Dr. Pearl is awesome! He answered any questions that I had and also helped put wife at ease about the surgery and answered all of her questions as well. I had my symptoms for about a year and a half and things got better in the beginning but when baseball season started up my symptoms flared up and wouldn't go away. I coach high school baseball in the spring and pro baseball in the summer so I throw a lot of batting practice. I felt like your daughter in that I was ready to get it done and over with so I could move on. This baseball season will be a big test as to how I have recovered.

As for the first day of school, it was tough at times, because i left my pain meds at home on accident, but I made it through the day. I was quite exhausted when I got home and was asleep by 8:00 that night. Today was a little better because I took a pain pill after 1st period and I made sure I didn't push myself too hard. I still get "winded" some because it still hurts to take deep breaths. I also made sure I stayed out of the hallway during passing periods so nobody would bump into me. I'm glad I went back though because it forces me to walk more and get myself back in shape.

I will say that this has been the hardest and most painful surgery for me. I have had an elbow and both shoulders worked on and the pain I felt with those seems very minor to what I have felt with this surgery. Luckily I have pain medication around for when I really need it.