44 hours post op

[Lynn]

Had my right shoulder joint replace on Tuesday. They wheeled me back to surgery at 3:30 pm.

Sherri was not allowed in the hospital because of covid concerns, so I flew solo.

Did not even go to a room after surgery. Went from surgery to post op to Sherri's car, and was home by 8:20 pm.

Here I am less than 44 hours after surgery. Some of the family headed this way for Thanksgiving dinner, but about 1/2 our normal crowd. I will put the sling on for protection, and will wear a mask (at the bequest of my daughter who is in health care) when close to others.

Yes, I am getting ready to turn 68, and that is my natural hair color. Still a bit bloated around the middle from surgery. Had a hard time getting the pants on.

You guys have a great Thanksgiving.

[m22mike]

You look great, hope your rehab is a breeze
Mike

[Billohio]

Sounds like you are doing good Lynn. Have a good Thanksgiving.
My mom had her spine fused at the end of August and 2 weeks later was having more pain and they found a fractured vertebrae and fused some more. She is still on a walker but feeling better. So we are skipping dinner and going to get my Z fired up today!

[Postsedan]

Lynn,

You look TERRIFIC!!!! Well done!

Keep up the great work

Dan

[Crush]

Well done!
Out of curiosity as I’m contemplating surgery, what were all your symptoms ? In terms of the other you had repaired how would you characterize your usability of it compared to years before surgery or when it felt it’s best?
Thx and Happy Turkey Day!!

[Xplantdad]

You are looking great, Lynn! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving today

[scuncio]

Awesome! Happy Thanksgiving!

[Steve Shauger]

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm scheduled to have my shoulder reconstructed (second time) in January. Wishing you a speedy recovery!!!

[Lynn]

Originally Posted by Crush

Well done!
Out of curiosity as I’m contemplating surgery, what were all your symptoms ? In terms of the other you had repaired how would you characterize your usability of it compared to years before surgery or when it felt it’s best?
Thx and Happy Turkey Day!!

Good question. Here is the short answer: The symptoms were pain, locking up and ratcheting. The recovery from rotator cuff surgery is not bad. It is painful, but subsides pretty quickly. The rehab after anterior reconstruction (left one) in 99 was a bit more involved and took longer. Lots of relief.

As for the joint replacement, the pain, especially from the time the nerve block wore off until the 3rd or 4th day is just brutal. There are not enough drugs. You just have to gut it out. Figure on sleeping in a recliner for a while (we had to buy a new one that was wide enough to accommodate the immobilizer (fancy sling) with electronic controls that could be operated left or right handed).

You can’t even START therapy for 6 weeks. Recovery is slow and sometimes painful. But, my left shoulder rarely hurts 9 months out. I still don’t have the strength I had (I did 46 push ups the day before my first joint replacement) but it is coming back. I won’t ever be as strong as I was, but part of that is just the aging process.

If you want the long version; keep reading.

For me, shoulder issues go back decades. So, take this with a grain of salt. Or, as they say, your milage may vary.

My shoulder issues started with early low key sports injuries. Played baseball, football and wrestled for a bit (although a back injury limited my participation in wrestling). Injured my left shoulder as a sophomore.

Was always the catcher, starting in 6th grade playing for the Jr. High team,, and pitched every fourth game, so my right arm never got rest. You wouldn’t think that would be a big deal in just seven years at school boy level, but it took a toll.

After high school, I took up cliff diving (what an idiot). See pic. That is me in 1976. Sure was fun, but again, really hard on shoulders. Funny thing, I am normally deathly afraid of heights. When I was young, I would cry if my dad put me on his shoulders. Something about water below (instead of concrete or other hard surface) made it tolerable.

To make matters worse, I worked as an auto repair tech from 1971 until I graduated law school in the spring of 90.

Popped something in my left shoulder moving a large box in 1996. It was diagnosed as a rotator cuff tear. Had arthroscopic surgery in 1997. Doc came in the recovery room and told me there was more damage than showed up in the MRI, and that sadly, I would require another surgery. Still had more use of that shoulder after the one surgery; but to make it better went ahead and did an anterior reconstruction in 99 on the left shoulder.

There was tremendous relief from that surgery. Shoulder still wasn’t perfect, and the Doc warned me that I would eventually need a joint replacement. But, I could do most things without much issue. Pain was tolerable, but still present after any kind of heavy work. Surprisingly, doing curls with dumbells and push ups seemed to keep the pain at a minimum.

By 2011-2012, the left shoulder is still doing well, but the right one is frequently locking up. When I painted the Z/28, I had to take out a couple runs in the roof where my shoulder just locked up stopping progress on the paint gun. Back to the Doc. He says I really should have a joint replacement. I was not ready for that kind of commitment yet. So, I talked him into scoping it and cleaning it up the best we could. He comes in the recovery room and this time says: “Well, your instincts were better than mine; I found loose cartilage that was not attached to anything.” You gotta love it when the Doc is candid and straight forward. The relief was amazing. I was able to (gingerly) signal a touchdown the next morning, and recovery was relatively quick. No more locking up; but still pain in both shoulders after physical labor. And forget about throwing a ball.

After Sherri and I started working on the shop project, it became apparent that I had to do something with the shoulders. Pain in both was excruciating after a hard day of work. By now, I am on Medicare, and I chose a plan that had my Orthopedic in the network. 3 months later, we go to his office for an exam. The receptionist informs me that he is no longer in my network (BTW, this whole “in network” and “out of network” is a bunch of crap in my opinion). She tells me this will be so expensive she is certain I don’t want to see the Doc. I told her I didn’t care at this point, let’s keep the appointment. I always appreciated that he was up front and honest with me. Besides, I helped him out with some minor legal issues many years ago, and we developed a bit of a friendship.

So, he has my push and pull, etc. then takes X-rays. Comes in and says: “You did exactly what I said you would do; you wore out both shoulders. You have zero cartilage left in either one. You need two total joint replacements.”

He then goes on to tell me that he has done many joint replacements, and could do mine. But he also says he is getting a bit older and has been observing a young doctor that he goes to see when he wants to see the newest and best techniques. He recommends I go to her. He sends all the X rays over to her. I never got a bill from him.

My surgeon is great. She allowed me to do both of these on an outpatient basis. Because of that, my copay was only $350 (that’ll be about three fiddy).

I look at it this way; I am not ready to stop playing on the old cars. I just enjoy it too much. I have not retired from practicing law, and don’t plan to until about age 83. But, I only want to work maybe 30 hours a week. That way, I can still piddle with the cars in my spare time. So, I am going through about 1.5 years of pain and recover, and will hopefully avoid 15 or so years of never ending pain. Looking forward to the journey.

[1BADZ28]

Good Luck with your rehab....Hope your recovery is a quick one.....