Cattleman bites the dust!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Hey, I made it through. You can too.

It does take time, and lots of patience, and yeah, you're going to have to be willing to let others do for you.

Also, best word of advice? Spend time now learning how to be one-armed with whatever arm will be good. Spend some days doing everything (and I mean everything - like even using the toilet everything) with that one arm, so you're as ready as you can be. I had to learn to become a lefty. But what it will do is help you discover those little details that you might otherwise miss until they randomly pop up when you don't want them to.

Also, scope out you physical therapy group NOW. Find a really, really good group both in terms of what they know and in terms of ones you get along with because you'll be seeing them for a while. I was in with my shoulder for around a year, but I had a couple of issues and mine were different than yours. Still shoulder though.

You are also going to want a recliner to sleep in or lots of pillows on your couch. Sleeping in your bed is going to be impossible for a while. And your icepack will be your bestest buddy for a quite a while at night. It was a couple months before I stopped needing mine at night.

I don't know if you're going to need arthro or open shoulder. Hopefully it's the former.

I had global capsulotomy, SLAP repair, biceps tenodesis, and suprascapular nerve decompression all done at once with mine. And getting on about year out now, I'm almost back to where I was. Still a bit stiff in some ranges of motion, but you almost can't tell unless you know what you're looking for, and I have every hope that the flexibility I still lack will come back as I keep working out.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I've since learned that pull cord starting devices are a major cause of shoulder injuries!

Who knew?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

That sucks. I know how much that hurts. Both of mine are torn and have been for years. I need surgery but can't afford to take time off work for it. I hope you'll be able to get yours taken care of.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: JAGStorm

I've since learned that pull cord starting devices are a major cause of shoulder injuries!

Who knew?

It is the dumbest design ever.
I have a battery one now, looks like a toy but works great.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
Last week I had to go for an MRI on my shoulder and the news was not good. I have a torn rotator cuff, and two torn other tendons in my right shoulder.

Man I sympathize with ya....

Reading the thread by others with shoulder problems and the length of time it takes to heal sounds about right. It's going to be a royal pain for you for up to several years.

For my personal torn shoulder problem, I couldn't raise or hold a cup of Tea for 4 months. It was another couple of months before I could raise the cup to my mouth and not have to suck out of a straw.

Seriously Dude... you need to baby that arm and shoulder for at least a year. I tried to rush it and ended up destroying all the healing and therapy I had accomplished for a year.

Greatest thing (purchase) that I did was get one of those V-Shaped therapy pillows so that when I slept, It kept the weight off the arm and Shoulder. They're not that cheap, but what a difference it made when I could sleep without hurting myself when I would turn over.. ('cause your asleep, and don't know any better). And when you can wake up without pain, it makes the days therapy/exercise more beneficial. There's also a pillow with a hole in it (on the side) that lets you stick the whole arm inside without it creating further pain that's really good. THere's many of them out there... this one was the cheapest I could find. I must add that I don't know how well it works, just that it's a smaller version of what I used.

CCidea Upgraded Version Neck Pillow for Sleeping Memory Foam Pillow, No Pressure - Side Sleeping

And I don't know if you got one of these... But the Hospital sent me one of these so I could keep ICE-water Therapy going. Amazon has them fairly reasonable. NatraCure Hot/Cold & Compression Shoulder Support

Sending you positive recovery thoughts,
Johnny

NVM