[Kistle]

I am 9 weeks today from rotator cuff repair on my right shoulder. I had two tendons completely detached (supraspinatus and infraspinatus) from a mountain biking incident. They reattached the tendons with anchors into the head of the humerus. I also had sub-acromion decompression for nerve clearance and distal clavicle excision where they cut the end off the clavicle for pain free movement of the joint. Lastly, they cleaned up some fraying of my labrum (debridement).

I had nerve block and the first 20 hours after surgery were fine. Just getting used to the big sling and side pillow. After the nerve block wore out, the pain was very, very intense. I have had lumber back surgery, and this shoulder pain was worse. Oxycodone barely took the edge off of it.

I wore the sling for a full six weeks before starting any therapy at all. I did just hanging pendulum swings and elbow flex/extension during those 6 weeks. I have been in PT now for 3 weeks, but it is still "passive", i.e. the movement is done either by the therapist or by my left arm. I am not to use the muscles in that shoulder at all yet. Active exercises will likely start in a few weeks.

The recliner was a must. It will likely be a year before I can get on a bike again. This surgery is no joke. I don't recommend it.

Edit: Let me clarify "not recommending it". I don't recommend tearing your rotator cuff. Jury still out on the surgery, but I am hopeful that I can regain full use of my arm after a long recovery and therapy. I am 55M, so I wasn't keen on living with only half of my shoulder being connected, so I didn't view the surgery as optional. But you need to be prepared for a LONG slog.

JA