Shoulder is so fucked up right now I can't even lift a coffee cup with my right arm.



Looks like I may be heading for shoulder surgery #2.



This sucks.


 

dammit man!  switch hands once in a while!

sucks dude, my dad is in the same spot... needs shoulder surgery cause its useless... but just had a heart attack and cant operate because of blood thinners...

Surgery #2. Wow.  What was surgery #1?

I had my right Rotator cuff done  about 5 years ago. Full thickness tear of the Supraspinatis (sp?).
Full open repair. Not arthro or lapro. Not a mini-open but a full open. This after I got mauled by 2 rottweilers
and jumped over a fence to get away (supermanned  the fence)

If this is what you need done than I offer my sincere condolonces. Without question the most horrible
experience in my life.  DONT get it done ambulatory and DO NOT let them send you home.
Stay at least 2 days in the hospital so they can give you meds that actually work.

I was near suicidal with the pain and cried, wept and balled my eyes out for days.
Ice packs and the shoulder cuff that circulates ice water will be your best friend.

I dont know what surgery 1 was but I'm pretty sure it wasnt a full thickness/open repair like mine was.
The reason I know is that if I ever need that surgery again I wont have it done and will walk
around the rest of my life with my arm at my side before I go through that agony hell again.

God bless and I hope your OK

First surgery was for arthritis.  The doc ground off about 1/2" of my collar bone where it joins up with the shoulder.  They couldn't do it arthroscopically, so the doc had to open up a 6" incision on top of my shoulder and work his way down to get to the collar bone.



Here is the pics from the first surgery:




 

One of my employees tore the labrum and a bit of rotator cuff back in September - thought he'd tough it out. He chose poorly.

Big-zipper surgery in first of November...we don't get him back for another couple of weeks.

Damn, Vaca...we're getting older.

Yep.  Too many years of abuse take their toll.



 

AC shoulder debridgement.
How was the recovery from that?
For my rotator cuff they had to detatch my bicep, tricep, grind down all the bones, clear out the
bad muscle, screw a few anchors into the humeral head and stretch the muscle back over to the anchors
30 sutures, and 18 staples and the bastards sent me home.  Nerve block wore off at 8:30PM and I was
on all fours threes crawling around my living room begging for mercy by 9:30.
Wife took the percocet away from me after I had 8 in my sytem - and they did nothing.
Wild turkey didnt help either. It's a horrible post op. Something I wouldnt wish on my worst enemy.

Lest you think I was being a wuss, I had my hip replaced 2 years ago (saw off the femur and drive
a shaft down the center, router out the pelvis and snap everything back together). While WAY more
traumatic a surgery - the hospital I was at made it a walk in the park. Honestly I would rate it like a 5 on
my pain scale. I have dislocated both shoulders, broke ankles, legs, wrist and fingers. Smashed 4 ribs and
tore all the cartilidge off my sternum. Back surgery, Lymes, concussions and too many stitches, cuts and contusions
to count. I even was in a coma for 5 days after a car fell on me in my garage. Last rites, the whole shebang.

Nothing..and I mean nothing comes even close to the pain of post op open shoulder rotator cuff repair,
My family will say a blessing at Grace tonight before dinner that you are OK and dont need this.

Recovery sucked.  



After the nerve block wore off, which I fucking hated, I was left with sharp pains in my shoulder and up into my neck for over a week.  And this was with a morphine drip straight into the joint for that first week.



The worst part of it was having no strength in that arm for the next couple months.  Physical therapy sucked, especially when the therapist hands you a 1 pound weight and you can't lift it no matter how hard you try.



And the deep ache in the bone.  That one just about drove me nuts.



 

Damn, so much for jokes.  Best of luck to ya....that sounds like the suck.