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pain daily. When something is broken, you fix it. And when some- thing is torn, you repair it through surgery. I had a few months before the operation was scheduled since I put it off a bit due to work. Then by luck, I was having a conver- sation with a neighbor of mine. She told me I should do pre-hab— not re-hab—she called it pre-hab. I’d never heard it talked about that way, so I was intrigued. She suggested I go get physical therapy to strengthen the muscles around the tear. Her reasoning was that I should do so because after the operation, rehabilitation and recovery would be much faster. I took her advice, and I went to this simple little no frills rehabilitation clinic with just a bunch of great people working there. The owner asked why I was there and I explained. He then asked me something I him more about this new possibility, and he suggested a program where I started off very slow and worked up. I asked if it was possi- ble to get my shoulder back to normal or even 95%, and he said many of his clients do. That was all I needed for the motivation to try it. As you know, I live by the rule that there is nothing anyone else can do that I can’t do. So, I started the exercise routine. At first my ego hurt, since I was barely using any weights, yet each week I saw improvement. I soon learned the routine, taking the information and doing those exercises at my own gym. Each week I gradually used heavier weights or didmore repetitions without the pain getting worse. Then the pain started going away, and I started to get my shoulder strong again. I was washing my hair with no problems, I was able to lift my arm straight out to the side which I could not do before, and the best part was that I could sleep on my right side again. Of course, I canceled the operation and it has been over a year since the injury. As long as I …I live by the rule that there is nothing anyone else can do that I can’t do. did not consider until that point. He said, “Did you ever consider not having the surgery and at least trying to do special exercises and specific shoulder strength training?” I asked
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