arthroscopic shoulder surgery

[mikelongstroke]

I am now 15 days out from having my right (dominant hand) shoulder scoped.

The cartilage disk (labrum) in my shoulder tore, from front to back, just below where my larger biceps tendon connects to it. The medical shorthand for this is a S.L.A.P. tear. This was a result of a fall I took at work which took my arm from a extended to the side position (think unsportsmanlike conduct signal) to my bicep being slammed against my ear. This concludes the back story.

With my age and over three decades of type 1 diabetes, my surgeon and I both agreed the chance of repair was not worth being out of work for half a year. The solution was to cut the tendon so it would stop pulling on the torn portion of the labrum.

So now, we get to the point in the story where me being a Clemson fan has hurt my progress. What have we heard over the years of players being injured?
"Deshaun has been busting it in therapy" "we can't keep Kevin off the treadmill" and so on.
I went to physical therapy with the mindset that I was going to crush it. Whatever they asked, I was going to give them more. Another rep, another degree of movement, I was convinced I could be another success story and I was the only thing holding me back. Sound familiar?

Now, the folks at Excel Therapy in Clemson have been great.
"You are not a 20 year old college kid" "you are 10 days out of surgery" "wear the arm sling you were given and stop working at home" "tell me again how long you have been taking insulin" "you will hurt yourself"
From an outside view, these might sound like harsh things to say to a patient. Wrong. This is exactly the type of instruction I need. I have always been athletic, so hard coaching is comfortable.

If resting my arm at my side is zero degrees, I can now passively rotate my arm up to 120° without strain or stretching. So I have the starting position for a free throw now.

Fouls I can signal: holding, offsides, false start, and clipping (though nobody ever calls that anymore).

Being a Clemson fan has never hurt me this much. But I have proven I am coachable, so I have that going for me.

[Tiger80]

I hear you mike.

In November 2013 I had to have my labrum repaired, the bicep tendon reattached, and two torn rotator cuffs repaired. Before being tortured in physical therapy by the devil that was cute as a button (clearly a disguise), I had to wear a sling with a belt around my waist to restrict motion for six weeks. I had to stop running or even walking for fear I might trip. I was coachable but it was a struggle at age 53 to recover. It took six months to regain my strength.

[mikelongstroke]

Good to hear your progress has continued, 80. I'm only a decade behind you in age.

Tomorrow at 3PM will mark 3 weeks out.

Fortunately, I didn't have any rotator cuff damage. Therefore, I didn't get saddled with that sling that looks like you're pinning a pillow to your hip with your elbow.

That said, yesterday was my first day back to work. I went in with every expectation of following orders and taking it easy. After 15 mins of having that sling on, the muscles in my back revolted. The sling left one minute later.

Today was a much better day. The morning began with PT, and not the military kind. That helped, because my therapist attacked any back muscle that showed signs of resistance, with impunity.

At work, anything I needed to be lifted, I delegated. Any wrench that needed to be turned, I instructed. I ordered parts, I planned PMs (that's preventative maintenance operations, if you're unfamiliar), and I diagnosed the problem with a space heater hanging 20 feet from the floor by asking questions to the guy at the top of the big ladder. (induction fan limit switch failure- pressure differential diaphragm style, if you know gas burners). I played my role... maintenance manager.

Moral: "A man has to know his limitations, Briggs"- Harry Callahan

[Tiger80]

I couldn’t even change a fiat tire. It was embarrassing to call USAA for roadside assistance.

[Tiger80]

I ciuld not sleep in a bed so I bought a recliner. I never thought I could sleep in a recliner.

[mikelongstroke]

28 days.

This is the best I have felt since the day before the injury. Sure, my range of motion isn't anywhere in the normal category, but the pain of doing simple things (like button my own pants) is gone. I am also back to driving my manual transmission Honda Civic. (it has a short throw, if you speak stick, don't worry about it). My son's automatic pickup takes more than twice the gas to get to Greenville.

Four weeks. Triple that, and I'll be playing golf again.
Ok- maybe I'll wait until it is warm again