I was feeling pretty good on Day 4. The pain was not bad at all, was thinking of not taking any more pain pills and just doing the Advil thing. Then I went to my first physical therapy session, well, lets just say that the idea of not taking any more pain pills went right out the window. The therapist only did a few minutes of "stretches" with me, but since he did that, I felt a whole new experience in shoulder pain I had not known before (except for that first evening after the surgery, nothing compared with that not so wonderful night).
The rest of that day and night was painful to say the least. Still sleeping while sitting up on the couch with pillows.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Post Surgery - Days 2 to 3
Days 2 and 3 post surgery were about the same, relax on the couch, take the pain meds, get used to the sling and only using one arm. Still sleeping sitting up on the couch and getting used to that. Actually got some descent sleep the 3rd night.
Post Surgery - Day 1
After a horrible night, the first day after the surgery was not that bad. The pain medications seem to keep the pain to a level I could tolerate and they were not affecting my stomach much, sitting on the couch was somewhat comfortable, and as long as I did not move too much, things were ok.
The elastic waist band on the pajamas was great when going to the little boys room as you could pull them down and up one handed. There was no shower that first day, so not much happened expect for watching tv (history channel), eating and taking my pain medication and the occasional trip to the bathroom.
That evening it was sleeping on the couch again and my wife coming in every 2 hours to check on me. I was able to get a few hours of sleep this night and the pain was there, but manageable
The elastic waist band on the pajamas was great when going to the little boys room as you could pull them down and up one handed. There was no shower that first day, so not much happened expect for watching tv (history channel), eating and taking my pain medication and the occasional trip to the bathroom.
That evening it was sleeping on the couch again and my wife coming in every 2 hours to check on me. I was able to get a few hours of sleep this night and the pain was there, but manageable
First night after the surgery
Everything was going well from the time I got home (around 4:15pm), until midnight. There was no pain in my shoulder, and I was pretty mobile although my wife helped me up and down the stairs like I was a 100 year old man. Started taking my pain medication about 6:00pm in preparation for when the nerve block would wear off. I got settled on the couch for the night to come.
Let's take a moment to speak of sleeping arrangements after shoulder surgery. Forget sleeping in a bed, no way I could do that lying down or propped up with pillows. A recliner did not work as it seemed it pushed my shoulder out in front of me just enough to make it uncomfortable (and later to be out right painful). So it was the couch and a bunch of pillows piled up to just above my right shoulder (I had the surgery on my left shoulder). I would then slightly lean to the right on the pillow, and basically sleep while sitting up on the couch. That way of sleeping would continue for some time.
Now onto how the evening went.....So around 10:00pm, I started to get some tingling in my shoulder and arm, just like the feeling when Novocaine wears off in your mouth after going to the dentist. The tingling progressed to feeling some pain, I had taken my pain meds as prescribed, but as the evening wore on, the pain got worse. Around 12:30am I would say I was in really bad pain and it was still getting worse. The pain meds did not seem to be doing much (but would not want to find out how it was without them). I kept on trying to get "comfortable" on the couch, but I now believe that made things worse as I kept moving and readjusting the way I was sitting on the couch in a vain attempt to be comfortable.
My wife came out to see me about 3:30am in the morning and she found me sitting on the coffee table, holding my left arm and leaning forward abit (a pathetic image I know). I had never felt anything as painful as those 3 hours had been, but the worst was about over. I continued my pain meds, and by early in the morning the pain had subsided to what I would call "tolerable".
So needless to say, I was glad that the evening was over.
Let's take a moment to speak of sleeping arrangements after shoulder surgery. Forget sleeping in a bed, no way I could do that lying down or propped up with pillows. A recliner did not work as it seemed it pushed my shoulder out in front of me just enough to make it uncomfortable (and later to be out right painful). So it was the couch and a bunch of pillows piled up to just above my right shoulder (I had the surgery on my left shoulder). I would then slightly lean to the right on the pillow, and basically sleep while sitting up on the couch. That way of sleeping would continue for some time.
Now onto how the evening went.....So around 10:00pm, I started to get some tingling in my shoulder and arm, just like the feeling when Novocaine wears off in your mouth after going to the dentist. The tingling progressed to feeling some pain, I had taken my pain meds as prescribed, but as the evening wore on, the pain got worse. Around 12:30am I would say I was in really bad pain and it was still getting worse. The pain meds did not seem to be doing much (but would not want to find out how it was without them). I kept on trying to get "comfortable" on the couch, but I now believe that made things worse as I kept moving and readjusting the way I was sitting on the couch in a vain attempt to be comfortable.
