"The Ides of April are upon us..."

The "Ides of March" (March 15th) is historically and traditionally the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated by his friend, Marcus Junius Brutus ... Oh...and at least 23 of the 60 co-conspiritors that sought to murder him. 

From 1918-on, our "Tax Day" was also on March 15th...giving the yearly "Ides of March" a doubly-ominous meaning.  The day that our U.S. Income Taxes are due was officially changed to April 15th in 1955 - - before I was even born.  Everybody knows what happens on April 15th now...both old and young alike.  Most of the people that I know dread this day of "necessary evil".

But nobody actually calls today "The Ides of April" (except me, maybe).  In addition, unlike "most Americans", I do not dread April 15th.  Not in the least.  I actually look forward to it.  Around here, and at our house, today has a much more profound meaning.  Here I like to call it: "The Day I Get My Wife Back"!!

Counting the year we were dating, this is the thirteenth "Busy Season" I've been through with Amy.  The first year (1997)... I was actually shocked at the amount of time that was necessary for her to put in at the office to get her job done.  I remember thinking that she must have some sort of super-human level of strength that mortal men do not possess.  This is actually somewhat true.  I still say that my wife - God bless her, just like the old Army commercial - can "Do more before 9:00 in the morning than most people do all day!"  Seriously...I've witnessed it for over a decade...when she puts her mind to it, she can get more done in one average hour than I can complete in ten.  Heck...it takes me an hour to even get organized enough to tackle some of the things she manages to do!!

For the first several years of our marriage, I used to think "Oh, come ON!!  Nobody stays at the office until 3:00 A.M.!!"  But anybody who actually knows a CPA with a tax-practice, has seen first-hand that there's not a whole lot of time for family or recreation after April Fools Day!

I'm not sure what it is with me...perhaps it's some sort of "male-pattern amnesia" - - but every year I forget how unbelievably BUSY "Busy Season" actually is.  And, perhaps it's because I miss her so much while she's in the middle of it, but, every year I swear it gets worse!!  Without fail, when "we" get to the end of it...every single year I say that "THIS was the worst one ever!!"

Honestly, A. Suzzanne does not say that.  Ever.  Maybe it's superstition, like not changing your socks when you're on a winning-streak in baseball - or like not stepping on the base-line when you're going out to pitch. Or, not mentioning a no-hitter in progress until after the seventh-inning stretch. She just shrugs her shoulders, smiles and shakes her head, knowing that next year (and the year after) will bring more of the same.  Every Busy Season is brutal for people in her line of work.  I will say that the usual "3:00 A.M." quitting-time became closer to "4:00 A.M." in 2010.  And this year added a new twist....(don't tell her I posted this!)...she actually fell asleep under her desk last night...caught herself a quick cat-nap - she woke-up when I called her to check up on her...finished all she could - and got home a little after 5:00 A.M.

"Finishing all she could" also meant the "Annual Ritual of Polishing Her Desk".  She probably hadn't seen the top of her desk since The Ides of March.

I'm letting her sleep-in right now.  She looks sort of peaceful, lying there.

But, hey...I imagine Julius Caesar must have looked about the same when ol' Brutus was finished with him, too!

With apologies to my Jewish friends for borrowing the last line from their Passover Seder:

"Next year...in Hyderabad!!"

Breakthrough Day!!

I've been having a very busy time of it, the last two days.  And a very interesting day today!  It was more than interesting, it was a fantastic day!!  For this, I have to give credit to my trainer and friend, Yuichi.  Hey, I know that I've referred to him as "Yuichi the Cruel" before.  That's O.K.  Before him there was "Pablo the Terrible".  Both of these men have helped me in so many ways over the past couple of years.  I owe tham a great debt of gratitude.  Today was one of those "breakthrough" days.

On Monday, Yuichi told me that, with my shoulder messed up, we were pretty much going to be limited to working legs and abs.  He said that "my legs and abs are going to hate me" - but - that's just the way it was going to have to be.  I was afraid that he was right.  I still could not lift my left arm...and I was both bummed and a little scared.

Today, I got to the gym early...and - just to see if I could, I went to a "preacher curl" biceps bench, and with almost zero weight on it, I found that with the bench supporting the bum shoulder, I could at least go through the motions of doing a curl with no pain at all.

I told Yuichi, and he walked me over to another bench - - and demonstrated some stretches he wanted me to do.  I think I looked at him like he was crazy....I even said "Yuich...I don't think I can do that...!"  But he said to "nut up" and just try.

