My range of motion isn’t quite back there yet. I can get my arm over my head just fine, but while out to the side it cheats by moving forward a little bit. I can scratch the middle of my back or apply suntan lotion as needed. A good thing since I’m living near the beach in LA! Overall I’m pretty happy with my range of motion, it has made great strides over the past month while I’ve been doing so much. I’m guessing that over time I’ll get pretty close to my original range of motion back as I continue to be more active.

 Strength has gone way up over the past few months. I’m working out again on a Bowflex machine that I bought a few years ago. I think the nature of the resistance is helping me build the strength back quickly. I can do chest flys, bicep curls, back rows… basically everything no problem. I do light weights and move slowly concentrating on form. Whereas a month ago I had to use two different weights for each arm, I’m now lifting the same on each. I’m careful with any shoulder exercises and I haven’t tried shoulder press yet, that was the one that my physical therapist warned would be the most difficult to do without discomfort.

 As for pain, I really don’t have any. I get some crunches and stuff every now and then, but no twinges or anything while lifting. I can’t remember the last time I took anything for pain.

 As for getting back to day to day activities I’m almost there. I packed up my apartment and moved to the west coast about three weeks ago. Loading and lifting boxes, moving furniture all went well. I’m just a bit more careful than before, because I still get a feeling of weakness under sudden loading.

 The ultimate test was about two weeks ago. I spent four straight days canoeing on the Colorado river near the Hoover dam. I went with a group from my business school class as a pre orientation trip. I paddled on both sides on the boat about equally, although towards the end I was actually trying to protect my left shoulder, not the one I’ve had surgery on! I’m going to have to have it looked at, at some point. Needless to say my repaired shoulder held up well, I even did a bit of bouldering on one of our hikes. About as close to rock climbing as I’ve been in about two years… Luckily my school has a rock wall in the gym and I’m going to give that a try soon. (As soon as the movers arrive with my climbing shoes and the rest of my stuff.)

 So I’m feeling good at the six-month point, I’m going to continue to update the blog from time to time. (I should be mountain biking again soon, so I’ll definitely do a shoulder update after that.) For the most part, I’ll update with things going on at school and other stuff besides the shoulder. I guess that’s the update story in a nutshell, the injury is no longer the defining part of my life.

 Onwards and upwards – once my shoes arrive…

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