We went with Tim to see Ortho today to discuss his elbow, the plan of action, and the next steps toward getting him back to competing.
The doctor we saw was, by far, the best we've seen so far. He was extremely informative and took the time to explain what he believes is going on and what he feels we need to do moving forward.
In a nutshell, Tim will be spending the next six weeks working with a physical therapist who specializes in the type of elbow injury he has. Apparently, this is something they see quite often in baseball players.
The doctor believes Tim has a sprained UCL, with the possibility of a tear that may or may not require surgery down the road. He also believes Tim has a bone spur that is further complicating things.
The next six weeks of specialized PT will help us better understand just how serious the injury is. If PT helps and Tim responds well, he could potentially get back to lifting sooner rather than later. If it doesn't improve the issue, we could be looking at surgery to address the bone spur as well as the UCL.
One thing we really appreciated about this doctor is that he doesn't just jump to surgery. He explained that, more often than not, a good PT specialist can get elite athletes back to their sport without further intervention. And if Tim does ultimately require surgery, it will mean a longer healing process, but he should still be able to get back to his sport.
So, at least as of right now, this isn't a “you'll never lift again” scenario. It's a “when will you be able to lift again?” scenario. And we'll take that.
Tim has been beyond frustrated through all of this, but he knows this is something that has to happen in order for his elbow to heal properly. He's taking it in stride and is willing to do whatever it takes to get better. He just wants answers, wants to heal, and wants to get back to doing what he loves.
And that's where we come in.
We're going to continue being there for him, supporting him and helping him keep his head on straight as he jumps through all of these hoops he has to go through in order to move forward.
It's not the road he wanted to be on, but it's the road he's on right now.
So we'll take it one step at a time, trust the process, and keep moving forward because Tim loves Olympic weightlifting—and he's not ready to give that up.
Keep praying in agreement with us for his complete healing as he does all that ortho and the physical therapist advise him to do.
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