Shoulder surgery, how long in this XXXX sling?

[wroughtn_harv]

This morning is therapy, love it.

I've learned a lot in the therapy. Mostly I've learned that it is going to hurt to stretch things out to where it needs to be. And, it is going to hurt afterwards too.

I believe we are healing fine. It is just a very painful process. I wake up in the morning and think I have done something very bad in my sleep to my shoulder. Then I think I will call in sick to therapy because it really does hurt too bad to go through that again today.

But within five minutes of moving around the pain has settled into an irritating ache, the old shoulder has a toothache feeling. That I can live with.

I asked the therapist about re-injuring the shoulder. He said what happened to Eddie is very rare but everyone thinks they've done it. I was worried about it because of the pain incurred in the exercises but it doesn't seem to bother the therapist. So I have to believe that when I do normal things and get the same pain, it's just a thing I have to live with for now.

I'm going back to Haiti the 29th for a month. If I told you I was looking forward to going through airports with luggage I would be lying through my teeth, again, my shoulder has a toothache.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I thought I would throw an update out there for anyone considering this kind of surgery.

My last therapy visit, I'm missing them because of my work load, the therapist congratulated me on keeping up with my exercises. My range of motion has really improved. I have a severe character flaw. If I know it, I tell it. "I haven't taken the time to do the exercises" I told him, "I'm just working it, not lifting with it, but stretching it out, working it."

Yesterday was a monster day made into a nightmare by three months of minimal activity at most. Yesterday I spend all day pulling stucco off of our Ubuntu-blox house. Basically we needed to shed twenty five hundred pounds so it would fit onto the shake table. Four hours Thursday and nine hours yesterday I was hammering concrete and cutting chicken wire, half the time on a six foot ladder.

Last night I iced my shoulder and went to bed early. This morning I woke up in a lot of pain. But the pain was pain I'm very familiar with, arthritis. I have it bad in the wrists, hands, good shoulder and now the fixed shoulder feels about the same.

The therapist and doctor have been on me big time about overdoing it. I have a one pound weight limit lifting with the shoulder that was operated on. Yesterday I cut a piece loose and instinctively grabbed it as it fell. It has to have weighed at least twenty five pounds. As I felt my arm pick up the weight I had visions of doctor and therapist reaming me big time over being stupid. No pain. Nothing bad happened. This is two months and three days after surgery.

I will be leaving for Haiti the 29th. I will be there until April 3rd. The doc and therapist are worried about me not making the transition from stretching to weight training which is supposed to happen about the 15th of March.

I'm not. Pain and recovery from this kind of injury is an individual journey. We can't judge each other's reactions for recovery based upon our own experience. I believe what has made my journey easier is I have experienced broken bones and other kinds of injuries all my life. The pain of healing is normal and accepted in my life. I've also been blessed with arthritis. It isn't as bad as most people get but it is something I have to deal with on a daily basis. Yesterday near the end of the day we took a quick break. When I got back up on the ladder with the hammer in hand I realized my good shoulder was hurting the way my bad shoulder hurt just last week. Bad shoulder not so much. The pain fades into the background when the mind can't take the time to think about it because other stuff so much more important has to get done.

 

[gilbertmsg]

Just a quick update, went back to surgeon last Thursday, they knew by raising my arm that I was in pain. Changed by meds to hydromorphone and set up referrel for new MRI to determine the real cause of pain (13 Mar 2012). Even the doctors can give an educated guess, but I have come to find out they don't really know until MRI is read or surgery is performed. I have ice on my shoulder while typing this post, it is my very best friend (more so than medications). I believe I either have adhesive capualation (frozen shoulder) or I pulled loose the work surgeon did sewing my tendon back in place. I will update again after MRI.

