One week post-op update:
The first couple of days were pretty rough from a pain perspective but a week out and he's got little to no pain at all. Taking the dressings off the shoulder was pretty special because of the heavy duty tape they use but we were able to do that and he's pretty much got showering down now (thank goodness). He's learning to be left handed so that's a challenge but kids are amazingly adaptable. One thing I'd advise to any who may have to go through this is to make sure you have thorough communication with their teachers, counselor, and attendance administration during the process. They've been very flexible with us as far as make-up work, etc. and it's easy to forget that it might take a right-handed kid longer to do something when they essentially can't use their right hand.
He has a two-week post-op visit with the surgeon next Monday and that will hopefully result in removed sutures and the start of PT. With the pain now gone, and the routine sort of set, I can see the thoughts of "how is this all going to work out" creeping up in his mind and evident in his statements and actions. He sent his first email last night to a coach that he's had a significant amount of dialog with, and outlined the situation. He expressed to the coach that he intended to apply to the school, regardless of recruiting status, because he felt it was a fit in all other ways but that he hoped that he would still have an opportunity to try to be a part of their program. I've mentioned that my son's targets are primarily D3 schools and we're hoping that it's still realistic that he could find a spot to have a chance to play at one of these. I was hoping to have a response from this coach before posting here so that I could provide some insight into the mind of one of these guys at this stage in their recruiting process, and given my son's injury timing, but I think he's at the ABCA this week so we're not expecting a prompt reply, though he is usually very responsive. I think my son would be fine even if it was bad news because he just wants to know the reality of the situation directly from the horse's mouth so to speak.
There are a lot of unknowns at this time:
1. Will the labrum reattach?
2. Will he come back without pain?
3. If 1 & 2 are yes, when will that be? The estimate is four months but there are a lot of factors in play.
4. If 1 & 2 are yes, will recovery time permit him starting his spring season?
5. If 1 & 2 are yes, will any of his target school coaches still have interest/availability at that time?
6. If 1 & 2 are yes, will any other schools have interest/availability at that time?
7. What safety schools might need to be considered given this course deviation i.e. not the schools that baseball might have helped him get admitted to that he otherwise might not have? An example of this would be Middlebury. It is very unlikely that he'd get admitted with his current GPA and test scores alone. This one is a bit of a bummer because he really liked everything about it, though it was a long shot even with baseball.
I hope I'm not just using up board real estate with these posts and I truly hope that some nugget of information might help someone else along the way. The most important things for us currently are positivity and planning. For those who find benefit, I'll post again in a couple of weeks. There should be more insight once PT starts. Thanks and take care!