By this time, a lot of people are so comfortable with their arm, that they have received the okay from the doctor to quit wearing their arm restraint, and are doing some pretty vigorous stretching and weight resistance exercises to rebuild the muscles around their repaired shoulder.
Not so, me. There have been many times over these past three weeks when I have asked myself, "What have I done wrong?" And the faithful physical therapist (PT) keeps telling me, "Different surgeries recover at different rates." As far as I know, I have done nothing to re-injure my arm or damage the repair job Dr. Faggard did back in September, the 17th. I don't remember a lot of dates, but this one I think I will always remember. I haven't looked at the calendar to count weeks once since the surgery, but I know that it has been exactly 10 weeks since that day. Wow.
I get jealous when I see other people in physical therapy who had their surgeries weeks after mine, and are already doing movements and exercises I can't do yet. Have to knock myself on the head to get those thoughts out of my mind.
I did try a new machine yesterday, much to the PT's consternation. They have one of those arm bicycles, that uses water resistance. So I got on there and started doing it, just to see if I could do the motion, and I could! The PT let me push it around (with very minimal resistance) twice before she made me get out of that machine. She said I may start doing that one next week. :)
So I see the doctor again next week, and that's when the PT hopes that I will be "set free" to start more aggressive rehabilitation. She hopes I will be able to start using a pulley system at home to start stretching my shoulder every day. She said that would bring back a lot of mobility.
This week I've been doing the biceps and triceps exercises with a light resistance, and I started some back strengthening (using those elastic colored strips, pulling backwards, elbows in, squeezing the shoulder blades). Also using the elastic to start some rotation exercises, pulling and pushing my arm across my body and then away from my body. I don't have much rotation yet.
I'm beginning to think that the doctor doesn't tell you how painful it's going to be before the surgery, because he doesn't know. Everyone is different; every surgery is different. But I still wish I would have been better informed. At least, it seems that way now. Before hand, would I have wanted to know what it was going to be like? Maybe that would have only made it worse.
Sleep: Still tenuous. I had two nights of eight hours this week. I can make it in my own bed until about midnight, then I move down to the recliner for the rest.
New Benchmarks: I can brush my teeth with my right hand now! (Or for most of that process.) That is cool. Also, I can use my right arm to use a utensil to bring food to my mouth. That happened in Week 9. All of a sudden I realized I was eating a bowl of soup with my right hand. Very cool. It got tiring after a while, but it was quite a positive realization.
I can touch the lower half of my face pretty easily now. Back to a two-handed nose blow! I tried to "tweeze" my eyebrows yesterday, however, and I can't get my hand that high yet.
Since they told me not to try to lift my arm so many weeks ago, I haven't been trying. However, in the evenings these past two weeks, I haven't been wearing the restraint around the house, and I find I am using my arm more and more for regular activities. I can't actually hang a hanger in my closet yet. My arm gets about three quarters of the way to the bar and then stops. Still can't reach around my back at all.
So I'm close to the end. At the beginning of this experience, the doctor told me it would be a 12-week recovery for me. I didn't really understand what that meant, and I still don't really. Because I know that in two more weeks, I'm still not going to be able to draw my bow. I'm not sure when that will happen. January seems to be approaching very quickly (indoor leagues start in January). I thought I might be able to shoot then, but now I'm not so sure. One more month? Maybe!
My emotions spring from despair to hope and back again almost daily. Some days I still have a lot of pain (like after the PT stretches my shoulder out of the socket!), or after I start some new exercises. But some days are just awesome, and I don't have much pain at all. I have succumbed to taking Ibuprofen again when the pain is more noticeable. There is a teenage boy who got surgery about four weeks ago in my PT group. He hasn't been experiencing any pain since his second week. Maybe being close to 50 has something to do with my recovery time. And those six pesky screws! He didn't have any screws, but the doctor did use some "ties" to repair his shoulder, football injury. This young man hasn't had trouble sleeping since his second week either.
Another positive: My handwriting is very legible with my left hand now! (I mean on the board in the front of my classroom). I have progressed to at least 6th grade handwriting with my left hand! Quite an accomplishment. So, anything is possible. :) On a desk down low, I am fine using my right hand for writing now. It is just on the board I have to use my left still. Typing gets tiring after awhile, if the keyboard is not low enough. If it's low, typing is fine.
I can see the light recovery at the end of the tunnel. :)
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
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!
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!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Week 5 - Rotator Cuff Surgery Recovery
This is a chronicle of my recovery, because no one told me what it would really be like trying to recover from intensive rotator cuff surgery. Or maybe, I just wanted to be ignorant. I heard several times that it was a "long recovery," but did I know I wouldn't be able to use my arm for three months? Yes, I guess I did know that, but what I didn't know is what that meant.
I didn't know I wouldn't be able to pull up my own pants the first week, or tie my own shoes for two weeks, or put on a bra. I just didn't think about the daily details that would be so different. So I thought, maybe someone else will want to know, and it won't be so difficult coping for them. I'll have to work backwards, because today is the first day I've had the strength/endurance in my arm and the motivation to type this much.
Week 5 has had some ups and some downs. I am getting totally off the pain killers (including Ibuprofen and Tylenol), but because of that, I'm experiencing more pain. Typing is still tiring and somewhat painful. I've extended the hours I can sleep in my bed (with a wedge to prop me up 7 inches) to five hours, then I move down to the den and the recliner for the rest of the night.