Eddie

 

[CharlieR]

Hey wrougtn_harv, I just saw this thread today for the first time and found it interesting as I've had both rotator cuffs "done", the right when I was 65 and the left when I was 67 (I'll be 69 in 5 weeks).
They took care of my arthritis issues and bone spurs as well as reconnecting the muscles but unfortunately the muscles couldn't handle the recovery exercises and ultimately "shredded".
Hind sight leads me to believe that even though I paid very close attention to following recovery/therapy procedures I may have overdone the exercises and caused the muscle damage and maybe just because I didn't complain when it hurt.
I was always taught to suck it up if it hurt and just keep going.
However the joints don't hurt like they used to so life is better even without the use of the rotator cuffs.
Working overhead is an issue so I use a stool or a ladder or brace one arm with the other as a work around.
You sound like you are having a "normal" recovery.
Don't get discouraged if it hurts 'cause it will for quite a while but suddenly you'll notice that you can sleep at night and/or move around with little or no pain.
Then you'll know the suffering was worth it.
Good luck and stay well.:thumbsup:

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Just a quick update, went back to surgeon last Thursday, they knew by raising my arm that I was in pain. Changed by meds to hydromorphone and set up referrel for new MRI to determine the real cause of pain (13 Mar 2012). Even the doctors can give an educated guess, but I have come to find out they don't really know until MRI is read or surgery is performed. I have ice on my shoulder while typing this post, it is my very best friend (more so than medications). I believe I either have adhesive capualation (frozen shoulder) or I pulled loose the work surgeon did sewing my tendon back in place. I will update again after MRI.

Eddie

We have an ice machine and I used it last night. Ice is a wonderful thing. I can go to sleep with the puppy a hummin' in a New York minute.

Last night was the first time that I scrubbed my hair with both hands. It's little moments like that what gives us hope for the better day Charlie was talking about.

I hope your issues don't require more surgery. I can't imagine them punching open those seven holes to redo all of that again.

But I will admit that after working overhead on a ladder last night I was thinking the right shoulder was hurting a lot more than the left. The left is the one that had the surgery. If they could go in and clean up the arthritis and bone spurs without the damage that has to be done with tendon repair I would consider it getting the right one done next winter when things slow down again.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

It has been a couple of weeks since I did the finger walk up a wall with my bad arm. Last night one of the nurses here in Haiti insisted that I do it. He is worried about shoulder lock up because I have been too busy working instead of doing the exercises.

Guys I did it about four times and no one could tell the difference between the bad arm and the good one, full extension on each one.

The pain is still there. But since I've been blessed with this arthritis another pain is just another pain and I don't notice it like I would if it was the only pain I had to deal with.

I catch myself grabbing things and then stopping because I know that it is too much weight, I'm talking twenty to forty pound objects that I instinctively reach for in the craziness of the moment.

It does get better. And I hope to add at least forty yards to my drive. I will still be an old man trying to prove I still can but I hope to do a better job of it.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Back from Haiti and knew I was in deep doo at the doc's office about the shoulder. I have worked it pretty hard in Haiti and didn't do right on the therapy follow up. I just knew I was going to end up with a gimped shoulder.

I'm just six to seven weeks out of sinc with the therapy. I start that back up in a couple of weeks because there is no time for it now.

He told me no heavy lifting, once again. I had to smile, I'm still handling 92 pound bags of portland cement by myself. A has to do what a man has to do.

 

[Bird]

Good luck with it, Harvey.

 

[txdon]

Back from Haiti and knew I was in deep doo at the doc's office about the shoulder.

He told me no heavy lifting, once again. I had to smile, I'm still handling 92 pound bags of portland cement by myself. A has to do what a man has to do.

Harvey, why are you still going to the Doctor. Apparently he does not realize who he is dealing with. Are you still in a lot of pain?

 

[gilbertmsg]

Had MRI a couple weeks ago, shoulder frozen. I was in pain from 1 Jan 12 - 1Apr 12. The dye that is used in the MRI helped with some movement and relief. Had steriod shot on Tue this week. Best thing since sliced bread. I have little to no pain for the past few days. Still have a lots of work to get back to normal. So very gald to have some relief. I have been pain numerous times in my life, but never for 3 months straight. Have follow up with Navy Surgeon on Tue next week and hopefully everything will go good from then.

Eddie