Page 104 of Heal Me, Love Me
Dr. Meyers wrapped up the exam, and I walked to the medical office next door where I was put into an MRI machine, where I tried not to move and think about how badly my shoulder hurt from staying still too long.
When I was done, the technician explained that they would get the results over to Dr. Meyers’s office soon, and that I could expect a call when Dr. Meyers’s office was ready for me to come back, probably in the next hour or two.
I headed to the parking lot and climbed into the car with Mason.
He hit pause on his podcast and glanced at me. “How’d it go?”
“Fine,” I grumbled, annoyed that I still didn’t know exactly what was going on. “I’ve got to wait for the MRI results.”
“How long?”
“A couple of hours, maybe.”
He nodded. “Guess we’re hanging out a little longer. Let’s get some lunch, then we’ll come back and wait.”
Two hours later,I was back in Dr. Meyers’s office as he clicked through images on the screen. “I think you got lucky.”
I let out a breath. “Really?”
He nodded. “You’ve got a small tear in the front of the labrum, which is part of the cartilage that helps keep your shoulder stable. The shoulder slipped partly out of place, and that’s what caused the instability. The good news is there’s no major rotator cuff damage, nothing fully detached, and no fracture.”
I stared at the screen, even though I had no idea what I was looking at. “That’s lucky?”
“For this type of injury? Yes.”
“So what happens next?”
“You’re going to keep wearing the sling until the inflammation subsides, and stay up on the anti-inflammatory meds you were prescribed,” he replied. “Physical therapy will start next week.”
“Okay. How long until I can fight again?”
“A realistic timeline to ease back into training is about six to eight weeks if rehab goes well. A fight in five or six months is possible, but only if you follow the plan.”
He gave me a few more instructions on movement restrictions and pain management. When the appointment finally ended, I made my way back to Mason.
“What’d the doctor say?” he asked as I settled into the passenger seat.
“No surgery.”
He fist pumped. “Hell yeah.”
“I do have a tear though, and I’ll be out for a while.”
“Well, that sucks.”
“It does.” I pulled out my phone to check my messages.
Rowan had called twenty minutes earlier while I was with the doctor, so I decided to call him back first. Unfortunately, it kept ringing until his voicemail picked up.
I typed a text message instead:
Saw the specialist and got an MRI. I have a small labral tear. Doc said I don’t need surgery but PT starts Monday. And I can’t train for a while
After sending the text, I copied most of the same message into the group text with Derek, Enzo, and Devon, who’d all asked to be updated once I had any news. The responses started rolling in before I made it home:
Enzo
No surgery is huge. That’s good news man
