Back To Climbing: T-Minus 7 Days

I was supposed to have an MRI today at 11:45 AM. I received a call from the radiology department to confirm my appointment and inform me that I was responsible for 20% of the cost of the MRI, equaling $215.93. I wasn’t happy (even though I knew it was coming).

I started thinking about my options. I realized they were as follows:

1. Get the MRI and discover one of three things – (A) I have nothing more than an overworked tendon that just requires rest and being careful with it, (B) I have a partially torn tendon, which requires rest and being careful with it, (C) I have an injury that requires surgery (unlikely, seeing I have full range of motion and a great deal of strength still in my finger).
2. Don’t get the MRI, save $215, and allow my finger more time to rest.

So either way, I was going to need to give my finger rest and simply be careful with it. So I cancelled the MRI and I’m canceling my follow-up appointment with my doctor to go over the MRI results. I’ve sent the gym director at Sportrock an email letting her know that I don’t want to freeze my membership for the month of May.

I figured that the most I can do is continue the monitor the injury and not do anything to make it worse. What that means to me is, I can still climb, but I need to be smart about it. No dynos to the right hand, no powerful lateral movement (how I injured it in the first place), and avoid really small crimps. If I avoid those things, there is no reason I shouldn’t be able to get back in the gym and at least keep up my strength and work on my endurance. If the injury gets worse or doesn’t get any better over the next 4-6 months, then I’ll go get the MRI and find out what is going on.

So May 10th I will be back in the gym climbing, and I couldn’t be happier.