Well, January has come and gone. Hopefully everyone has got 2012 off to a good start and haven't abandoned their resolutions yet. For me, I have to admit January was kind of a wash.
Last summer, I started feeling a slight pain in my right shoulder. It only hurt when I laid on my right side with my arm over my head, or if I tried to lift an object laterally. Throwing a baseball or football created the most severe pain. I noticed the pain a couple of weeks after playing in the pool with my kids. Over the course of two weekends, I probably threw them 200 times from the deck, as high as I could into the air, and into the pool. Like most people, I figured I strained a muscle and expected it to get better in a couple of days, or couple of weeks at worse. Meanwhile, I was still able to golf and do most other activities as I waited for my shoulder to heal. Well, days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. My shoulder never improved. In fact, I felt like it was getting worse by late fall.
At this point I knew I needed to get my pain checked out. Turns out I had a pretty big tear in my Labrum. Dr. Thomas Kovack said I could try therapy and cortisone shots, although, injuries like this typically heal on their own within a couple of months. If it hasn't healed on its own by then, then it probably won't without surgery. He informed me that he would perform arthroscopic surgery followed by two months in a sling and up to three months of physical therapy. Doc said it would be about 6 months before I was 100%. Not wanting to put this off any longer, I elected to go under the knife.
My surgery was scheduled for the following Wednesday, January 11th. The day before, I told everyone at my office that I would be out the rest of the week and probably return on Monday.
Wednesday morning, the nurses were going through my pre op procedure. They inquired about my medical history. I told them I have never had surgery, not even to remove my tonsils. My nurse said, "you picked a great one to be your first." She continues to tell me that shoulder surgery is the second most painful to have done. After she tells me how much pain, and how long typical shoulder patients take to recover, she them basically tells me it is in my best interest to accept a secondary anesthetic when offered by the Anesthesiologist. The nurse behind her nodded her head in profound agreement.
Skip to post surgery. Recovery room.
A nurse tells me and Erin that when they tried to wake me, I became "violent." She also mentioned that I pack a pretty powerful punch, and that she thought I was going to hop off the table. So, like Thor in the hospital scene, she says they had to get 6 people to hold me down while they sedated me. LMAO!
Dr. Kovack said he couldn't believe that the damage I did to my shoulder was the result of playing with my kids. He said 90% of my labrum was torn, all but one inch of it. Also he had to reattach my bicep.
The nurses were right. Even though I had a boat load of pain killers, I was still feeling it. I couldn't move my right arm at all. I spent the first 3 days and nights in my recliner. On the third day, I was instructed to remove my dressing and was permitted to take a shower. For those that haven't seen, here is what I saw after unwrapping myself for the first time.
Each day I feel I am getting better. A little stronger. A little more range of motion. A lot less pain. I started physical therapy this past Tuesday. I swear I was was on the verge of tears. I thought they were going to rip my arm out of my shoulder socket.
It's been three weeks since my surgery. I have slept in my bed twice, both times I had to get up in the middle of the night and retreat to my Lazy Boy due to discomfort. I'm getting cabin fever and going stir crazy. Remember when I told my co-workers I'd be back the Monday after my surgery? Yeah that was 24 days ago and I haven't been back yet.
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