It hurt a bit, especially when he had me tilt my head to enforce the stretch.  But I was amazed at how good it felt when I was done (kind of like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer...it feels so good when you stop!!)  After doing these stretches a couple of different ways...he had me sit down, and he poked around my upper-back/trapezius muscles.  He said that I was all tight in the area because of how I was favoring the shoulder and not using it at all.  He said he wanted to "free those up".

I knew exactly what this meant!  He has some pretty brutal techniques that include pressure-points ... and his elbows placed strategically on my back for some deep-tissue work.  I've let him do this before, usually causing me great amounts of pain, but also, eventually...relief.  Many people doen't know this (A. Suzzanne does, I've helped her get her back muscles straightened-out after many a horse show!) - - but I actually made a living for a time as a Licensed Massage Therapist.  Yep...I took a 300-hour course and was a certified Body Worker.  And a "Sports Massage Specialist", too.  Rumor has it that I was quite good, if I do say so myself.  I know that I had lots of clients that must have thought so, too!

Anyway, after about five minutes of wincing pain under Yuichi's trained (and really sharp!) elbow, my upper back was quite a bit looser.  He had me stand up...and he handed me a 45-pound weight-plate (they have handle-slots for making it easy to put them on a barbell)...

He had me let it hang down, extending and stretching the bad (and good) shoulder.  It hurt, but at the same time it felt good.  He then had me give him my bad arm...and he began to lift and rotate it...asking me all the while if it hurt.  As long as he was supporting the weight of my arm, surprisingly, the shoulder was pain free.  He said that he was now beginning to doubt that I had a torn rotator cuff, because there was no way we'd be able to move it like that at all if something was torn.  That was music to my ears!!

We tried some light dumbell isolation bicep curls (very light weight...lots of reps) and - it felt really good.  He had me stand up and told me to see how much range-of-motion I had in the shoulder (if any)...and, quite frankly, I was not too keen on the idea.

I'll be darned.  I moved it...perhaps to about the "8 o'clock" position, before the pain made me wince and stop.  "Owwwww!!! @#$%#@!!!"  Yuichi grabbed my arm, told me to just relax it...and supporting the weight of it, began to move the shoulder joint around...in all the ways that I swore it wouldn't go.  "There's no way you have a tear in there...." he said again.  He had me swing the arm forward and back like a pendulum....

I got my arm all the way to 12 o'clock!!  Not without pain, mind you...but I did it.

Yuichi said that the best thing I could do at this stage of recovery was to just move it.  He assurred me that there was no way I was going to damage it any more...but that I had to work through the pain, stretch it where ever possible...and keep trying a little more each time.

This afternoon, I lifted my left arm all the way out to the left side and over my head.  Not without a shot of pain...but I kept doing it.  I am 100% convinced that when I see the orthopedist tomorrow...he's going to just give me some strengthening exercises and perhaps have me do some physical therapy...but there's no way they're going to have to cut on me!!

Sorry, Tommy John...the surgery will just have to wait!!  Alleluia!!

It's time to see the doctor...

Day Five.  And I still can't lift my left arm.  It's just much too painful!  I actually decided late last night that it's time to "bite the bullet" and have a professional look at it.  I made the earliest available appointment for Thursday afternoon.  The good news?  I'm going to the world famous Kerlan/Jobe orthopedic clinic.  Dr. Jobe is a legend in Los Angeles!  I'm sure I won't get to see him personally....but still...they are supposed to be the best. 

Ever hear of "Tommy John Surgery"?  The surgery is named after Tommy John, a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers who was the first professional athlete to successfully undergo the operation in 1974. The procedure was performed by none-other-than Dr. Frank Jobe himself!  The actual surgery is an elbow procedure. 

There are 180 major-and-minor league pitchers who have had the surgery...including Nick Adenhart (RIP) of the Angels who was killed in a traffic accident last year.

Why am I even thinking about surgery?  Well...I've always been a "glass half empty" kind of person.  (Just ask Suzzanne!)  I always figure that if I expect the very worst, then when it turns out that the situation is not so dire, I can be pleasantly surprised!!

My shoulder actually feels a little better today.  Maybe a tiny bit more range of motion.  But I feel better just knowing that I'm going to get some answers...or at least I'm going to be on the road to getting some answers...on Thursday afternoon.

The timing of this whole thing could not be worse...it's only two weeks until we get on the plane.

If you think about it, send up an extra prayer or a "kind thought" on Thursday morning when you say your prayers.