Re New York visit and rotator cuff repair

Well, it's been another one of those partly good, partly not-so-good weeks . . .

 

I got a few pictures from Wendy that she took last weekend up in New York and that's a good thing!  These were taken at a gathering she and Gary went to at the home of one of the people in Gary's new church.  Wendy told me after the first time she went up there that she really liked the folks in his church.  And these pictures DO look like an enjoyable afternoon, don't they?

 

Those folks have 65 wooded acres around that cabin. 
Not sure if they live there full time or it's a vacation cottage,
but it looks really nice whichever it is.

 

This is a close-up.  (Cute dog!)

 

 



Now that looks comfy, doesn't it?



 



They're playing some sort of game out there - I have no idea what it is, though.



 



And this is Gary, of course.

 

It really did sound like an enjoyable weekend.  I KNOW it was way more fun than mine was! 

 

As I mentioned earlier, I got a call from my orthopedic doctor's nurse last week telling me I needed to go to physical therapy 3 times a week for a month.  The doctor was out of town at the time.  But after he got back this week and he finally got time to check out my MRI I got a call saying physical therapy isn't going to do it -- that I will need to have surgery.  But since I only have a few more days of paid time off this year, I guess I'll be putting it off until January.  I wouldn't want to have it during hurricane season anyway!  If Mark isn't home I will HAVE to deal with the horses.  I may not be able to move my arm completely, but I CAN deal with them when I have to.  Besides, I'll have an extra week of paid time off next year so that's a good thing. 

 

And also on the plus side -- since January is 4 months away -- it should give me time to find someone who can come take care of the horses for me while Mark is at work. 

 

They say my arm will be in a sling for a minimum of a month and up to six weeks.  Then it will take several MORE months of physical therapy after the sling comes off before it will be healed enough to feel "normal."  Sigh. 

 

But I have to say, I'd rather spend 6 months doing therapy than spend the entire rest of my life with my shoulder hurting and being unable to lift my arm beyond a certain point or reach behind me.   Actually, I guess it's good that this has happened now rather than a couple years from now.  Social Security MAY work well . . . or not -- I really don't know.  But at least at the moment we have "real" insurance that should pay at least a significant portion of this anyway.  

 

What's really odd, though, is that I never realized I had done anything whatsoever to cause this this time!  The first time my rotator cuff tendon got torn was shortly after I moved up to Cincinnati.  I slipped and fell when I was walking down a sidewalk on a steep hill.  There was solid ice underneath a layer of regular snow so I couldn't see it and had no idea it was going to be that slippery!  (After 20 years down in Louisiana, I guess I'd forgotten what winter was like up there!)

 

So anyway, now it's not just a single tendon tear.  There's also a lot of scar tissue from the previous injury, as well as a pretty big bone spur that is causing some of the pain at the moment as well.  So when they do the surgery, they will remove the scar tissue and the bone spur as well as stitch together the current tendon partial tear before it tears completely. 

 

But for the last hour or so I've been looking online at info about the surgery and I'll tell you what -- recovery seems to be even more lengthy than they indicated to me when they called!   Here's one description:

 

Physical therapy after surgery is crucial to a successful recovery. A rehabilitation program may include the following:

• As soon as you awake from anesthesia, you may start doing exercises that flex and extend the elbow, wrist, and hand.
• The day after surgery, if your doctor allows, passive exercises that move your arm may be done about 3 times a day (a machine or physical therapist may help the joint through its range of motion).
• Active exercise (you move your arm yourself) and stretches, with the assistance of a physical therapist, may start 6 to 8 weeks after surgery. This depends on how bad your tear was and how complex the surgical repair was.
• Strengthening exercises, beginning with light weights and progressing to heavier weights, can start a few months after surgery.

Moving your arm yourself doesn't start until 6 to 8 WEEKS after surgery???  And real exercises don't begin until a few MONTHS after surgery????   I'll tell you what -- although I think I actually will be better off getting this done, I think I better tell myself over and over and over that I really do need to get it done!  Like every hour until January, say.  

 

Well Wendy did tell me the other day that her dad had rotator cuff surgery a while back, so I think I'll see what he has to say about how things went for him.