Needless to say, I went through with the surgery. Left shoulder only. I'm not even thinking about the right shoulder yet. I want to be sure that I feel like it worked before I jump into anything else.

The day of surgery wasn't bad at all. I received a nerve block, so I couldn't feel anything from my shoulder down. That was the strangest part of all having no control over your arm and being unable to even move your fingers.

I was a competitive swimmer for about 15 years. I first began experiencing some pain in both shoulders when I was around 16, but if you know any swimmers, they are pretty tough and don't complain much. I followed that lead. During my junior year of college, though, something changed. This was pain like I had never experienced. Sleeping on my sides had long gone out the window and I was starting to have trouble holding a pen in class since pain was shooting all the way down my arms.

Of course I visited the team doctor and went to the trainers everyday for physical therapy, but nothing was working. I was grasping at straws though since everyone was telling me that there was no way I could get better if I kept training fours hours in the pool and an hour of weights everyday. I finally heeded everyone's advice and quit.