My shoulder had caused me some grief again on the last leg so I put my name forward to visit the medicos to get it checked out. My appointment with the local hospital was the following day and the consultation with the doctor led me to have an MRI scan on my right shoulder.
The scan report was not what I was expecting. In medical terms it showed a partial thickness tear involving the supraspinatus tendon, moderate fluid collection in the subacromial and subscapular bursa, subscapular tendinopathy and severe osteoarthritic changes in the acromioclavicular joint causing impingement of the supraspinatus tendon.
As a result the doctor couldn’t sign off on my going back on the yacht. I was off. I was (for now) out of the race.
My first reaction was obviously great disappointment, but the reality is that safety must come first. To continue with my condition would mean I’d be no good to myself or anybody else on the yacht - I can’t lift my arm above shoulder height without pain and I only have about 50% strength in the arm & shoulder below shoulder height.
I feeI like I have let the crew and my support team down, but they know if I could be there, I would be.
The plan is to see my own doctor and a specialist in Sydney with the hope to rejoin the yacht later in the race. I will let you know the outcome.
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I ended up showing Andrew the doctor who did the MRI and Paulette over the yacht |
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