I Don’t Need Surgery – Behold a Giant Muh

I thought for a bit about how to illustrate this entry, but as I was doing it, I also needed to illustrate my column for tomorrow about COVID-19 vaccination, and had some interesting outtakes, including these two tiny water droplets clinging to the tips of two injection needles.

Why is not needing surgery news? In succinct terms, I was grimly beginning to think that my achy breaky left shoulder was going to need work.

I already had a minor piece of surgery this summer, and while it was easy and painless, part of me says that I don’t want to be the guy whose health falls to pieces rapidly after his wife dies.

As a matter of fact, I have no recollection of injuring it, but am very sure it started bothering me on the very day Abby died.

Today I saw the same shoulder guy that looked after Abby’s shoulder (the left one, of course), and after an examination and a couple of radiographs (okay, fine, x-rays, which they actually aren’t), he told me I probably did not have a torn labrum like my sister did last year, but some osteoarthritis in the joint, and inflammation in the surrounding tissue. He prescribed a course of oral steroids, and physical therapy.

Despite this and the fact that I am less than a year away from turning 60, I feel I am in top physical shape.

After my needles illustration was done, I fiddled around a little with water droplets from the needles. If you've ever had an influenza or COVID-19 vaccination, or injected yourself with insulin, this is the size of needle they use. — After my needles illustration was done, I fiddled around a little with water droplets from the needles. If you’ve ever had an influenza or COVID-19 vaccination, or injected yourself with insulin, this is the size of needle they use.