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Senior Son had successful labrum repair surgery in May.

Has been playing catch 5 days a week since October.

Shoulder is pain free, resistance free, feels better than ever.

Monday he confides to us that his elbow has been hurting for two weeks.

Went to surgeon today - he x-rayed it, tested it, set up an MRI with dye injection, and said it is probably a Tommy John ligament partial tear!!  Of course, we won't know until the MRI next week.

God is trying to teach this kid patience and persistence - or tell an amazing baller to pick a different life path!

Anyway, if it requires surgery, he wants to play his senior spring as a power hitting 1B (no catching or pitching), and operate in May.  Even though he will lose 3 months of rehab time.  I'm not sure where I stand on that.  We'll see, I guess.

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KB,

 

Sorry to hear about your son.  I totally understand him wanting to play his senior season. I doubt if the elbow will be any problem if he hits RH.

 

Please try to prepare yourself for the possibility of an inconclusive diagnosis next week.  I am not a doctor, but my personal experience (with son and several acquaintances) is that MRIs are not very good at showing partial ligament damage of the elbow.  Even with the contrast, which is a must.  Search through this site for other TJ threads, and you’ll find lots of people who recommend searching out the best ortho possible given your geography and finances.  IMO, the best ones can tell more from an exam than an MRI.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/health/mris-often-overused-often-mislead-doctors-warn.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

What are his plans for next year?  College ball?

Same thing happened to my kiddo last year.  He was a P/1b and wanted to play 1b all season deferring surgery till June.  Being a pitcher with previous surgery, we decided delaying surgery was ok because he would have been sitting out his frosh year rehabbing anyway....not wanting to rush back.  It seems like the right call in our case even as we're 8 months post op.  That final HS season was a real emotional roller coaster.  I think whether your son has a place to "play" next year is a big consideration.  Feel for you guys.

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