I'm back!

Today I lifted weights the size of dog bones -- not the type of dog bones you would give a St. Bernard or a Great Dane, the kind you would give a shitsu. And WOW, it was hard.

It was my first time lifting anything since my shoulder surgery about a month ago. I was a competitive softball player for over a decade, and my body still pays for it. This was my second shoulder surgery (and hopefully my last). But the crazy thing is, if you saw me today, you wouldn't know anything was wrong thanks to my minimally invasive procedure. My doctor made three incisions, each about 2 centimeters long, in my shoulder and used tiny instruments and cameras to fix the tissues and tendons inside my shoulder.

Today more and more procedures are being done using minimally invasive procedures. Not only can doctors perform surgery on most joints in this fashion, but according to the Mayo Clinic Web site, doctors are able to use this method for many surgeries that previously were invasive such as hearts, colon and rectal, gastroenterologic and general,gynecologic, neurosurgery, orthopedic, otorhinolaryngology (ear, nose and throat), thoracic, urology and vascular.

The benefits of this type of surgery are numerous -- less trauma to the body, less blood loss, smaller surgical scars and less need for medication.

The bad part about minimally invasive surgery -- when you and the people around you can't see your itty bitty scars, you forget how much work a dog-bone sized weight can be to lift.
(Left) You can see the two, tiny scars on the front of my shoulder. (Right) You can see me sporting my trendy sling just last week.