Lion’s MRI showed a moderate to severe tear in his shoulder. His options are to do nothing or to have surgery. He’s no longer a candidate for cortisone injections. He can either do nothing and remain in pain. Or he can do the surgery and have worse pain for a short time, but heal to no pain at all. He’s worried about time off from work and how his being an invalid will affect me.
I don’t know what I’d do in a similar situation. I’m used to being in general pain. When my knee was bad, I joked that I would welcome an amputation. Of course, I don’t know what I would have done if someone mentioned an operation. I’d have to weigh the pros and cons and see which side won. That’s what Lion is doing now. It seems like no operation is winning so far. I’m not in his shoulder. I can’t know how much pain he’s in. I can only assure him that I’ll help him no matter what he decides.
Lion assures me that his butt will be available for any punishments that come his way. I doubt it. If he gets the surgery, he will get the same suspension of the rules he got for his kidney stones. You can’t kick a man while he’s down. That’s also why I absolved him of forgetting the training collar when we went out last night. He’d just been to the doctor and everything was weighing heavily on his mind. He didn’t even think about the training collar. I decided, nice person that I am, to forgive his transgression. I still owe him swats from the other night. He was in a lot of pain last night so I pushed the punishment off again. He knows it’s coming. It’s just a matter of time.
The thing Lion is worried about most is that he won’t be able to do anything around the house for a few weeks after the surgery. He’ll also be on pain killers. I don’t mind doing everything around here. I do mind when the pain killers turn him into a whining mess. I know it’s the pain killers talking, but it still bothers me. The difference, I think, is the last time it bothered me was before his first kidney surgery when he refused to go to the emergency room. It may have been my annoyance at him not wanting to be admitted and thinking the pain was just going to continue with no answer of what was causing it. After the surgery, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
I don’t know how to equate that with this surgery. I know he’ll be in pain without it. But that pain comes and goes. Sort of like my pain, I guess. Again, what would I do if I could get rid of my near-constant pain by having an operation that would hurt more in the short run? I don’t have an answer for that. At this point, I don’t think Lion does either.
In my life I’ve experienced many sports injuries that required surgery and some where the surgery was optional. The results were always supposed to improve/repair things. I always had the surgery and never regretted the process. I would advise Lion to do the same. But as you have suggested, it’s Lion’s shoulder. All the best regardless of the decision.