My Turn Under the Knife

a reply to: ketsuko

Good luck Kets!

You'll be back in action in no time.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: rickymouse

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. I'm right on the edge of being too old for this type of thing to take well.

I'm banking on being just young enough to slide under the line. Plus, the surgeon I have is supposed to be very good at this kind of thing. I checked on it. Plus, they're doing the tenodesis which has the best results in older patients.

I don't need to get back to a high performance athletic career like a pro; I just need to be able to realize most of my range of motion, not hurt doing it, and be able to work out on it to a decent degree.

But right now, I can't even drive comfortably because my arm holds itself at an awkward angle and refuses to rotate properly. Plus, my biceps is involved enough that it feels like super-tight string running all the way down and across the back of my hand. It's interfering with my work enough that I've been working left-handed.

So all of it has to stop one way or another. In short, I have to try.

At least when I damaged my shoulder, it healed ok. One of these days I will not be so lucky. I am a big guy and am used to lifting really heavy stuff but over the last decade I have lost muscle mass and do not have the thick cartilage anymore.

I don't know why I overdo everything and get hurt. You would think a guy would learn when they are already sixty four. I have gotten more cautious with some things but I still get hurt pretty often, my downtime this last summer was more than my good time, all from overdoing things. Making firewood and laying block is kind of hard on the joints.

a reply to: rickymouse

Laying block sure the heck is!!

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: rickymouse

Laying block sure the heck is!!

At least I only do that kind of work for a couple hours a day now, I was helping my granddaughters Husband redo some deteriorated block holding up thecement slab on the side of their house. there is a room underneath and there are some cinder blocks in the wall that crumbled. We only replace about eight blocks at a time, or the wall could come right down and the other side actually is attached to their foundation of their house, if it falls, the house foundation gets damaged. We use an air hammer and diamond grinders to grind out or break out what is left of the old block. It sucks, I would much rather just lay a whole wall of block, it is way faster. I like laying block but that is hard on the joints too, lifting the blocks gently in place sure builds strong muscles.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I'm glad he can do it all arthrscopically. The alternative is to open the shoulder up which would then involve cutting through the rotator cuff, and you're right, that gets really messy, even worse than what I'm looking at now which is six months to a year of recovery before I'm back to what will pass for full use from here on out.

I might get back to overhead reaching by January or February for example.

Kiddo wants to switch up his tournament weapon from ssang nat (paired hand sickles) to nunchucks (can't spell the Korean), and I told him he could, but he'd have to do all the freestyle design by himself. I helped him put together his ssang nat form and was pretty hands-on with it. I won't be able to be nearly as helpful if he swaps up for the tourney in February. So I convinced him to wait until after that tournament to switch. By then, I might be able to support him more again.

a reply to: ketsuko

Good luck and happy/speedy healing Ketsuko! If you're right-handed, may I suggest a Sonicare type toothbrush for the coming weeks. Brushing teeth was the toughest part of losing the use of my right arm for awhile lol.

a reply to: ketsuko

Just concentrate on getting well.

originally posted by: dogstar23
a reply to: ketsuko

Good luck and happy/speedy healing Ketsuko! If you're right-handed, may I suggest a Sonicare type toothbrush for the coming weeks. Brushing teeth was the toughest part of losing the use of my right arm for awhile lol.

Yeah, I spent part of the weekend just using the left, and I noticed that repeatedly jabbing my gums was really uncomfortable. I'm not sure if I want to put up with it or spend $25 on an electric toothbrush. Jury is still out on that. Husband might be doing a store run over the weekend for one though.

We figure that I'll just wear t-shirts and use throws to add or remove needed warmth. My folks got me an electric throw, for example.

Your dentist will say get the electric toothbrush (the 2 minute brushing cycle get's 'em every time).
My laptop has talk-n-text or the phone has some google voice recognition. If either of those options are available to you, we wouldn't have to miss your timely and informative posts while you recuperate. Editing requires a lot fewer keystrokes to fix after voice input.....

