This stuff should be sold on street corners.

Ok, saw the sports shoulder guy today, and sadly he was not as optimistic as the spine guy. I let it get to me for a bit, but I'm now back to being optimistic about the outcome.

I arrived at the doctors office thinking he was just going to concur with the spine guys, say a little PT, and send me on my happy way. In fact, I almost didn't go because I thought that was what would happen. I couldn't be further from accurate on that. My shoulder had been getting steadily better, so I wasn't thinking too much about it.

He came into the room, we talked about my injury and how it happened, and how things have been since then. That was the end of fun. He then examined my shoulder and managed to put me into a couple of positions that really made me wince. Apparently he knows his stufff. The pain didn't seem to bother him (of course) but he was definitely not pleased with the decreased strength in that arm, especially since it's my dominant arm. After he completed a very thorough exam and looked at my MRI he decided that we would try a dose of cortisone to the area. I've never had this before so I was a bit nervous about it, but let me tell you, that stuff is good. Seriously, sell this stuff on street corners people. Anyway, the result is that I could move my shoulder pretty pain free. I had no idea just how much I had been subconsciously protecting my shoulder until I could actually use it again. That was the good news.

The bad news is that it did nothing to help with the weakness. He thinks I have some nerve damage, so they are going to do nerve conduction studies. OUCH!!! I've never had it done, but everyone I've talked to that had it done has not been happy, and even the doc said I would be swearing his name by the time it was all over.

He did agree that I need PT and gave me a referral to one that is familiar with him. I'll have to call tomorrow to set up the appointment.

The good news out of all of this (other than the fabulous cortisone shot) is that he said it was ok to play hockey while I was rehabbing my shoulder, but that he thought rehab was definitely in order. Woo hoo. Another thumbs up for hockey.