Status Update: Injured
I recently experienced my worst injury in the 14 years I've been climbing.
My left pec is swollen to about 30% larger than usual.
I got an MRI last Friday and will know the results tomorrow, I suspect a pectoral tendon tear.
A week ago I was bouldering at a gym in Denver. Not my usual climbing routine. My buddies asked me what my goal was, and I told them not to get injured. By the end of the session I suffered the worst injury in my 14 years of climbing.
I was pulling myself onto a large hold without any feet. I had gotten my head above the hold and attempted to leverage my chest onto it, putting all of my weight on my left arm. I felt and heard a snap in my left shoulder, and fell to the mat. I immediately knew that this was serious. I wasn’t able to move my left arm laterally by more than a few inches, and it couldn’t bear any weight.
A week later, my range of motion is better. I can hold dead weight in my left hand and do menial tasks like cook and clean dishes. The pain is minimal, although certain arm positions give me a knee-jerk reaction akin to touching a hot stove. On the floor, I can’t bear any weight on my arm, and stretching my arm out over my head feels light years away from possible.
So, why did this happen? What am I meant to learn from this?
I don’t know. Right now, it just sucks. I am sad and frustrated. Sad because so much of my health and community is based around movement, and I am frustrated with myself because I feel I should know better. (I’m also angry because I live in a loud apartment complex, but that’s a different story.)
And I guess I’ll just let that be enough for now. The phrase that keeps popping into my head is, “do less”. It’s something that a massage therapist kept telling me during a session when I would unecessarily tense certain parts of my bodies. And I guess it is sort of my mantra right now when I start thinking “why did this happen?” and “what about all of these plans I had?” I don’t need to push myself right now, and it is okay for me to upset about this.
I cringe when I re-watch the video of it. I feel this weird sort of empathy, knowing what’s about to happen. The thing that I keeping harping on is how quick it all happened - in 9 seconds, I went from 100% mobility and strength in my left arm to near zero. I don’t know what exactly the recovery process will be yet, but I am guessing it will take months to recuperate to anywhere close to my former mobility.
It’s scary to think about.
I’ll give another update once I see the orthopedic doctor tomorrow.