Rotator Cuff Surgery?

[nickel plate]

I'm left handed and it was my right shoulder that had to be repaired at the age of 62. All in all, about 40K. It took every bit of a year to return to close to normal. The hardest thing during therapy was the finger crawl up the wall. Good luck to you.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Don't have the time to read the whole thread. I had mine done 2 yrs ago. Could not lift my arm 20%. Had a SOB of a time just to button my pants! drive truck for a living, had to keep hand on the shifter.:

I have been off the road for about three years now for other reasons but when I was out there, I found my shifting arm going numb. That kind of went away but has come back even without all that shifting.

Surgery went well, but i did as I was told afterwords. Which was not easy!! i would highly recommend doing the PT. Don't short cut it. They know what they are doing. Was out for 2 months. I'm self employed, had to hire a driver, and pay high deducts as i have to pay for all of my insurance costs. Was not cheap. But, it's fixed right. If you short cut your PT, you have a very likely chance you will end up worse off than before. You will have many weeks after the required PT to do your own PT. Trust me.

Thats my 2 cents

Also, don't try to do tasks with your good arm. You will inadvertantly reinjury the bad arm. Stuff happens that you don't plan on. And quite frankly, you'll be in enough pain after the surgery, you won't do much afterwords.

One positive note. While on the good meds for the short time after the surgery.....my wife tells me i was one happy SOB. She misses those days:thumbsup:

So what you are saying is that during the recovery period, I can do some of those things I would not even think about doing due to those un-announced tests? Just kidding, LOL!

 

[QRTRHRS]

I'm left handed and it was my right shoulder that had to be repaired at the age of 62. All in all, about 40K. It took every bit of a year to return to close to normal. The hardest thing during therapy was the finger crawl up the wall. Good luck to you.

You mean 40k for the operation?

 

[QRTRHRS]

Well, my surgury is scheduled for Feb 9th. I have two tendons to repair, some bone spurs and some bursitis. Doctor suggested four months of downtime. He said I could maybe work light duty in a week or so if available but I could not drive. I offered that there was no way my wife could drive me to work, return home then come back for me in twelve hours. He then said maybe you could drive once you get off the pain meds.

I don't think my employer will go for the risk of having me on site nor can I see where I would be of much use. My employer has no clue that this is coming. Though I have two years of perfect attendance, good reviews, lots of accolaids, etc., the way things are these days, I did not feel safe giving any heads up. I work in quality control and for various reasons, our group is bare bones with no backup as opposed to production, maint, etc. Oh' well.

 

[bglz42]

I returned to work (I'm in subcontracts, office type stuff mostly) three weeks after surgery. First week was tough. Getting a little better now.

Guys, this is a tough surgery. Unlike any thing I'd ever done before (double hernia, hand surgery, etc) Do your homework, clear a path in your life for at least 3 months for physical work.

You can still do some stuff. Heck I cleaned out my barn, I still feed the chickens and can even wash my truck. (All weakhand...) So you are not going to be just laying around on the couch, and you will be going to PT regularly. You just have to give that shoulder time to heal, without damaging the rest of your body...

Oh and download Netflix... tons of good movies for that first 3 weeks...

 

[Bird]

Hope all goes well for you.

 

[tulenutn2o]

I HAD MY ROTOR CUFF SURGERY DONE THIS MORNING AT 7AM. THE NERVE BLOCK IS JUST STARTING TO WEAR OFF NOW AT 10PM,BUT I HAVE BEEN TAKING MY PERCOCET AND TOOK AN OXYCOTIN AT AROUND 5,SO I HAVEN'T HAD ANY PAIN YET. THEY HAD TO REMOVE BONE SPURS AND DO A COMPRESSION AND SHAVE DOWN SOME BONE IN THERE.THE TEAR WAS LARGER THAB WHAT WAS SHOWN ON THE MRI. WELL,SO FAR SO GOOD,BUT IT'S STILL ONLY THE FIRST DAY.

Don't try to be a hero and not take the pain meds, I tried and failed miserably. Think mine was like 4 days before weaned it down a bit. Can't remember my recovery time though as that was a few years ago. I also did not have the tear, just the spurs.

 

[jwatt51]

I'm doing good with my recovery.The Dr. said I had a pretty good tear and had to remove some bone spurs.I'm going to PT twice a week.I do drive there,but don't take any pain meds before I go.I take them once I'm home.It's a pretty direct route to my PT and it's a back road,so I can take it easy driving.I adjusted the steering wheel so I can keep my left hand,(the surgery arm) on the wheel and my right hand.You might think I'm crazy,but I have my Kubota all set up with all the controls for the snowblower on the right hand side,so I get on my tractor and seat belt in and drive it out of my garage and snowblow.I keep my arm in the sling inside the snow suit,so it doesn't move at all.
I've been doing all the exercises the PT gave me to do at home and it seems be be going really well.If I had to do it again,I would.So anyone that has to have it done,it's not all that bad.I think my knee replacement was worse and I was really worried about having my rotor cuff done because of stories I heard.BTW,when I snowblow,I don't get off the machine til I'm back in the garage and when I break a shear pin,I try and get my neighbor to change it for me,so I am very careful when I do go out.I have an HST tractor with power steering and added a suicide knob for easier steering with one arm.

 

[sodamo]

Best of luck. We're pullin for ya.

 

[flyingcow]

as stated before, listen and follow your PT therapist instructions. Good Luck.