My son is having surgery this week. He isn't worried or nervous about that, he told my wife and I; he's just annoyed.
Now, we don't take surgery for granted. We do understand there's no such thing as a "simple" surgery, and there is always risk that something could go wrong. But this isn't some kind of experimental procedure, or anything; the orthopedic surgeon who will perform the operation has done it many times. We aren't overly worried about anything going wrong.
Instead, we are focused on what happens after the surgery. According to the surgeon (who we've been going to for years) the recovery period will be six months. That means he will miss the entire lacrosse season in the spring. Given the current circumstances, and the fact that, at this moment, the coronavirus still is affecting all of our lives, there is a chance the spring season in college sports may not happen, anyway. We certainly hope that isn't the case, of course, but regardless, he won't be able to play. That is what annoys him.
I don't want to lose perspective, here. This has been a tough year for all of us. COVID-19 has killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world, sickened tens of millions, and caused countless to lose their livelihoods. Everyone has his or her own story.
But in the context of this blog, my son has his story, too. A freak injury during wrestling season ended his high school career in that sport, prematurely. And he lost his senior lacrosse season, his prom and the last three months of his senior year of high school due to the shutdown forced by COVID-19. Then, just before he went off to college, where he was supposed to play lacrosse, his school announced it was suspending its athletic program for at least two years, meaning if he wanted to play, he'd have to transfer to another school.
And then, few weeks ago, he reinjured his shoulder. And now, he needs surgery.
In a way, the surgery -- and subsequent rehab -- has helped formalize his plans regarding transferring. Since he can't play this spring, he'll stay at his current school for one more semester and hold off on transferring until next fall. And while he will miss the spring season, he should be healthy in time to play in the Under-19 Lacrosse World Championships in the summer (he's set to play for Jamaica, the country where I was born).
So his athletic career will go on. Injuries are part of the risk that goes along with playing sports, and sometimes, those injuries require surgery to repair them. Thankfully, we are in the position to allow him to have the operation he needs, and hopefully, his life will go back to normal afterward. In this case, there's no reason to overthink it.
