Welcome back to my blog series about my experience with episodes. I know I should probably tell you what type of episode I have, but I won’t for privacy reasons. For the purpose of this blog, all you need to know is that I pass out and drop to the ground without warning. So to pick up where I left off in the last blog, I had to get a shoulder arthroscopy because I had injured my shoulder during one of my episodes.
The results of the shoulder arthroscopy showed that I needed a rotator cuff repair. Melbourne specialists are extremely good at what they do and were actually able to perform the surgery during the arthroscopy. I originally thought that they’d have to check it out and then I’d have to book in for surgery separately, but apparently, rotator cuff repairs can be done arthroscopically and so they went ahead and did it. This was obviously fantastic for me because it meant that I didn’t have to be in pain for any longer than necessary. I was so relieved that they found the issue.
I tend to be a pretty anxious person and I always think of the worst. That’s because I’ve grown up being far more aware of my mortality than your average child, teenager and now young adult. When I realised I had to get a shoulder arthroscopy, I started worrying that I’d have to get a shoulder replacement. I don’t know if that was even a slightly reasonable concern of mine, but anyone with anxiety would know how easy it is to catastrophize situations. A shoulder replacement is a massive surgery and can take anywhere from three to six months to properly heal. I was going to be so upset if one episode at a train station meant that I had to spend half a year recovering. I’m very glad that this wasn’t the case.