Week 6 - 7: Rotator Cuff Surgery Recovery

Week 6 - No pain meds in Week 6, so more discomfort, but tolerable.  Blew my nose with both hands, but it was awkward, so I went back to the one-handed technique. I did actually begin to use my biceps in physical therapy.  They gave me one of those long stretchy rubber strips (the yellow one - the least resistance) and said I should do biceps curls by standing on one end of the strip, and then triceps exercises, hooking the strip over a door frame.  I am supposed to do this every other day.  My arm aches quite a bit the next day.

I was trying to think what differences there were this week, and I couldn't come up with much. 

Week 7 - I've actually taken Tylenol and Ibuprofen this week.  One day at school I lost my resolve and took some Tylenol.  Then on Friday, I was bending over to put food in the dog bowl, and I must of twisted wrong, because I pulled a muscle in my lower back...  It was really a relief to be able to take Ibuprofen again.  I'm really just a big baby when it comes to dealing with pain (actually, I'm a big baby in a lot of ways, says my husband!).  :)  Here's the dogs we feed every day.

Got another lecture from the Physical Therapy people.  Their message, "No, no, no!"  No, I can't try to shift my car with my right arm.  No, I can't try to put on my seat belt.  No, I can't do any exercises requiring me to lift my arm.  No, I should not be stretching on my own.  No opening doors, no carrying groceries, no milk gallons, no stacks of books...  Anything that requires me to bare weight with that arm is still out.  I did try brushing my teeth again with my right arm, but it didn't work very well.

Along with losing my strength in that arm, I have also lost my coordination.  Also, there is still little to no rotation in my shoulder, so my arm just doesn't work right.  You'd be surprised how many motions require some sort of rotation at the shoulder.

They said that shoulder surgery is one of they types of recoveries that you should not try to use the joint ahead of schedule.  My tendons are apparently building new sources of blood supply, and will be at the weakest at 12 weeks out of surgery.  So trying to "push through the pain" to use the arm at this point will only lengthen my recovery time, and possibly damage the corrections the surgery put in place, according to the PT people.  They said that time would come for me, just not yet.  Five more weeks for me.  Maybe by Christmas I'll be using my arm "normally" again.

I'm hoping to be able to pick up my bow again in January.  We start indoor leagues then.  I really don't know if I'll be able to draw my bow.  If not, I'll borrow a baby bow just to get the muscles moving in the right direction again.

Have to include a picture, so here's one of Don at our "Broadhead Shoot" in August.

So I adopted a new "no use" policy Friday night when I got home from physical therapy.  Then Saturday I went shopping.  :)  It was tough holding all those hangers of clothes and looking through racks with only one arm (I was not totally successful in not using the arm).  And trying the clothes on was awkward (as usual!).  But I came away with three skirts - black, dark brown, and a striped blue/tan (everything was more than 50% off, Veteran's Day sales), one jacket, one vest and one tank top.  I felt successful, and did not spend that much.

Then we stopped by Cabelas, and we bought a pair of binoculars.  All the top girls at the Traditional World Championships used binoculars.  I figured I needed to have a pair, too.  Maybe that would help be break into the top three next year.  :)  I don't know if I've written about the championships.  I earned fourth place.  Those women were sooooooo good!

Sleep has not been good this week for some reason.  The amount of time I have slept in my own bed has cut back to two hours a night (it was 4 hours before).  Then I am waking up more often at night, too.  The PT people said there would be plateaus.  Guess I hit one this week.  Don gives me backrubs most nights before I go to sleep.  Those feel really good.  I told him it was an important part of my physical therapy.  :)  I don't think he believes me. 

When I put in the picture, my paragraphs all got mixed up.  Hmmm... oh well.  Have to get into my online class now and do some grading!