Major Roadblocks

Almost a week ago I was running with some running club girls and I tripped.  I was kind of traveling at a decent pace.  I have been having some real issues with my knee and so my immediate thought was to save the knee.  Unfortunately, it kind of caused me to fall heavily on my left arm on a downhill, gravely, uneven slope.  My shoulder was jerked out of it's joint.  And oh boy did it hurt!!!  The girls with me, bless them, were so kind and helpful.  They called someone to quickly drive  to where we were to pick me up and had me call Steve too.  They offered to call an ambulence or take me to the ER, but I just wanted Steve.  A sweet coach stayed with me while we waited for him to arrive.  When Steve got there we immediately went to the ER.  By the time they got me back, in a room to see a doctor, it had been about an hour of my joint being out and I was in agonizing pain.  I had in the past dislocated my right shoulder multiple times.  But I had never gone to the hospital for it.  And I always got it back in myself.  I had surgery eventually to prevent further dislocations.  But this was my left shoulder and this was a different kind of dislocation.  The pain level was so high I was breathing super fast, kind of panicking , and had tears just pouring down my face.  The nurse who was assigned to me immediately was very annoyed by my tears and breathing.  Steve defended me and her annoyance turned to anger.  The rest of my experience at the hospital was made awful by the mean things the nurse was doing because of her dislike for us.  Things like jamming my IV in, ripping the tape and IV out aggressively, rude comments, and the like.  But the doctor was great and so kind.  He managed to get my shoulder back in.  

Yesterday I had my follow up appointment with the orthopedic doctor.  He decided to hold off on the MRI of my shoulder due to lack of mobility and continued swelling.  He told me to wear the sling all the time for a month!  He also examined my knee which has been giving me lots of problems.  He said that he could feel the instability in it and unfortunately that would need to be fixed surgically.  

So he had me make an appointment to recheck both my shoulder and knee in a month and get the MRI done at that time, as well as begin physical therapy. 

I asked him about dancing in the Nutcracker, as well as competing in the marathons that I had signed up for. He said he would not forbid me from doing either, but thought it was quite risky and nearly impossible.  However, he did say that if I decided to do it anyhow, to at least just choose one of them.  The one that was more important to me.

So it all came as a huge blow to me.  Huge.