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.