Shoulder Surgery

After much internal debate I decided to have surgery on my shoulder. Torn rotator cuff sometime over the summer of 2016 turned super painful by November of that year and only got worse. By August of 2017 my shoulder was frozen. I was still in a lot of pain in November, but it tapered off by January or so. I didn't want to "wait and see" for another two years so I opted for manipulation under anesthesia with possible scope if needed.

I got checked in really quickly. The IV went in easy.  Just a pinch.  I didn't look. The nurse taped it up really well and I didn't feel it much after that. Anesthesiologist came by to let me know I'd be getting a nerve block. He came with the shot, I felt the effects of the drugs that were meant to relax me and I don't remember anything after that. They put some drugs in my IV that basically knocked me out until I was in recovery. I have no recollection of getting the big shot in my neck (thank goodness) or of my husband coming back to see me before they took me away. I don't remember being wheeled to the operating room, or even my surgeon coming back afterwards to check on me and give post op instructions to my husband. My husband says I was awake and chatting a bit, but I don't remember at all. I was glad to find out that they didn't have to go in with a scope. The scar tissue was broken up by aggressively moving my arm. He was able to get the  movement he needed without cutting it with tiny scissors. I dozed in and out of consciousness or sleep; not sure which, until I was ready to leave the hospital. According to my husband I was only in the OR for about 30 minutes, but it took me about 2 1/2 hours to come out of anesthesia. I barely remember getting dressed. My husband took me to the bathroom before we left. I don't remember him stopping to get me a peanut butter shake, but I do remember the Wendy's drive through for french fries. There are patches of time that I have no memory of. He says I fell asleep, but I don't remember falling asleep. I ate some fries and drank some of the shake while I was in bed. When I woke up my arm was basically paralyzed. It was a useless dangling appendage that I had to hold onto to keep from slipping out of the sling. I could barely move my fingers before I went to sleep and when I woke up I couldn't even do that. My brain was telling my fingers to move, but they wouldn't.  It was like my arm wasn't part of my body and belonged to someone else. There was no pain. Mostly just this numbness gripping my arm and fingers. It was numb but I was very aware that it was there.

That night my husband told me that the doctor moved my arm in all directions, showing him the unrestricted movement, but I didn't remember. I wanted to see it for myself so that night I asked my husband to move my arm for me up, down and to the side. I was thrilled to see my arm move further than I've ever seen it move for a long time. It froze in September, but prior to that severe pain stopped me from moving it very far.

For some reason the Vicodin that sent me into a woozy, lightheaded, nauseated state but didn't put me to sleep. I was so tired, but I spent most of the night playing with my fingers, and didn't sleep much. They felt fat and floppy; as if they were going to turn black and fall off due to loss of circulation, but it was just the nerve block working.When I woke up feeling had returned to all but my thumb and forefinger. I was up about 4 lbs on the scale, and almost passed out from the Vicodin while trying to eat my breakfast. I felt super sick, like I'd throw up.  My husband led me over the the couch to lay down. I was clammy and breathing fast, so he got a wet rag for my head. I basically just had to wait for it to pass. I had a wth did I do moment of regret when the pain started to kick in. When it was frozen there wasn't much pain, but now I was back to barely being able to lift it. Reaching my right arm across to shave my left arm pit was barely possible. I had to hold the razor with my fingertips to reach. My arm no longer moved the way it did the night before when it was paralyzed.

Riding in the car to physical therapy was painful.  I braced myself for the speed bumps. Needless to say, Physical Therapy was  not fun.  I took another Vicodin later that day and it knocked me out again with fuzzy limbs and slight nausea.

Four days is a little too soon to be discouraged, but I have a really long way to go before my shoulder mobility is even close to normal. I had visions of waking up with full mobility, but that's not the way it works. My tissues have undergone severe trauma. I made the decision to medically intervene, and now I have to do the therapy to make it work.