Okay, this is long, so bear with me.

As some of you might remember me saying before, I retire on 30 November after 24 years in the Navy. An excellent opportunity has arisen for me to walk right into an open Government Service position with a bit more pay than I was drawing on active duty.

Background: Back in February when I first bought my bow, I was shooting it for the first time in the indoor range. On the second shot, my right shoulder made an audible “pop” and I almost dropped the bow. I mean, it really hurt. I shrugged it off, like I always have, and kept on going….. until now.

As a part of my retirement physical, I mentioned that I had injured my shoulder and it still gave me trouble when I lifted something over my head or took a pull over shirt off. As it turns out, I tore my rotator cuff in my right shoulder, and I’ll need to have surgery to repair it.

So, it’s looking like I’ll probably have to have the surgery soon, and they’ll want to keep me on active duty for another six months on medical hold until I recover. Yep, there goes the job. Also, that means that I won’t be able to use the shoulder at all for the first month (in a sling), then I’ll be on physical therapy for a few months. Yep, there goes the ENTIRE hunting season.

There’s one possibility, and I’m investigating that now. If I can get the problem diagnosed and the VA will pick up the tab for the surgery, I can wait until March for the surgery. That will let me take the job and hunt also. I’m REALLY hoping that will work.

If any of you have been through this and have any positive inputs, or any input that would contradict what I’ve been told, I’d like to hear it.

Lose your new job, hunting season and have to extend your enlistment....man talk about your bad days. Hang in there...sorry...you can't do that with your shoulder. This too will pass.

Reid
Ret. USAF

Depends.

Summer of '99.....I was playing a LOT of competitive softball (250+ games a year). We won a National Championship, that year.....and my cuff had suffered a 50% tear due to a slap lesion.

First ortho was gonna slice me open. I opted for a second opinion from an ortho I trusted from my golf days.....who happens to be the lead ortho for the (then) Charlotte Hornets; Davidson Wildcats/Charlotte Knights. He said he'd do everything in his power to perform the surgery arthroscopically.

He was successful in his scoping. 4 TINY incisions.....and the repair was made. Full debried of the labrum.......removal of a type III bone spur.....and all that was left was physical therapy.

I wen tin for PT on the monday after my Friday surgery.....and went every weekday for 3 weeks.......3 times a week for the subsequent 3 weeks.

At the end of the first 3 weeks.....I could swing a bat. At the end of6 weeks.....I could play with MINOR discomfort.

All may not be lost. get as many people as you can to give you an opinion. The difference in recovery (from the first assessment to the second, for me) was almost ONE YEAR.

Get more opinions. That's my best advice to you.

Good luck.....and thanks for your service.

I'm retired military, and even though I hate Navy guys , I'd be reluctant to advise you to let the VA take care of your surgery. I'm lucky in that I can use Johns Hopkins Tricare in the area that I'm in and I'm not relegated to using military treatment facilities anymore. If you have a good primary care physician on the outside that can refer you to agoodorthopedic surgeon....I'd opt of that and just suck up missing hunting season. But if it means an extension and missing out on a cush civil service job.....that definitely makes the decison tougher.

And just kidding about hating the Navy....I'm glad we have you guys out there doing what you do. Best of luck to ya.

I have had this surgery 3yrs ago.
I did almost the same thing you did! I was shooting my bow one afternoon when i felt something pop? I just shrugged it off as i thought it would go away? But it didn`t it just got worse over time.
I was also going to the gem about 4 to 5 times a weeki could pick up any weight i wanted tobut i had trouble just taking off a t-shirt? Pain[&o]Like a spike was driving down through my shoulder everytime i lifted my arm up above my head or just shoulder height? So i went to the doctor luck would have it he also bowhuntedI told him my story on what had happened.
He sead let me guess? He put his hand on the top of my shoulder and pushed down?Thepain hit me harder than ever! "I sead thats it"!
He sead you need surgery to fix it?
Well i put it off for about a yr and halfuntill i couldn`t take it anymore.
So i called the doctor back up and told him lets do it.
After the sugery the pain was bad i am not going to lie about but it.
Buthealing was much faster than everyone told me it would be.
Believe it or not i was back in the gem about a month and a half after the surgery. I had to take it easy of coarse but no more pain!!
and i shoot my bow just as good if not better than before.
I know what your feeling about the surgery but believe me if i knew how it would turn out i would not have waited a yr to do it.
Other guys that i have talked to say the same thing i did about if they had any idea how it was they would have had it donesooner.
I hope this helps.

If you've gone this long with the injury why can't youretire, take the new job and let the insurence from that job take care of it?

It seems like quite a few members on here have had shoulder problems at one point or the other. I actually go to the ortho doc tomorrow to have my left shoulder checked. Its been almost 2 months after my motorcycle accident and it still bothers me when I move it in certain directions. I can still pull my bow back thankfully w/out any pain.

Anyway, I hope everything works out for you man.

Could you get qualified as disabled?? In the State of Oklahoma that would allow you a cross bow.

This reminds me of joggers talking about their knees! [&:]

Anyway, best of luck Little Chief. Let us know how it turns out.

I can't offer any suggestions,but I definitely hope things work out for you.I think what GMMAT said makes a lot of sense,and yes thank you for your service!