True Life: I Had A Setback.

It was bound to happen. I had a feeling it would happen. I was afraid of how I would react when it finally did happen.

Last Monday's well-documented throwing session was one that I deemed to be very successful. Despite the slight mental discomfort I felt on the mound, my arm felt smooth and fluid and my body worked in cohesiveness. I finished my session and went about the post-throwing rehabilitation exercises as I normally do. Those also went extremely well, and I finished up my work out for the day with a smile on my face and a relaxed state of mind.

I went about the rest of my day completing whatever academic tasks that were required of me, and went to bed at an early hour to ensure that I'd get a good night sleep. I wanted to be ready to work my body hard on Tuesday so that I could be ready to throw at an optimal level for Thursday's session. I comfortably set my alarm clock, turned over and went to sleep.

When I arose Tuesday morning, my arm ached. It wasn't a typical ache that I'd expect to feel a day after throwing, however. It felt as if someone was pinching on the top of my shoulder, and that pinching was causing a lot of discomfort on the bone. I tried moving my shoulder around, and it ached even more. I did some arm circles and heard a clicking noise, loud enough that it echoed off the bedroom wall. I tried not thinking much of it, figuring maybe I just slept on it wrong. I went up to campus and sat through class for the morning, but couldn't really concentrate. I continued to move my arm around in circles and massage the area on my shoulder that felt painful. The ache was enough to be worrisome, and was something I didn't want to mess around with. I walked into the arena and into the basement, where the trainer's room is. I reported what I felt to the head trainer, who took me to the other side of the room and put me through a slew of testing exercises.

I was quickly informed that there didn't seem to be any structural damage in the shoulder, and that my range of motion was fine. There was definitely some swelling in the area though, and caution should be used. After some contemplation and discussion, I placed a phone call to the Andrews Institute and got Jeremy Geus, Dr. Andrews's program director on the phone.

I told Jeremy that I had woken up with pain in my shoulder, and that the range of motion seemed to be alright. There was just aching and swelling. After I described everything I had been experiencing to him, I was met with a response that very much took me by surprise.

He laughed.

"Josh, it's been a little over eight months, right?" he asked, after letting out a chuckle.

I told him yes, and anxiously awaited his further response.

"Man, I'm surprised it's taken this long for you to have any type of setback. Most guys start complaining about shoulder pain after like three months. If your range of motion is fine then there's nothing to worry about. It's probably either tendonitis or a bone bursitis, nothing to lose sleep over. Just take a week off from throwing and do some strengthening of the area."

I told him I kind of figured it was some type of mild tendonitis, and asked him how long it usually took for those other players that had complained of pain to experience no pain at all.

"Honestly, you will probably have some type of ache and pain everyday for the rest of your life. It's called getting old brother. But in terms of your arm, it should be fine in a week or so." I let out a good laugh at that one and thanked him for the reassurance.

So ladies and gentlemen, I had a setback. My shoulder was in enough pain to cause me to stop throwing for a little over a week (April 2-April 12 to be exact). It was an occurrence that I was so scared of experiencing for so long...the thought of my hard work and hours of dedication being smacked away from me as quickly as my pitching career was derailed last spring. I spent a lot of time in daily thought thanking whoever was in charge of blessing me with good health thus far during my recovery time, and prayed at the same time that I'd never have to deal with the task of rebounding from a rehab setback.

But for whatever reason when I was told that it'd probably be best to take some time off from throwing to give my arm a rest, I took it in stride. Not only did I not stress out about it, but I almost thought as if this was a blessing in disguise. This gave me more of an opportunity to continue to work at getting my body stronger. This gave me more of an opportunity to continue to strengthen the structural aspect of my rehabilitating arm. But most of all, this gave me more of an opportunity to truly appreciate the mythical light at the end of the tunnel. Because as with most things in life, I shouldn't expect this process to come to me easily and without any negativity. Overcoming a setback- another setback- will make that return to the game that much more gratifying for me in the end.

I'll be back on the grind- and on the mound- this Thursday.

Just a speed bump in the road...