Julie & Tom ♥

Because L I F E isn’t already complicated enough…

For the past six weeks, a medical issue has been keeping Tom off the trails. It’s the reason why I went on a solo backpacking trip three weeks ago. Now, we’re finally ready to share what’s been going on.

Tom tore his rotator cuff while we were—of all things—attempting to start a campfire with a ferro rod in June.🤦‍♀️

In true Tom fashion, instead of making an appointment with a surgeon, he took the “let’s wait-and-see approach.”

Between icing, heating, and ibuprofen, his shoulder seemed to be improving. Until, that is, he slipped—NOT on a hiking trail—but while coming into the house carrying several bags of groceries. After that misfortunate event, the pain has not abated.

So we finally met with a surgeon, hoping there might be a way to simply repair the tear and get him back to doing the things he loves. Instead, the surgeon gave us news that was much harder to hear. Because of the combination of the torn rotator cuff and arthritis, a reverse shoulder replacement is the recommended path forward.

With all that has been going on recently, this has been an unexpected and difficult detour. (Tom had an MRI on Friday, and we are hopeful that there will be another option presented when we meet with the surgeon again.)

In the meantime, after 6 weeks of Tom not hiking—and in desperate need of some mountain therapy—we V E R Y C A R E F U L L Y went on a 7-mile hike at Mt. Tom yesterday. Rest assured, we were exceptionally cautious to insure that Tom doesn’t make matters worse with a slip and fall.

I must say, after feeling as though we’ve been holding our breath for weeks, being back on trail has allowed us to finally exhale!