Well after thirteen and a half weeks in the “sling from hell” I have finally been freed. Therapist Mel gave me approval on Friday to get out of the sling under strict conditions. She plays it tough and it needed United Nations type negotiations to advance my cause. A slight tantrum a week ago resulted in a timetable of release being documented and agreed.

I am allowed out of the sling with no exercise until next Wednesday and then I can swim one arm as long as the bad arm stays close to the body, and run in my running sling provided I keep at least a 5cm gap between my body and arm. Most significantly I am allowed to run up to 10 minutes without any sling. I can run without the sling now as the operation allows me to hold my arm pointing forward – something I could not do in the past. I have 8 weeks to the 14km City to Surf in Sydney and having not run since March – it will be a challenge. This video shows me sneaking a trial run without the sling a week ago.

All signs are that the operation has been success. As mentioned I can hold my arm pointing forward and also get some internal and external rotation. Hopefully this improves with further strengthening. I believe that is the last of the operations, so now it is up to me to do the strengthening and flexibility work necessary to get improvement.