Wednesday, June 20, 2012

June 20, 2012

Well..... It is time for a report, and I will do my best even though there is an extreme lack of motivation.



Happy first day of summer..... longest day of the year.....

It has been two weeks since the doctors at USC took a stab at fixing my shoulder.... OK, it was 5 stabs as evidenced by the 5 small wounds that surround my shoulder. Arthroscopic surgery... some very cool stuff..... if you are interested, you can check it out on u tube. The lack of a large incision certainly makes the recovery process easier, which, of course, is always welcome.

Apparently, my shoulder was worse in fact than the MRI indicated. The torn tendon was more severe than expected, and the joint itself had suffered from the 55+ years of construction work, and more than a few incidents with motorcycles, high school sports, horses, etc......

In any event, the torn tendon was reattached by placing 2 anchors into the bone, and the mating surfaces of the bones were shaved down to provide pain free interaction. Physical therapy begins today, and time will tell if their efforts were successful.

I must say that I have a new appreciation for the amount of pain that bones can produce. For the first 3 days following surgery, I was lucky to have a device, about the size of a large grapefruit, that delivered happy juice to the nerve that transmits pain from the shoulder. Other than a hand that felt half asleep for a few days, the device worked perfectly. No pain for the first 3 days. Then..... the thing stopped working.... of course, I took it apart, and determined that the machine was working properly, but the end in my shoulder must have become plugged. OK, no problem, I had pain pills. Eating pain pills like they were popcorn didn’t make the pain go away, but did take the edge off, and put me into a mental state where I didn’t care that it hurt. I now only use the pills occasionally at night.

4 more weeks with the arm in a sling, ok to use the hand and lower arm, but not the shoulder. Very awkward and unhandy. Some things that I have done with my right hand for about 60 years, are difficult to do with my left hand...... no details here, but you can imagine.

Friday, June 8, 2012

June 8, 2012

Hi all, typing with one hand, I will keep it short. Surgery went well and I have an appointment with the Doc next Thursday. Living life as an awkward left hander on drugs.... expect that it will bring out my degenerate artistic side. More another day.....