Unreal!

So I had a great first physical therapy session yesterday and was having my first decent night of sleep in 3 weeks only to be woken up by a thunderstorm!!!  Seriously???  A thunderstorm???  On New Year's Eve???  In Chicago???  C'mon now!!!  I can't catch a break anywhere.

Anyway, Happy New Year everyone!

First Night Of Therapy

Well I finally had my first post-surgery therapy session tonight and I was not looking forward to it at all.  Everything I read and everything everyone told me was that therapy is going to be hell.  I know it is only the first night but if this is a sign of things to come then tonight is good news.

The session went very well.  Beth (my PT) found a spasm in the back of my shoulder in the beginning of the session that was more painful than any of the shoulder stretches she did.  I can't feel the spasm under normal conditions but when she hit the spot I really felt it.  She tried to massage it out but it really didn't go away. Since I can't feel it unless there is pressure on it, it is no big deal.

As far as the stretches, Beth is limited to what she can do for the first 2 weeks but for what she can do she said I am further along than expected.  Although the stretches were painful to an extent they were not anywhere near as bad as I thought they would be and my arm was able to be stretched a lot further than I expected.  We did about 30-45 minutes of stretches and then 15 minutes of ice and "electric shocks" for a lack of better terms.  When it was all over I actually felt really good.

It is now 2 hours after therapy and I am not feeling any pain in the shoulder.  It could be because of the pain killers but still...I am feeling really good right now.  And for the first time in 2 weeks things are finally making a turn for the better.  Yeah, I may not be able to get any sleep yet again tonight but with tonight's successful therapy session I don't care.  It is only going to get better from here on out. (Unless I am in pain come tomorrow.  LOL)!

Beating A Dead Horse

I know...this is nothing new but I hardly had any sleep yesterday and it is starting to have an effect on my daily life. I am falling asleep at the computer while sending work e-mails, falling asleep on conference calls and can hardly do anything around the house.  I am so exhausted yet I can't sleep for more than 10-15 minutes at a time when I do finally fall asleep.  Only 3 more weeks...only 3 more weeks...only 3 more weeks.  LOL!

And to top it all off therapy starts tomorrow night so I am sure that will be a blast!

Second Thoughts

As of today I am wishing I did not have this surgery.  The 3 hours of sleep a day is going to be the end of me but I am not feeling sorry for myself.  My poor wife has to suffer taking care 100% of our 1 and 2 year old sons and it isn't fair to her.  She is on "vacation" from work this week but right now I am sure going back to work is going to be more of a vacation.  Hopefully my feelings on this will change in 3.5 weeks when I get this immobilizer off.

Drastic Times Call For Drastic Measures

I have resorted to trying some OTC sleeping pills to help me get some shut eye.  I have tried to figure it out and my best guess is that I have had maybe 30-35 total hours of sleep in the10 days since the surgery.  If I don't get a solid 4-5 hours of sleep in a row right now I think my body may just shut down.  I will either be nice a refreshed for my next post or really really pissed off.  Wish me luck.

***UPDATE*** 

 I was able to get about 3 hours of sleep this afternoon which is more than I have had at any one single time since the surgery so I guess the sleeping pills helped somewhat..  I have devised a way to rig my immobilizer that should allow me to sleep comfortably in bed tonight...or at least I hope.

Different Day...Same Results

Well, I thought I found a way to be able to fall asleep in bed with the brace on but I was wrong.  Tried for the past hour with no success so I moved back downstairs because I didn't want to keep Courtney awake with my tossing and turning.  I experimented today with my brace off and found a very comfortable position but I am too afraid to try to sleep a whole night like that because knowing my luck I will cause more damage and it isn't worth it.  Hopefully tomorrow night provides different results.

Sleep??? Ha...Wishful Thinking!

Well, my attempt to sleep in my actual bed last night lasted just over 1 hour.  Moved down stairs to the sofa / recliner / floor and was up until around 4am.  It is now to the point that I only fall asleep when I can literally no longer keep my eyes open and that is usually around 3-4 in the morning and then the boys are up around 6 or 7am.so I am close to my breaking point.  Here's to hoping I find a comfortable way to sleep very soon because 4 more weeks of this is not going to work.

Post Christmas Status

Well, after going to my wife's family for Christmas Eve and my Aunt and Uncle's for Christmas day I can say I am in a ton of pain.  I know I did more than i should have these past 2 days but it is hard to not do a lot of things with it being Christmas.  I thought I could make it through 2 days of non-stop running around with very little pain killers and I was wrong.  I am now hooked back up to my ice water pump / sleeve trying to eliminate some of this pain and swelling and it seems to be working as of right now.  Not that I could have really avoided it but when the doctors say rest they mean rest.

I am going attempt to sleep in the bed tonight again.  This 2-3 hours of crappy sleep in the recliner is beginning to wear thin.  Wish me luck.

On a side note I did drive for the first time today since surgery.  Should I have done it???  Probably not but the shoulder did not bother me one bit.  I just kept it by my side as if it were in the brace and everything worked out just fine.  It is not something I am going to do every day but it is nice to know that if I need to get out and drive somewhere I can do it and not depend on someone else.

