The first few days I had to sleep in a recliner; trying to lie down flat felt like too much pressure on my shoulder. After about a week I found I was able to get comfortable enough to lie in bed as long as I have enough pillows propping me up and holding my right arm/shoulder in place.This past Monday I woke up feeling pretty rested...so that was good. I wasn't too concerned about being tired...since I have plenty of time to rest...:)
Other than some passive sliding exercises 3 times a day, I am not supposed to do anything with the right arm. Keeping it in the sling prevents me from automatically lifting it up. I'm doing okay so far...2 weeks and one day in, but it's kind of hard to do nothing. I can take a walk every day...just have to deal with the heat. The additional sling strapped around my waist adds another layer...just what I don't need in high 80's-90 degree heat. But I'm making it work. I can get in the pool and just immobilize my arm, to get additional exercise that at least keeps me cool. But again when you can't use your arm at all...it limits your activity, that's for sure. The last thing I wan t to do is aggravate anything....with any luck, once this heals I won't have to ever do it again. I don't play any sports regularly, but I do use the arm for lifting, pushing, etc a lot at work.
The arm had been bothering me and felt like it was getting worse over time. When it was waking me up at night it occurred to me that I might actually have hurt it somehow. I made an appt with a Dr. friend of ours. He did a basic test and asked questions about my range of motion, etc. Ordered an MRI which showed a few issues. A tear in the rotator cuff, some fluid, some bone spurs. Nothing that required immediate attention...but enough to require surgery; since all the problems would most likely worsen over time and therapy could help...but might aggravate it more. So I got on the schedule. Turned out I had a couple of tears one on the labrum, one on the bicep that he cleaned up. He got rid of a couple of small bone spurs and the main one that had caused an over 90% tear in my rotator cuff. Well I guess I wasn't over reacting to the pain I was having...and that made me glad I had gone ahead with the decision to have the surgery. It's Kind of funny after the fact...I got the impression that some people didn't really take me too seriously when I was complaining about the sore shoulder...and as it turned out it was much worse than the doctor or I expected it to be.So I feel a little better...which sounds childish...but I don't care.I'm not a wimp after all...hahaha
SO these days I've been reading a lot, watching some shows on the DVR and just hanging out. One day I made a batch of cookies....that was a 3 hour ordeal using just my left hand...haha. I went to EPCOT with Brena and Josh on Sat.
