Retirement and surgery

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

Second night that I slept great. No pain at all. Everyone tells me to get ready for the pain. The pain before surgery was so bad I can’t imagine post surgery pain being worse. They prescribed OxyContin but I won’t touch them. So far so good.even took the dog for a walk yesterday.

Glad to hear you are mending well and congratulations on retiring

After recovering from dropping dead a couple of summers ago the best medical advice I received which I stuck to while recovering was 'if you're tired, you're not mending'

This served me well so please take it slowly and don't over do stuff as you build back up to full power

[Bugsinrugs]

I think I’m doing pretty good. The nerve block wore off Thursday night and there is some dull aching but not like the miserable pain I had before surgery.
I caught hell from my wife today because she caught me carrying up some wood to fill our wood box. I went back downstairs and watched basketball with my tail between my legs. I have been out walking the dog every day but other then that I’m getting pretty bored. I don’t know how I’m going to make it six weeks in a sling. I’m taking a couple Ibuprofen before bed and have been sleeping really well.

[Zeke]

Don't move that arm until they tell you to. Please don't carry wood! Bored is a problem. I started writing things on a pad. I'll never do any of these things but it was fun to plan. I even started my own comic strip. Trying to think up story lines for a comic will tax your brain and you'll find a way to take a nap. And I'm not a nap person.

BTW, the comic was about a dormouse that was anthropomorphized to be a doorman (door-mouse) at a prestigious New York high rise apartment building. The cast of characters consisted of the residents as they came and went. Parody likenesses of the rich and famous. And there was a sneaky, dirty little rat character that did errands for the hotel folks via the sewers and tunnels that NY is famous for. A whole 'nother cast of characters down there. He was always hanging out just outside the door behind a pillar ready for action.

Fun stuff — too much work. You can take over.

[HarryD]

Wifely unit will be having a reverse shoulder replacement to address a failed rotator cuff repair that was done about 1 1/2 years ago. She is terrified of the idea of the surgery and the recovery.

How does the recovery for the shoulder replacement compare to the rotator cuff repair?

[Bugsinrugs]

I don’t know anything about shoulder replacement but I’m sure your wife must be in a lot of pain if it warrents a replacement. I couldn’t be happier about my own surgery. The slight discomfort is nothing compared the the agony I was going through before the surgery. Two weeks after my surgery my good buddy passed away and my wife and I were the only ones to clean up his place and remove all his possessions. He being a auto mechanic meant he had a bunch of tools. I moved them all to my place. I lifted some things I shouldn’t have but I did what had to be done. I saw my surgeon last Monday and he said I’m way ahead in the range of motion recovery. Pain free is fabulous!

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by HarryD

Wifely unit will be having a reverse shoulder replacement to address a failed rotator cuff repair that was done about 1 1/2 years ago. She is terrified of the idea of the surgery and the recovery.

How does the recovery for the shoulder replacement compare to the rotator cuff repair?

It's case by case. I've seen rotator cuff repair that was very painful during the healing. Me, other than post op pain while still in the hospital (2 days), I haven't had any pain until I got to PT a month later after being in a sling and immobilized shoulder wise.

And the PT isn't as bad as the pain I had beforehand just like bugs says. It was awful. I don't think your wife should have any trepidation. I'd do it again.

[scottmandue]

Read this thread with great interest. Retiring next Tuesday and then will start bugging the heck out of Kaiser to schedule my knee replacement. I have been told it is very, very painful but it is not going to fix itself and I have gone from taking two mile walks to two block walks.

[p911dad]

I had my right knee done (total) on April 4 by Novant Orthopaedic here in Charlotte (I now have matching zippers on each knee) and was up walking the same day, spent 2 nights in the hospital. I needed a walker for about a week until the nerve block was totally gone out of my leg. Pain was manageable with the pain pills but I switched to tylenol after a week. I have been walking all over, driving, etc. no problems. I have done the rehab religiously since week one and have about a month to go. The only pain I still have comes in the middle of the night, sort of an annoying ache. Not a big deal, and will soon be gone. In my experience it is totally worth it to get my mobility back.

[A930Rocket]

A guy at work just had his hip replaced. He was up and walking the next day and back to work a week later. I’m amazed, as my dad had it done about 30 yeas ago and was out of work for a month.

