I had today off. It wasn’t a fun day….well that’s not exactly true. I had the day off to go to the doctor in Lacrosse, which isn’t fun…BUT Kelli and Kayla went with me which is wonderfully fun AND we thrifted LOTS.
First off my shoulder is what took me to Lacrosse. It’s still not good. It has been bad for about 15 month minus two months time when cortisone shots gave me a little relief but other then that…not too good. It wakes me in the night. OFTEN. So many things are a struggle for me to do…shaving my arm pits, pulling up my pants, folding laundry, getting cups out of the cupboard and driving are right at the top of the list.
I’ve been told I have a tear in my tendon. There are a couple scenarios with surgery. One puts me out of commission for a few weeks. The other for a few months. The thought is that he can go in, snip the tendon and repin it…that wouldn’t be a big deal. The bigger problem is that they check the rotartor cuff when they are in there. If something is bad, they fix it then. Then…I’d be out for much longer. I’d have lots of weight restrictions and all. That all sounds not so good and not so fun. He said to really feel better with that, it can take a year. OH MY WORD.  Yuck. I’d love some advice from any of you have done this. I am SUCH a terrible patient. No right arm use for me would be really hard. I have no benefits that give me sick leave or anything like that…so I’d have to try to figure out how to work some.
But enough of all of that. Let’s get to the fun.
Kayla wanted to the the thrift tour of NE Iowa and we did. We stopped in all the towns that we knew of that have thrift stores….at least the ones between here and Lacrosse. We also stopped at Uncommonplace in Hokah, MN. Kayla found some goodies….
We hit an AWESOME garage sale too. We had the pick up LOADED. Poor Kayla had to ride home with a box between her legs. See?
What do you do when you have a thrifter heart. We did awesome!! I felt a little bad for Kelli, she’s a trooper but the thrifting doesn’t excite her quite as much as it does us.
I’ll share some of our finds coming up…for now, I need to make some supper and get to bed. I slept terribly last night I had banged my shoulder before bed and it was not happy at all. I need some sleep before I tackle the hard work of deciding what to do with my shoulder. Seriously, if any one you had stories or advice to share, that would be great. Thanks in advance.
I had my shoulder done, and I’m so glad I did. The most important thing is to do all the physical therapy. They told me I would not be able to fasten my bra behind my back, but I can do it now. I kept doing the therapy exercises long after I was discharged because I wanted to get back my full range of motion, and I have it now.
I have since then also had both knees replaced and again, doing the exercises is key. My knees are great now, and don’t hurt at all. My shoulder also doesn’t hurt, even tho I have a neck injury so I do get some shoulder issues from that, but not from the tendons in the joint. Go for it, the sooner the better!
Jo, consider what happens to you if you don’t fix your shoulder. It will get worse. One wrong move and you could be incapacitated. You are far too young to take the risk of significantly injuring yourself. You use your arms/shoulders all day/every day with these kiddos so it never gets to rest and recover. And if you have a small cuff tear, it could get much worse and become difficult to fix and get a terrific result.
As you can see, I recommend you get this fixed.
I encourage you to have risks/benefits/alternatives discussion with your surgeon. She/he is likely to state some of the above.
I had rotator cuff surgery plus a muscle had pulled away from the bone so a 45 minute surgery turned into 3 hours. The therapy was the key. Do it everyday like they tell you to do and you’ll be fine. It was rough at first because I had to learn to use my left arm to do everything for a while but I’d do it again in a heartbeat to stop the pain. I have full range of motion and it’s been about 9/10 years. It didn’t take a year but it did take about 4 months of doing therapy 3 times a week at therapy and twice a day at home.
I had rotator cuff and bicep tendonesis surgery on my right side in December 2014. I tried physical therapy off and on for about 2 years prior, with little success. I didn’t want surgery, but one day I reached up and bam! I don’t know what happened, but the pain and very limited movement were immediate. I scheduled the surgery that week.
You’ll be surprised what you can do with your non-dominant hand when forced. Also, it is possible to sew on a machine one-handed and I did some hand sewing as well!
Follow doctor’s orders regarding limitations after surgery! Do the physical therapy, that is important, and don’t get discouraged. I too was told I’d never be able to reach my back. I started hooking my thumbs on my belt when walking around and over time, worked them farther back until eventually I could put my hands in my back pockets. My rotation isn’t 100%, but I can unhook a bra and reach most of my itches. The day I could quilt on my domestic machine again was the day I knew I’d be fine.
In my opinion, you’re too young to have these limitations if you don’t have to. I suggest you get the surgery since you’ve tried other options and they haven’t resolved the situation and spontaneous improvement seems less likely than continued deterioration. It’s inconvenient for sure, but talk with your doc and a PT person about your specific limitations if you have the surgery and plan for it. You deserve to be enjoying life more. Or, think of it like this, wouldn’t you like to be able to pick up and hug those delightful grandchildren more instead of less?