My wife came out to see me about 3:30am in the morning and she found me sitting on the coffee table, holding my left arm and leaning forward abit (a pathetic image I know). I had never felt anything as painful as those 3 hours had been, but the worst was about over. I continued my pain meds, and by early in the morning the pain had subsided to what I would call "tolerable".
So needless to say, I was glad that the evening was over.
Surgery Day
Well, the day finally came! I got to the out patient surgery center at 11:15am. Did a few minutes of paperwork and then 10 minutes later, they took me back to prep for the surgery. I got changed into the sexy gown they gave me (note: at least for guys, if you wear 100% cotton under ware, they will let you keep them on during the surgery). They put in an IV, gave me the first dose of "happy juice" through the IV. Then came the second round of happy juice.
Shortly after that, I was pretty much out of it. I do remember the anesthesiologist turning my head and someone else inserting a long needle into my neck, ahhh the shoulder block. It felt like I was in an episode of "Alias" and I was being held by SD-6 and they were going to make me talk. Kind of felt the needle, but it was not horrible at all as I was pretty much out of it.
I woke up from surgery with the sling on my arm and a nice nurse asking me if I wanted something to drink.
My shoulder and arm were numb from the nerve block. My shoulder felt like your mouth does when the dentist numbs your mouth with Novocaine.
The doctor had seen my wife after the surgery, which lasted about 2 hours and showed her a bunch of photos from the surgery, he said it went well and my shoulder was damaged how he thought it was based upon the xrays and MRI. My wife came to see me and an hour or so later, I was on my way home. So I got there at 11:15am and was in the car at 3:45pm, I was impressed by that.
On the way home, we dropped off my pain medication prescription at the pharmacy, then off to recover at home. I have to admit, that early evening was not as bad as I thought it might be. There was pretty much no pain as the nerve block did its thing and I had no pain to speak of.
At home I sat on the couch and watched some TV, then went and had dinner at the dinner table. Not sure why, but food tasted great after the surgery, I pigged out.
All things considered, it was a pretty good early evening, I say early because then came the time when the nerve block woke up, that experience is in the next post........
Shortly after that, I was pretty much out of it. I do remember the anesthesiologist turning my head and someone else inserting a long needle into my neck, ahhh the shoulder block. It felt like I was in an episode of "Alias" and I was being held by SD-6 and they were going to make me talk. Kind of felt the needle, but it was not horrible at all as I was pretty much out of it.
I woke up from surgery with the sling on my arm and a nice nurse asking me if I wanted something to drink.
My shoulder and arm were numb from the nerve block. My shoulder felt like your mouth does when the dentist numbs your mouth with Novocaine.
The doctor had seen my wife after the surgery, which lasted about 2 hours and showed her a bunch of photos from the surgery, he said it went well and my shoulder was damaged how he thought it was based upon the xrays and MRI. My wife came to see me and an hour or so later, I was on my way home. So I got there at 11:15am and was in the car at 3:45pm, I was impressed by that.
On the way home, we dropped off my pain medication prescription at the pharmacy, then off to recover at home. I have to admit, that early evening was not as bad as I thought it might be. There was pretty much no pain as the nerve block did its thing and I had no pain to speak of.
At home I sat on the couch and watched some TV, then went and had dinner at the dinner table. Not sure why, but food tasted great after the surgery, I pigged out.
All things considered, it was a pretty good early evening, I say early because then came the time when the nerve block woke up, that experience is in the next post........
Prep prior to surgery
After deciding to get surgery, we set up a date for the surgery, I chose a Friday so I would have the weekend to recover and lessen the amount of work days I would miss. The doctor had me do some exercises with a 1 pound weight to strengthen the shoulder prior to surgery. They ordered my sling as I would need that the day of surgery (they put it on me before I woke up from the surgery). The sling is what they called the "gunslinger" sling which would put my arm more in front of me than against my stomach.
I had another appointment with the doctor before the surgery to go over more details of the surgery. Two days before the surgery, I went and had my pre-admit where I consulted with the anesthesiologist. He discussed how they would "knock" me out for the procedure. Basically they were going to give me some "happy juice" in my IV, then when I was out, I would have a tube inserted in my throat , they would keep me out with gas, and also they would give me a "shoulder block", which is a nerve block that would help with pain after the surgery as I would not feel my arm for 12 - 18 hours after the surgery. The shoulder block consists of a needled inserted into my neck and they would inject something around the main nerve going down my arm.
Besides that, my wife and I readied ourselves for my being out of commission with helping out around the house for awhile. We arranged for our two kids to go to the grandparents for a few days so they would not be around when I got home from surgery. I did all the chores that needed to be done in the yard, and finished off the "honey do list".
