It has been a couple weeks since I posted an update on how my shoulder is doing since my ream and run surgery. I normally travel a lot for my job (and for recreation) but since I had my surgery I have been more or less quarantined to the Seattle area. My life is basically back to normal now so off traveling I went. My itinerary over the last two weeks.

First, I have a tradition with a bunch of guys in my church. Every year we go to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The UFC always hosts an amazing fight card over the weekend. So we watch the fights and then the next day watch the Super Bowl. If you can’t watch the Super Bowl at the actual stadium, Vegas is a close second. It is pretty epic. So I was in Las Vegas from 1st through the 5th.

Then, I left Las Vegas on Sunday night to fly to Burbank, California. I serve on the board of Higher Vision Church and it was our yearly board meeting. Jared Ming is a great pastor and a great leader. If you live in the Burbank/ Valencia area you need to check out his church. I was in Southern California from the 5th through the 7th.

On Tuesday morning I flew from Los Angeles to Orlando, Florida. I am in my 3rd year of coaching with Nelson Searcy and Church Leader Insights. If you are a minister I highly recommend it. If you are a west coast guy like me it is a bit of a traveling pain but it is well worth it. Over the last three years I have learned more about managing the systems of a church than I ever did in my formal education. I only have one more session left and I can honestly say I am going to miss it. The mentoring I have received has changed me and my church. Anyways…..

Since I was in Orlando, I flew my family out for a quick Disney World vacation. (It was fun having my parents come too!) So from the 7th through the 14th I was in amusement parks going on rides. It was so great to spend that time with my kids. They are getting older and you only have so much time with them. These memories are truly priceless.

So that was a quick synopsis of my last two weeks. Now how did my shoulder do?

To sum it up as simply as I can…..not as good as I had hoped.

Traveling on 5 different flights and staying at 5 different hotels while visiting 5 different amusement parks plus running around Las Vegas for 5 days was hard to keep my regimented exercise and stretching schedule.

I maintained my forward (supine stretch) range of motion but regressed immensely in my side ways motion. I was reminded again how important consistently doing your exercises is. Even missing a day has negative effects.

Wandering around amusements parks and going on rides is fairly painful. I was telling my wife today how bizarre it is that my shoulder hurts simply by hanging at my side while I walk around a park for 8 hours. Prior to this trip I was almost completely off of any sort of pain killers. I was down to an Aleve or two a day. This last week the pain was at a level where I gave in and have been taking my surgeon prescribed pain killers (only 1 a day but still…).

The most irritating part of the entire trip has been trying to make it through airport security. I travel a lot so I have a pretty high standing with my airlines. I never have to wait in lines and usually get upgraded to first class. For those of you who travel a lot, you know what I am talking about. It is one of the perks of being a frequent flyer. They treat you VERY well.

My metal shoulder has changed my airport experience dramatically. I set off EVERY x-ray machine. I have a buddy who travels with me whenever I do my Fight Pastor ministry. I would normally breeze right through airport security but he ALWAYS gets stopped. We joke often that he must look like a terrorist because he gets frisked at nearly every airport. I now know how Travis feels! It is brutal having to be frisked every time you go through security. Every time I am being groped in front of the entire airport I am reminded of the old Seinfeld episode where Jerry got stopped by airport security. As he was being rubbed up and down with dozens of people watching he proclaimed, “People, I implore you!”

I leave tomorrow for Seattle and am already preparing myself for the airport awkwardness. Gone are the days of breezing through security and feeling like royalty for the rest of my life. I suppose I better get used to it. So if you are at the Orlando airport tomorrow around 5pm, I will be that guy holding a Yoda doll getting frisked by security like he is some criminal.

So I guess the question you might ask me, “Was it worth it?” Absolutely! I had a blast with the guys in Vegas. I consider serving on the Higher Vision board a huge honor. I loved goofing around Disney World with my family. Besides the pain in my shoulder, I had a great time. That is probably the only benefit of dealing with arthritis for the last 7 years. You are used to living your life with pain in your shoulder. Fortunately, now I have hope that it will get better.

So overall, not the greatest two weeks as far as recovery from my surgery but an AWESOME two weeks otherwise. I am excited to get back to reality and back to my regimented rehabilitation schedule. I anticipate my 13 week update being much more encouraging!

Blessings.