Update on ze shoulder

So…many of you probably already know I’ve been having several problems with my left shoulder in the past year. It all started with tendonitis, turned into an impingement, disappeared over the spring, came back in the summer, I took a break from swimming altogether for about a month, and despite that rest, my shoulder is in quite a bit of pain.

Two Mondays ago, I saw a doctor and they took x-rays. Everything turned out normal (big surprise there!). Doctor informed me after examining me that I probably had an inflamed or irritated rotator cuff. He said that I won’t damage it any further, but the pain will likely increase over time. (didn’t make sense in my head, but okay.) The pain got bad enough I went back yestermonday and got a cortisol shot in the shoulder. As of right now, my shoulder feels worse than ever, I can barely raise my arm above my head. But I was told that this is normal, I have to give the shot a few days before it actually takes effect.

Coach informed me that I won’t be swimming in the first couple of meets. He is, however, tempted to make me swim a couple of events (just 50s) to see how the shoulder holds up. If it doesn’t perform well, he’s red-shirting me this year.

Let’s just hope this shot works. And if it does, there is no certainty as to how long it will last: it varies from a couple of days to 5-6 months.

So, there’s your update for you!

vexation frustration irritation dissatisfaction heartache

Full story: Coach told us NOT to take the recruits out drinking on the recruiting trip. On Saturday night, half went ice blocking, half...went drinking. Next day (sunday) we have a mandatory team meeting at 11:00. Two people are no longer on the team for their decision to have a party at their house. One captain has lost their captaincy, and will not be allowed to travel with the team for the rest of this semester.

Coach is very embarrassed, disappointed, angry, sad, etc. I don't know what I would do if I was in his shoes. He's disappointed in those who got drunk, drank. He's disappointed that those who didn't go to the party didn't do anything about the ones who did. He's also disappointed in those who didn't even know about the party because that shows they aren't very involved with the team.

After 10 minutes of yelling at us (and crying a tad too), he left the room. And all of us had heavy hearts. One of the boys who was kicked off the team was mad that someone told the coach about the party. He said that the team should've come to him, should've held this meeting, then turn to Coach. His justification for his actions was that all of the recruiting trips he's been to, there was beer present. It's just a normal ingredient. He didn't think he'd actually get caught, let alone be punished.
Sadly, many teammates agreed with him. "We should've had this meeting before going to Coach." My question is...would they have taken the meeting serious at all? I don't think so. Teammates would've just scoffed at those who were warning, and continue on with their stupid actions.

And this isn't the first meeting we've had about drinking problems. This is the third. My lovely team got drunk then went to a football game, drunk in front of the entire student body.

Hi, I'm Natalie, and I'm a member of the "we party hardest" swim team, and I'm embarrassed to be here.

What could've I possibly done different? I honestly didn't know about the party! Gah!

So...

It's back to underwater training. Oh, joy. As of this week, four team members have already quit the team. Two of them were my closest teammates and now they're gone.

Training is already really hard, I'm already struggling with school, but thank goodness for a genius sister who is willing to help me understand physics better.

And I don't even know why I'm taking physics. I really would love to go into something where I can help athletes/people rehab and recover from surgeries, muscle strains, etc. It'd be awesome to go into athletic training, but that's not an option for me since I swim...
I'll have to think about this some more.

Ho hum. Not much is going on.

But I will say it's always wonderful to run into a good old friend in the library. Thanks for the smiles, Nat!!

Have you thought this through?

After seeing this video, I wonder what would happen if I had only Whoopi's two lines to say to my coach when he's mad.

I understood the part about the food...

I got the following e-mail from the mailing list for people who plan on majoring in math here at the U.

"Mathematics Undergraduate Colloquium
Wednesday, Sept. 3
12:55
LCB 225

Mark Zajac will present "Depolymerization Can Drive Cell Migration"

Abstract: Cell migration promotes wound healing yet allows cancer tospread. I will present a two-phase model for the solid cytoskeleton andfluid cytosol inside a crawling nematode spermatozoon. This modeldemonstrates that disassembly of the cytoskeletal polymer network canprovide most of the force that drives a cell forward. The drag forceexerted by cytosolic fluid also plays a significant role.

The model also shows that cytoskeletal anisotropy is required. The model uses level set methods to provide an implicit representation ofthe cell surface. Testing the model requires image processing, which can becast as a minimization problem, leading to a differential equation.Tracking cytoskeletal features makes use of correlations.

-----

There will be pizza and discussion after the talk."

Engineers

You know what's frustrating? You think of a lot of good things or experiences for your blog, but then you don't get around to it, forgetting it completely. Hence why I'm blogging in between classes. So I won't forget!

I'm all settled here at the University. I met my new roommate, Kaylee. She's a senior, and she's awesome! Her friend Anand (pronounced something like "AHN-and") is over all of the time and cracks me up. He is Indian (from India, not Native American...) and he is as American as we come. However, he has an arranged marriage to someone in India, and gets to go there every so often. I thought that was just a stereotype, yet it's not. Arranged marriages still happen today!
Anyway...back to Anand. He's a Civil Engineer major, and he has a lot of amusing stories about engineering and engineers in general. I thought I was a nerd until I heard that he has even taken a shower in the engineering building. Apparently, many of the engineering majors have bad enough hygeine, that they installed showers in the building they so often visit, hoping to give a hint.

...And the stereotypes about engineers? A lot of them are actually true. Sure, not the whole fits the stereotype, but at least a good 75% do. Heh.

...The good thing about being a friend with an engineer is they have a lot of resources. For example, the book I need for physics isn't in in the bookstore. The silly bookstore didn't order enough, so now I have a 2 week wait. Unfortunately, my first homework assignment is due on this Friday. I happened to be telling this to Kaylee, and she told Anand, and he brought the physics book over with the step-by-step solutions to the problems on the homework if I get lost.

Hmmm....I like engineers. The ones with social skills anyway...