The Top 10

When bad things happen, it is always a good idea look at the positives and not just the negatives to make the situation more bearable. In deference to David Letterman I have compiled two lists. From the home office in Boulder, CO: “JZ’s Top 10 positive and negative things about recovering from shoulder surgery”.



POSITIVES

1. Walking around with a sling and a sad look garners sympathy from strangers
2. Banned from housework
3. No training means less laundry (which I was banned from doing anyway).
4. Saving time and energy at the gym by only exercising one side of the upper body
5. Guilt-free TV watching during the day. No soaps though!
6. Waited on by husband and father
7. No appetite due to the pain medicine limiting weight gain from lack of training
8. When it snowed, no shoveling the driveway
9. Good excuse to cry uncontrollably
10. Hearing from lots of friends and family – thanks for your concern.

NEGATIVES

1. Asking random people at the gym to make ponytails
2. Wardrobe choices limited to items with a full zipper or buttons
3. No shaving under one arm creating chafing, though this might help with fitting in better with the purported Boulder lifestyle.
4. Responding to emails takes much longer when pecking away at the keyboard with one hand
5. Having husband refuse putting bike on the trainer and being incapacitated to do it myself
6. Sleeping required creative positioning with various pillows
7. Requiring help drying off after a shower, or if alone just standing and drip drying
8. Forced into wearing horrible sling on the elliptical machine and the bike trainer generating a lot of extra heat
9. Hurting through physical therapy; this really sucks
10. It’s an injury, need I say more?