and it's not good.

Sorry this is long, and I'm sorry about burdening you with it, but I just got home from the doctor, my wife is at work, and I really don't have anyone to talk to about this right now.

I don't have a torn rotator cuff, as the doctor thought. Turns out the MRI showed an "extensive posterior labral tear". For those of you who don't know what that is,(I sure didn't), it's a tear in the cartilage lining the inside ofthe ball socket of the shoulder caused by a dislocation. Evidently I dislocated my shoulder when I shot a 70 pound bow for the first time. I heard and felt the "pop", and I knew it hurt, but I didn't think it hurt that much.

Surgery is the only way to fix this one, and the surgery is scheduled for 18 October.

The good news is that I will still get one month of bow hunting.

The bad news, besides the fact that I will entirely miss the rut, muzzleloader and rifle season, is I'll spend six weeks with my arm in a sling andfixed in place bya "wedge". I won't be allowed to use my right arm for six weeks. (Keep your minds out of the gutter, please.) Then it'll be two and a half to three and a half months of physical therapy before I'll be considered "recovered and released". Even then, according to the surgeon, it would be risky to go back to shooting a bow until it's had plenty of time to strengthen.

I wanted to wait until after I retired from the Navy to get this done, but if I wait TRICARE won't cover the full cost, and since it's a condition that I could have had taken care of before I retired, they might not pay for it at all.

Some suggested using the VA. If you had a choice between letting a top-notch sports orthopedic surgeon work onyou orputtingyour health in the hands of theVA, which would you choose? Hey, these guys worked on Peyton Manning! They must be alright, huh?

Well, looks like Team 35 maywant to find a new team-mate.[:@]