Bray: Tommy John experience is so much more than one surgery
As a player who has had Tommy John surgery, I’m inevitably asked in every interview what the experience is like.
This question is usually followed by another asking if I knew what I had done right away or if it was gradual. The quick answers to those questions are “long” and “I knew it.” The overall experience was much more of a rollercoaster ride.
In 2009, I had spent most of spring training on the shelf with shoulder issues. I managed to pitch in a couple of games by the end of spring, but was optioned to Triple-A Louisville with the thought of getting my “spring training” in and then hopefully rejoining the Reds at a later date. Things were going well, but in my fifth appearance, it all changed.
I can’t tell you who was up at the plate, but what I do remember is the pain when I threw that fastball. It was a quick and intense, there and gone.
I had a 1-2 count on the batter and two outs in the inning, so I did what any pitcher would do. I shook out my arm, took a deep breath, thought, “This is going to hurt” and threw another pitch. That pitch I do not remember. I only felt pain and my vision went white. Somehow, the batter popped it up and I was out of inning.
The training room in Louisville is up a long hallway from the dugout. I walked into the dugout, grabbed the trainer and by the time we got into the clubhouse, my elbow had swollen to the point where it was locked at about a 45 degree angle.
So yes, I had a pretty good idea of what I had done. My biggest concern at that point was how I was going to tell my wife.
The next day we drove to Cincinnati for an MRI. It was a long 99 miles. Injuries you learn to deal with; it is the uncertainty those injuries create that can be troublesome.
What I wanted from the MRI was a firm yes or no. I got maybe. It looked as if I had aggravated an old injury and maybe torn some scar tissue. The treatment plan? One month worth of rehab in Florida. At the end of the month, if it still hurt, then we would operate. But the fear of possibly needing surgery and missing a year weighed heavily on me.
Physical therapy went great. Long toss, flat ground bullpens and breaking balls, no problem. My first bullpen from the mound, however, was a different story. I threw three pitches, with each gradually hurting more. I handed the baseball to Tom Browning, walked off the field and four days later was back in Cincinnati waiting to have surgery.
The surgery went very well. Dr. Tim Kremchek performed the operation and everything went according to plan. I woke up in the surgery center feeling fine but with a mechanical brace on my arm. Turns out that a bone spur had punctured my ligament and sheered it from end to end.
Dr. Kremchek took a ligament from my left wrist and grafted it into my elbow, creating a new and much stronger UCL. I’ve seen the video and it truly is an amazing process.
Before surgery, the uncertainty of whether I needed to have Tommy John was the biggest issue. With having the surgery, you get different uncertainty.
Will I make it back? And just as important, when will I get back? But at least with having had the surgery, I now had a plan of attack. That plan, along with faith and the support of friends and family, is what helps you finish what becomes a long, long marathon.
Bill Bray is a former MLB pitcher with the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals and a contributor for Sporting News. He is currently finishing his degree in finance at the College of William and Mary. Follow him on Twitter @wpbray.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