Mind you, I've only had two 5-hour nights in bed this week; the others were two, three, and four hours at a time. Part of me just wants to give up trying to sleep in my own bed, but Don likes to have me there, at least at the beginning of the night. (He doesn't wake up when I move to the den.) The other thing that keeps me trying is that I remember how much I was loathing sleeping by myself in the den after three weeks. (Part of that is because I'm afraid of the wind, and there's a huge willow tree right outside the den... I kept envisioning it breaking through the roof of the den.)
New Week 5 accomplishments: 30 minutes of aerobics (bike and treadmill) at the gym (twice this week), down to two times a week for physical therapy, can almost wipe with my right hand, able to update my blog :) , able to put on almost any kind of shirt (taking them off is more difficult), could put on tights without too much pain, have gotten 8 hours of sleep twice this week (with short wakeful times to change sleep locations), handwriting is almost normal if the writing surface is low, thinking and emotions more stable with the decrease in pain meds. I think that's about it.
Things I still can't do with my right arm/hand: lift it (PT people said "no, no"), brush my teeth or hair, put cream on my face, blow my nose (have to do that one-handed), wash my hair, dry off, wipe (just try wiping with your other hand! TMI), nothing behind my back, can't carry anything heavier than a cup of coffee (that hasn't changed), chores (yipee!) (actually, I did vacuum with my left hand yesterday, and I take out the trash, do my own laundry, dishes, cook and pick up dog poo, but all with one arm, so it takes about twice as long). Can't open doors, or put on my own seatbelt when I'm in the driver's seat, grading student papers is hard, ... blah, blah, blah... and of course I can't draw my bow.
I haven't tried to draw my bow, of course, big no, no. But my husband put it together yesterday and hung it back up on the wall (it is a take-down, 3-piece DAS recurve). I almost cried. I haven't seen it since we went to the 2009 Traditional Championships in Erie, PA (I earned fourth place). Two days after we got back, I was in surgery.
So, do you suppose he put it back up for some psychological motivation to heal faster?!? I won't be able to even try to pull it until January. Maybe it will keep me looking forward towards the goal of being able to shoot again.
This surgery recovery is more difficult than when I had disk-replacement surgery 13 years ago. After that surgery, I felt immediately better (no more pinched nerves). This time, after 5 weeks, my arm/shoulder still hurts more than before the surgery. Mentally, it is hard for me to grasp. I just don't understand. I should have "bounced back" by now. But I have to hang on to the belief that it will be better some day. Weird. When I saw the x-ray, it looked like Frankenstein. There are six-3/5ths inch screws in my shoulder, all womp-a-jog. And you could see the metal plate in my neck and the four screws there in the picture, too. Really Frankenstein!
I didn't know I wouldn't be able to pull up my own pants the first week, or tie my own shoes for two weeks, or put on a bra. I just didn't think about the daily details that would be so different. So I thought, maybe someone else will want to know, and it won't be so difficult coping for them. I'll have to work backwards, because today is the first day I've had the strength/endurance in my arm and the motivation to type this much.
Week 5 has had some ups and some downs. I am getting totally off the pain killers (including Ibuprofen and Tylenol), but because of that, I'm experiencing more pain. Typing is still tiring and somewhat painful. I've extended the hours I can sleep in my bed (with a wedge to prop me up 7 inches) to five hours, then I move down to the den and the recliner for the rest of the night.
Mind you, I've only had two 5-hour nights in bed this week; the others were two, three, and four hours at a time. Part of me just wants to give up trying to sleep in my own bed, but Don likes to have me there, at least at the beginning of the night. (He doesn't wake up when I move to the den.) The other thing that keeps me trying is that I remember how much I was loathing sleeping by myself in the den after three weeks. (Part of that is because I'm afraid of the wind, and there's a huge willow tree right outside the den... I kept envisioning it breaking through the roof of the den.)
Things I still can't do with my right arm/hand: lift it (PT people said "no, no"), brush my teeth or hair, put cream on my face, blow my nose (have to do that one-handed), wash my hair, dry off, wipe (just try wiping with your other hand! TMI), nothing behind my back, can't carry anything heavier than a cup of coffee (that hasn't changed), chores (yipee!) (actually, I did vacuum with my left hand yesterday, and I take out the trash, do my own laundry, dishes, cook and pick up dog poo, but all with one arm, so it takes about twice as long). Can't open doors, or put on my own seatbelt when I'm in the driver's seat, grading student papers is hard, ... blah, blah, blah... and of course I can't draw my bow.
I haven't tried to draw my bow, of course, big no, no. But my husband put it together yesterday and hung it back up on the wall (it is a take-down, 3-piece DAS recurve). I almost cried. I haven't seen it since we went to the 2009 Traditional Championships in Erie, PA (I earned fourth place). Two days after we got back, I was in surgery.
So, do you suppose he put it back up for some psychological motivation to heal faster?!? I won't be able to even try to pull it until January. Maybe it will keep me looking forward towards the goal of being able to shoot again.
This surgery recovery is more difficult than when I had disk-replacement surgery 13 years ago. After that surgery, I felt immediately better (no more pinched nerves). This time, after 5 weeks, my arm/shoulder still hurts more than before the surgery. Mentally, it is hard for me to grasp. I just don't understand. I should have "bounced back" by now. But I have to hang on to the belief that it will be better some day. Weird. When I saw the x-ray, it looked like Frankenstein. There are six-3/5ths inch screws in my shoulder, all womp-a-jog. And you could see the metal plate in my neck and the four screws there in the picture, too. Really Frankenstein!
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