Merry Christmas!

Well, it is 3:09am Christmas morning and I cannot sleep because this immobilizer makes it almost impossible to get comfortable in bed, on the sofa or in my recliner.  So I am sitting here in said recliner watching an infomercial for the Shark Navigator Vacuum Cleaner and spending all of my gift cards I received on Christmas Eve so Merry Christmas to me I guess.

The "good" news is that I get out of the immobilizer in 4 more weeks when I thought it would be 5-7 more weeks.  I just don;t know how much longer I can function on 2-3 hours of sleep at night with little cat naps here and there throughout the day.

Side Effect Of SLAP Tear Surgery

One side effect of SLAP Tear surgery is the dreaded SLAP Beard!  I tried to shave with my right hand before surgery and I damn near sliced my neck open so I have decided to go all Grizzly Adams until I get the immobilizer off.

The dreaded SLAP Beard!

Sad Day In Chicago

2 Chicago firefighters were killed today fighting a fire...just 3 days before Christmas and here I am complaining about some physical therapy.  It puts things in perspective.  Please keep FF Stringer and FF Ankum's families in your prayers.

Living With "One" Arm

The adjustment to life with one arm has not been as tough as I was expecting.  Yes, I have to brush my teeth and eat with my opposite hand but I can pretty much do everything I was able to do before.  2 exceptions are tying my shoes and buttoning shirts or pants.  That is why I have my wonderful wife!  Going in to it I was joking with her about the wedding vow that says "for better or worse" and saying that she will have 3 diapers to change everyday instead of 2.

The one negative is trying to sleep.  There is no comfortable way to sleep with this giant brace on.  I though I had it figured out but that worked only for 1 night.  I haven't slept for more than 3 hours straight since the surgery but I wind up taking several cat naps throughout the day so that helps me out a ton.

All in all I cannot complain.  I was expecting a hell of a lot worse post surgery but so far it has been pretty much a piece of cake.  Let me get back to you after therapy next week and see if I have the same positive attitude.

Follow Up With The Doctor

Well, I had my follow up with Dr. Forsythe this evening and everything is moving along great.  I had the stitches removed and a few X-rays taken and he likes what he sees.

The bad news is that I am starting therapy a week earlier than expected.  That isn't actually bad news but I am not looking forward to the hell that it is going to be.  Dr. Forsythe said because of my size therapy is going to be tougher than most because when you are bigger you tend to stiffen up more which in turn makes the therapy more brutal.  Just how I wanted to end the year...in pain from my first day of therapy.  Joy!

Well, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas (that is if anyone even reads this blog) and Happy Holidays.

 Looking much better

Surgery Was A Success

Well, I am finally getting around to updating this post surgery and I am happy to say the surgery was a success.  The doctor reattached my labrum with 3 anchors and shaved down my inflamed rotator cuff as well as my bicep tendon.

The surgery lasted 1.5 hours as I mentioned it went smooth.  I only had one "reaction" after the surgery and that was dry heaving when I sat up for the first time.  The night after the surgery is a blur seeing that I was still coming down from the after effects of the anesthesia and pain killers. 

3.5 days after surgery and I am feeling great.  I am now only using the pain killers for when I go to bed and that is just as a precaution.  I am up and doing stuff around the house (some of which I know I probably shouldn't be doing) just because I am sick of sitting here doing nothing.

I just took my bandages off and it was not what I was expecting.  For some reason I had it in my head that I only had 2 incisions but to my surprise I have 4.  They may have told me this after surgery but again, that is all a fog to me.  There no bruising which shocked me as well.  Right now my shoulder looks like it should be attached to Frankenstein instead of me.  But what's 4 more scars to add to my long list of existing scars right?

I have my one week follow up with Dr. Forsythe on Wednesday at which time I think I get my stitches out and find out when I start PT which from everything I have read and heard is gong to suck.

All in all the surgery and recovery to date is 100% better than I expected...let's just hope the rest of the recovery is this smooth.

 (PS - sorry for any typos....it is pretty damn hard to type on handed.  LOL)

Photo of the immobilizer and the "ice water" brace.  Ice water brace was worn for 3 days and the immobilizer needs to be worn for 6-8 weeks.  UGH!

 Photo of the "fishing wire" being inserted through my labrum and the metal anchors.

Photo of my labrum "reattached" to the bone

Not sure what this is a photo of but that is a pretty nasty looking tool

This last 4 photos shows my arm right after I removed the bandages.  Very Frankenstein-ish isn't it?

Surgery Delayed Until December 16th

I haven't posted anything in a while because all I have been doing was some pre surgery physical therapy.  I received news yesterday that my surgery is being pushed back 8 days so it can be done at Silver Cross Hospital instead of the Oak Surgical Center.  The reason is because I am over 250 lbs and there could be a possibility of complications with the anesthesia.  How they didn't see this in my medical charts prior to my pre-admission phone call is beyond me and I am not happy about it because time was already taken off of work and plans were in place for people to watch our boys while I was in surgery.  Now that all needs to be changed but it is all in the name of safety so I can't complain that much.