Well my 24 hour medical tour came to an end yesterday after I met with Dr. David Altchek who is the premier shoulder doctor in the world. He looked at all my tests from April and today and informed me that I have been playing with a moderate tear in my rotator cuff tendon since April. He actually couldn't believe that I've been playing this long with this injury. You can imagine that I was not very thrilled to hear that my medical team did not see this tear in my shoulder back in April.

The good news is that it didn't get much worse since April but we could have started the healing time back then instead of now. 

He does not believe that I need surgery and is sending me to work with a specialist in Arizona next week to do extensive rehab and strength work and he believes that I should be ready to play in 2-3 months. It hurts me so much to miss the Olympics and the US Open, you have no idea, just to type those words hurt!! I think this will be the first grand slam I have ever missed. 

Now I need to move forward and stay positive. I am going to work hard to get healthy. I am going to do some extra work for my amazing sponsors who are always patient with me while I am playing tournaments and training. And I'm going to work on some business projects that I never have time to do, which will definitely keep me busy.

Once I'm healthy, I'm sure I'll look at this as a blessing in disguise. Right now it's a bit painful of course, but every athlete goes through these patches and I'm just grateful that this isn't as bad as it could have been.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of your support. Will give you another update in a week or so....

Maria