New and improved parts and technique I guess.

[Bugsinrugs]

An update about surgery. Thursday my right shoulder rotator cuff was repaired. Friday I officially turned into a girly man. Have mercy the pain was incredible. If my left one would have hurt this bad I would not have done the right one. The Surgeon told me my left shoulder repair was minor compared to my right one. They prescribed Narco that I am taking every four hours. Pain is now manageable. At least my wife is taking good care of me.

[Tobra]

Ask your surgeon if you can take anti-inflammatories. If you can, you will probably get better relief if you alternate taking narcotics and NSAIDs, 0800 norco, 1000 ibuprofen, 1200 norco, 1400 ibuprofen, and so on

Put ice on it for sure, hourly. Likely will have worst day tomorrow.

[gsxrken]

I’m two weeks out from rotator, labrum, biceps repairs, as well as some bone dremeling for spurs.
Aches like hell but nothing stabbing or acute. I must use sling and can only do gravity arm circles for now, and at the perimeter of those I can feel pain lurking. I’m just heads down following orders right now- my assumption is my ortho knows more than me in this domain.
But I know where you’re at, brother. Feel better soon. And keep the narcs down to 5 days or less

[Bugsinrugs]

I have been taking Ibuprofen between taking the Narco. Trouble is the Narco has given me a full body itch. Not as bad as having poison oak but itchy none the less.

[Tobra]

Try some benadryl/diphenhydramine for the itching

Originally Posted by Zeke

I thought acetaminophen was the go to pain relief nowadays. I know bugs' Norcos most likely are 325 acetaminophen. You're saying that using both is good? Inquiring minds and all that jazz.

Tylenol will bag your liver, I will hit the booze if I want liver trouble. Norco has it, a lot of over the counter meds have it too. Ibuprofen can interact with other drugs, or give GI problems

Idea is to alternate different classes of pain medication, as the ibuprofen wears off, the norco is coming on, and visa versa.

[Dantilla]

As long as we're giving updates.....

Took a little tumble off the mountain bike. Didn't hit very hard, but it was enough to have the problem shoulder go Ka-Blooey!

MRI shows bicep tendon is buggered up, but the big concern is the rotator cuff tendon is torn about 90%.
Surgery is definitely in my future.

[Rapewta]

You are going to be fine.
That Nerve block is not cool. I had a choice and took the block. I felt really bad for a week post rotator cuff surgery. I now have a metal plate with some screws in my upper left arm.
Totally recovered after a few months and went right back to the senior soft ball league.
Didn't lose any of my prior softball prowess
I figured I would never be the same but recovered unscathed.
My rotator cuff broke off and turned 90 degrees.
Motorcycle accident. Surgery on my left elbow too.
Got a picture of me right after the accident and my entire left side of my body is "road rash."
Instead of us getting tattoos, we end up with these "Life Scars" all over our bodies.
When your grandchildren see the rotator cuff scar, you got a story to tell.

Oh.... they prescribed me some heavy pain pills. Percocet. I had to make a choice...
do I want to be bound up and miserable or put up with the post surgery pain? I dumped the pills.

Soon enough, you won't even know you had the surgery.

[Bugsinrugs]

I’m feeling pretty good this morning. Ibuprofen is the pill of choice now. Our power was turned off last night. Luckily my wife knows how to get the generators fired up. She did request a push button start for Christmas.

[Kistle]

I posted the below in the "Shoulder Surgery" thread, but copying it here as well. I'm at 11 weeks post surgery now and the topic is still very relevant to me. Just started "active" movement of the shoulder and it is going VERY slow due to discomfort and weakness. Jury still out on the final outcome. Bottom line, I think everyone's injury, surgery and recovery is very different.

*****
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
__________________

[Bugsinrugs]

I don’t recommend it either. I destroyed my shoulders making a living. People told me you are going to pay when you get old....they were right.

[Rapewta]

Everyone is going to complain. Nerve Block or no Nerve block. Crying little whiners.
Get the surgery done and move on. We did it to ourselves and now some want some sympathy.
Some of us that contribute to this forum actually go out and take risks. We don't always succeed.
We paid life's price. What we don't want is advice from someone that has no clue about
the hardships of injury or taking risks. Don't want to sound like a chump but really, do you even know what physical tragedy is?