Recovering from (Another) Shoulder Surgery
When I posted the above photos to my social media accounts, one of my friends wondered if I had shared pictures from the Mars lander. Those are actually images taken inside my shoulder, by a doctor on April 26. During the middle of 2020, probably in June or definitely by July, I noticed that I had severely injured my left shoulder. I was familiar with the pain caused by a rotator cuff tear. I had partially torn my right rotator cuff during Air Force Academy training in 1991, but didn't get it repaired until I experienced three surgeries in 2007 and 2008. I tried to recover on my own using exercises from the last sets of therapy sessions. In the summer of 2020, in the middle of the first US Covid surge, I was reluctant to see a doctor, have an operation, or attend months of physical therapy. By the end of March 2021 I was vaccinated. I made an appointment to see a doctor and also got MRI scans of my arm. The doctor informed me that not only was my rotator cuff fully torn, but that I