with dye. The dye allows the doctors to seek any tears. They are looking for the dye to seep into places where it shouldn't be.

The deal is that they inject my shoulder, and then they stick me into a tube. I have to sit there without any sort of distraction (book, radio, television, someone to talk to) for about 45 minutes. That's its own sort of torture. They say that it's hit or miss if the injection will hurt or not. Some people say it actually relieves some pain. My thought is to prepare for pain, and then be happy when it doesn't hurt that badly.

The scan is scheduled for this Thursday. I was thrilled they could get me in so quickly. My shoulder doctor is out of town this week, so he should be able to look at the results when he returns next week. I will be out of town in Denver, so I expect that I'll be able to know more about the next steps once I return. At this point I am expecting to have some sort of surgery. I'm hoping it'll be fairly minor and I'll be able to return to some form of activity after a few weeks of recuperation.

Some of the questions they asked me over the phone:

Are you allergic to dye?

Do you have claustrophobia?

Do you have shrapnel in your body?

Pacemaker or any other device that regulates your heart?

I guess those are pretty normal questions... the claustrophobia just reminded me that I'd be stuck in a tube for a long time... alone. They didn't ask me if I hated being alone. Ahh.. the good ole' lock-key-kid syndrome rears it's ugly head. Someone hold my hand!

Workout:

lots of ladders

Right Arm Snatch 25lb (1, 2, 3,... 9, 10)

Left Arm Snatch 15lb (1, 2, 3,... 9, 10)

Right Arm Lunge 25lb (1, 2, 3,... 9, 10)

Left Arm Lunge 15lb (1, 2, 3,... 9, 10)

Dips (pink band) (1, 2, 3,... 9, 10)

800 meter run (AKA rest)

Right Arm Snatch 25lb (10, 9, 8,... 2, 1)
Left Arm Snatch 15lb (10, 9, 8,... 2, 1)
Right Arm Lunge 25lb (10, 9, 8,... 2, 1)

Left Arm Lunge 15lb (10, 9, 8,... 2, 1)
Dips (pink band) (10, 9, 8,... 2, 1)

38:29 (I actually don't remember what this time was, but I think this is it.)