Back in September or thereabouts, I noticed my right arm was bothering me. I was having trouble straightening the elbow and there was some pain around the joint itself. Certain movements hurt. At the time, though, my knees were the really pressing problem, so I got those fixed first.
Eventually I got my knees sorted out and decided it was time to get the elbow inspected. It was pretty plainly medial epicondylitis (golfer’s elbow), but the usual simple treatments (physical therapy exercises, cortisone shots) didn’t seem to help. We got referred to an orthopedist and he spotted an unusual bit of bone growth on one side of the joint, preventing it from straightening, which meant the exercise and cortisone just wouldn’t do the job. It meant surgery.
It was supposed to be a simple thing and I should’ve been home the same day, but apparently I’m an enthusiastic bleeder. I spent a night in the hospital, and although I was all hopped up on goofballs for the majority of the time, I was aware enough to know that my wife was fiercely watching over me. Without her there, I’m sure the whole thing would’ve been nightmarish.
After a week with my arm mummified in bandages and plaster from shoulder to fingers, we finally got to see the doctor’s handiwork. It was kinda horrific. The doc told me to keep it elevated, dry, and to try to use it as much as possible without actually doing anything painful, and it seemed to me that I was paying an awful lot for a guy to babble contradictory nonsense at me. A week later, I got to start my physical therapy.
I did PT before, you may recall. My knees are in great shape, by the way. Compared to that stuff, this routine of therapy has been a summer day in the park. Some dumbbell curls, some weighted pronation/supination, an easy build-up to strengthen and rebuild the tendons and muscles around the elbow. I don’t even have to grit my teeth and tolerate ice packs this time. Instead I get heat packs on the elbow. The hardest part is the active stretching, where my therapist actually puts a fulcrum under my tricep and pulls my elbow straight. I thought trying to resist joint locks was bad, but try just sitting there and taking it while somebody tries to bend your arm backwards.
I’m nearly done, though. When I started PT, I was routinely starting the day with my arm unable to get less than twenty degrees from straight. Now with just a couple of minutes warming up, I can easily achieve zero degrees, straight as an arrow. There’s very little pain for most activity, including weapons training. I still have some pain for certain movements, like a palm-down curl, but my therapist says even that should disappear over time. This is the same place that fixed up my knees, so I’m inclined to believe them.
I started back at kung fu last week. All together I was out for roughly forty days or so. Waiting until I was sure I was ready turned out to be a good idea, though, because it was a tough workout and my arm came through it beautifully. On Wednesday I go in for a follow-up with my doctor and he may turn me loose from PT entirely.
So now I’ve got a pretty good elbow. I also got a cool scar.