My wife bought me some pajamas (my mother did as well) for my post surgery recovery. The best ones for a shoulder procedure seems to be two piece pajamas with the top one being a button up. We moved a chair that reclined into our bedroom in the hopes I would be able to sleep in it, as apparently sleeping horizontal is not what most people are able to do for awhile after shoulder surgery. Also got some ice packs that you can refreeze as after surgery you are supposed to keep ice on the shoulder.
Then I waited for the day to come.
I had another appointment with the doctor before the surgery to go over more details of the surgery. Two days before the surgery, I went and had my pre-admit where I consulted with the anesthesiologist. He discussed how they would "knock" me out for the procedure. Basically they were going to give me some "happy juice" in my IV, then when I was out, I would have a tube inserted in my throat , they would keep me out with gas, and also they would give me a "shoulder block", which is a nerve block that would help with pain after the surgery as I would not feel my arm for 12 - 18 hours after the surgery. The shoulder block consists of a needled inserted into my neck and they would inject something around the main nerve going down my arm.
Besides that, my wife and I readied ourselves for my being out of commission with helping out around the house for awhile. We arranged for our two kids to go to the grandparents for a few days so they would not be around when I got home from surgery. I did all the chores that needed to be done in the yard, and finished off the "honey do list".
My wife bought me some pajamas (my mother did as well) for my post surgery recovery. The best ones for a shoulder procedure seems to be two piece pajamas with the top one being a button up. We moved a chair that reclined into our bedroom in the hopes I would be able to sleep in it, as apparently sleeping horizontal is not what most people are able to do for awhile after shoulder surgery. Also got some ice packs that you can refreeze as after surgery you are supposed to keep ice on the shoulder.
Then I waited for the day to come.
Decision to get surgery
To preface this section, I have to say that I had shoulder surgery back in 2001. It was latest and greatest called "Thermal Capsular Shrinkage", and within 6 months of having that surgery, my shoulder felt worse than it did before that surgery.
Ten years later, the shoulder had become worse, popping constantly and the pain was getting worse as well. It was inhibiting my life in that I could not do pretty much anything over my shoudlers as that is when it really hurt and was very susptable to dislocation, so I have been "babying" my left shoulder for many years.
I went to a shoudler specialist who took x-rays, looked at my MRI (which I had done 2 years prior hoping to get my shoulder fixed then, but we had our second child soon after the MRI, and even though the pain was there, could not be without my left shoulder with a newborn), and did an examination on my left shoulder.
During the examination, I informed him of my previous shoulder surgery (Thermal Capsular Shrinkage), to which he replied, yes, we used to do that, but found out it did not work and sometimes made the shoulder worse. So that just went to confirm that all the pain & discomfort and annoyance I had during my first surgery was for nothing.
The doctor said I was beyond therapy (of which I had tried before my first surgery, but did not help, thus the first surgery) and that to fix it, they would need to do surgery on the shoulder. He then went about telling me the new procedures for fixing an unstable shoulder.
The new procedure he wanted to do was a combination of a Bankart repair and a Labral repair, both of which are done via arthroscopic surgery, meaning no big incision, just a few small incision holes for the surgery. So I decided I would go through the surgery in the hopes of having a fully functional and pain free left shoudler.
Ten years later, the shoulder had become worse, popping constantly and the pain was getting worse as well. It was inhibiting my life in that I could not do pretty much anything over my shoudlers as that is when it really hurt and was very susptable to dislocation, so I have been "babying" my left shoulder for many years.
I went to a shoudler specialist who took x-rays, looked at my MRI (which I had done 2 years prior hoping to get my shoulder fixed then, but we had our second child soon after the MRI, and even though the pain was there, could not be without my left shoulder with a newborn), and did an examination on my left shoulder.
During the examination, I informed him of my previous shoulder surgery (Thermal Capsular Shrinkage), to which he replied, yes, we used to do that, but found out it did not work and sometimes made the shoulder worse. So that just went to confirm that all the pain & discomfort and annoyance I had during my first surgery was for nothing.
The doctor said I was beyond therapy (of which I had tried before my first surgery, but did not help, thus the first surgery) and that to fix it, they would need to do surgery on the shoulder. He then went about telling me the new procedures for fixing an unstable shoulder.
The new procedure he wanted to do was a combination of a Bankart repair and a Labral repair, both of which are done via arthroscopic surgery, meaning no big incision, just a few small incision holes for the surgery. So I decided I would go through the surgery in the hopes of having a fully functional and pain free left shoudler.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)