I am so grateful that my shoulder pain went away, and I did not have to have surgery. The dr. said that I probably had a small tear in my rotator cuff that only appeared as I aged and my muscles thinned. (I’m past 60.) She then gave me a cortisone shot and Rx for physical therapy. I chose a PT place that used massage techniques during the first few appointments, and that made a difference. Evidently I had some neck issues as well, and the massage coaxed all the muscles back into place. I still do some of the shoulder exercises, but I no longer fasten my bra behind my back. I fasten it in front, rotate it to the back, and then pull it on.
I hope you can find a solution to your shoulder pain. No one wants to worry all the time about possible pain.
You’re too young to have problems like this for the rest of your life. Please take care of this asap so your won’t have to live with pain, limitations & think about it or always have on your mind. I’m wondering if you could have an assistant to physically help you with day care while you are healing. Rotating family members, someone from your church or mature teen? I had a friend of my mother help me while healing from surgery when my children where younger ~ one child was 1.5 yrs. & still in diapers. The helper was such a good soul & also didn’t charge much because of her SS. She couldn’t earn much or would loose some of SS. Or possibly you could barter with someone rather than pay money.
Can you purchase private disability insurance to replace your income for a bit? If that’s not possible maybe consider a helper?
I am with every one else who says to go ahead and take care of it! I had a fully torn rotator cuff repaired 18 months ago. I could not sleep at all, and could not use my arm beyond waist level. A week after surgery I could find little ways to sew and use my computer! The PT is key as everyone says and it can be painful. When they say a year, they mean FULLY operational— at about the three month mark, I was back to normal life. So happy I did it now, although it was an ordeal. Best of luck to you—you are a wonderful person and you need time to take care of yourself. Take that time. Xoxo
My husband had a rip in his tendon that he tried to deal with for quite a while. The drs. were monitoring it and finally told him that if he waited any longer the surgery and recovery would just get longer, be more involved and harder to come back from.
His recovery to feeling “normal” was three months, it took another three months to be released to go back to work.
He did say that the physical therapy was hard…..but today he has full range of motion in his arm.
As seems to be with any injury, his shoulder aches when there is a change in the barometric system…so he knows when rain or snow is coming. This ache has diminished since the surgery and hardly bothers him now.
As much as I had drs. and surgery if I were you I would do it now.
Prayers for an understanding of what will be best for you. Hoping that some of those that are going through the same situation will encourage you and lead you in the right direction. Take the best care of you that you can! It sounds as though you are still enjoying life and making the most of it!
So thankful i don’t have any shoulder issues, but I do have a suggestion about your glasses and plates that are in the cupboard. When the children were small, I put our glasses and plates in a lower drawer so they could reach them/help set the table. Could you put yours in drawers? It would make it easier on you for now. (I still have to put the tallest glasses up in a cupboard, but the short ones and coffee mugs all fit in the drawer). Take care….
My husband had his rotator cuff repaired in January. He is now allowed to lift 10 lb. and just released to cut grass, but he has to start the lawn mower with his left arm. He was a terrible patient too, and there was a little whining. I tried to be sympathetic!
Hi Jo. My husband had his right shoulder operated on in January due to a torn tendon. He was able to do everything other than lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk within I think it was 6 weeks post op & although his dr gave him therapy to do on his own & told him “if”he would do those exercises as directed he wouldn’t have to “go” to therapy. He is now 7 months post op and is using his arm as he was prior to the tear. Once in surgery it was found he had some tears in his rotator cuff & a bit of arthritis which was cleaned up but his recovery time was amazingly fast. His dr is in Houston if by chance you would want to stay with your son I would be happy to give you his name.
Rotator cuff surgery is not fun, but if it is necessary there is no getting around it. I had three of the four tendons torn from my rotator cuff and had no choice but surgery. I had to wait 8 weeks to have surgery, and it was 6-8 weeks before I was using my arm with limitations. Perhaps you should check if you could qualify for disability benefits. I do hope that you are able to find some relief and peace of mind.
I’ve had 2 surgeries on one shoulder and 1 on the other and hubby had one on one shoulder. I had mine rather soon after the injuries whilst hubby waited until he had no options left. I healed quickly and got back my range of motion quickly as well (but I pushed it at home as well as PT). He was much slower to heal and get back to normal. Get the surgery while it is a smaller problem to deal with and you will be back to normal sooner. Rotator cuff tears really aren’t that bad to heal from the surgery, but when you add in muscle tears it gets to be a longer recovery. Lifting your kiddos will be your problem. Is it possible for you to change diapers on a lower surface that they can get up on by themselves (like a couch)? Too bad neighbor girl is probably too young to earn a little money by coming over to help you out with the kiddos!!