Good Luck & Heal Quickly!

ganjoa

a reply to: ketsuko


Ummm...well...at least they're...little knives...

Arthroscopic is the way to go...I just had some to repair an inguinal hernia...took my time healing and am now back to lifting and carrying without my innards trying to be outards...

Follow your surgeons instructions and you should come out the other side doing just fine...

...here's to a slow and full recovery...

Send us a sample of your chicken scratch lefty writing skills...




YouSir

originally posted by: YouSir
a reply to: ketsuko




Send us a sample of your chicken scratch lefty writing skills...

YouSir

I don't even have to wait for after Thursday for that:

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The above was typed exclusively with my left. Ever notice how on your keyboard the left shift, R, E, and exclamation point keys are right under your left hand?

a reply to: ketsuko

Give that up, and I'm living a couch potato's life with a chancy shoulder hanging over my head on top of all the other risks of poor physical condition.

Ah man that sucks, I would suggest just doing exercise that doesn't strain your arms or shoulders if possible. I'm sure with the amount of typing you do your arms will get the exercise they need lol. Actually a lot of typing can also cause issues, when I write code for a long time my shoulders some times start to ache. Hope the surgery goes well and you're not out of action too long.

a reply to: rickymouse

Yeah, those are what I call "long muscles", as opposed to "short". There's probably a technical name for this, but basically it's about weight under control versus just sheer brute strength in short bursts. It's where you're working a whole group of muscles instead of isolating some select ones and strengthening those (kinda like kettle balls compared to straight power lifting).

Masonry block laying is a true art, and one I wish I had more experience with. I can do it (sort of), but I'm not real good at it. My work is functional, but I wouldn't call it pretty by any stretch. (certainly not on par with a true mason).

a reply to: ketsuko

ketsuko, get well soon. Awful situation you are in.

Cheers

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: rickymouse

Yeah, those are what I call "long muscles", as opposed to "short". There's probably a technical name for this, but basically it's about weight under control versus just sheer brute strength in short bursts. It's where you're working a whole group of muscles instead of isolating some select ones and strengthening those (kinda like kettle balls compared to straight power lifting).

Masonry block laying is a true art, and one I wish I had more experience with. I can do it (sort of), but I'm not real good at it. My work is functional, but I wouldn't call it pretty by any stretch. (certainly not on par with a true mason).

I worked quite a bit with a couple of the best masons around here. They layed block and poured cement pretty steady up to their late sixties and did some smaller jobs in their seventies, like a small basement or garage.. I also learned to put in tile and brick and learning from a master is actually fun. I actually took the jobs and worked with them first as a mason tender then actually laying the block, brick, and tile. They did a big terrazzo job at a college a hundred miles away but could not get me on the union job to learn how to do that....bummer, I would have worked for free just for the experience and knowledge on how to put terrazzo in. The oldest brother, my main mason, died about six years ago or so, his brother is still alive but is in his eighties now and he is kind of worn out. He still makes cudighi though.

I love learning, I learned many professions and got good at them but did not get my speed up to what the good guys did. I only got to twenty blocks an hour, but I did that even on corners and starter blocks. Tino used to say I was slow but commented every block was always perfect and he trusted me on the corners because he knew that they were important, and that having the corners at the right level made the top all around even and level.

a reply to: ketsuko

Best wishes ketsuko, see you soon!

a reply to: JinMI
Ooooo, that's not nice. I'm left handed.
Ketsuko, keep cool and try to enjoy the experience, if you can. You'll soon be up and typing and good luck.

a reply to: ketsuko

I'll be praying for a succesful surgery and recovery kets. All the best today!

a reply to: ketsuko


Prayers to the great spirit and a healing ritual performed. Feel better!!!

Please excuse the left handed phone post. It's done. It went fine and until the nerve block wears off, I don't even feel to bad. Thanks for the well wishes and I will see you all later.