Product endorsements, Part 2

Here's a few more products that made life with no right arm a little better.

Reach Access flosser makes flossing easier (possible) for the one-armed.  It's not quite as effective as using both hands, but a lot more effective than not flossing!

My NPR Insulated tumbler was indispensable, especially in the first weeks after surgery.  The double-walled drinking cup kept condensation from forming and leaving marks on the sofa-side table, and the gasket on the top kept it from leaking while I was drinking semi-reclined.  I had to get some help opening it from time to time because it closes nice and tight, but it was well worth the effort due to lack of mess from spill avoidance.

The Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker pictured here is smaller than the 3-quart one I have been using.  I love this thing, and have been drinking about 2-3 quarts of iced tea a day since surgery.  This machine is quick and easy, and there's practically no clean up.

Orville Redenbacher's Natural Lime & Salt Microwave Popcorn has absolutely nothing to do with recovering from surgery, but you should try it anyway, 'cause YUM.

I usually do not use spray deodorant, but bought a can to get me through the post-surgery recovery.  I usually use a gel deodorant, but wouldn't have been able to apply it using my right hand.  With the spray, I could use the left hand to get the right side, then just blast in the general direction of the left armpit too, and we were good to go.

Unslung

Training wheels are off, and I'm already feeling the pain.

Dr. Latshaw gave my PT brutes an implicit thumbs-up by decreeing me "exactly where he wants me to be" at this point in my recovery.  So yay, Paul and Kyle!

But we need to start another phase of recovery, which is sling-free.  The sling has been protecting my shoulder since the surgery, and we've been working on building up range of motion.  It's now time to stop protecting it, so it can work on getting stronger, or so I understand.  I like my sling sometimes; it feels better not to have to hold up my arm on its own.  But Dr. Latshaw says he doesn't want me using my sling any more.

At all.

So I'm slingless, and aching already.  Wish me luck!  Next visit with Dr. Latshaw is Sept 14, and next PT is tomorrow.

Olympics

Have you ever noticed how many Summer Olympic sports require having two fully-functional rotator cuffs?  I hadn't either, until this time around.  Swimming, kayaking and canoeing, gymnastics, rowing, softball, basketball, fencing, water polo, and the list goes on and on.  Good on all those young, strong athletes.

Not-Paul is also a brute

I had my PT session today with Not-Paul, who is Kyle.  Kyle gave me a good working over (hand bicycle machine thing, pulleys, curls, and the new ones described below), and when he was done, I felt sore enough to get the shoulder iced there at the clinic rather than waiting until I got home.  That's the measure of a bad or not so bad session: If I want ice there at the clinic, it's a bad day.  If I can wait until I get home with my frozen peas, it's not such a bad day.

Good news:  Kyle says that he can tell that I've been keeping up with my homework, and gave me a gold star for being a good, compliant patient.  I'm regaining my range of motion in most of the areas very well.  He also says that I'll be surprised at how well I start doing once we can start strength exercises.  Which is good, because...

Bad news:  When I was finished with my new exercises today, I felt like a good candidate for one of the new decomposing walkers coming up in Season 3.  I feel so wrung out, weak, and sore that I can't imagine being ready to go back to work 3 weeks from today.  I can't do anything for myself yet, and have to be able to get myself dressed, drive the half-hour commute, work my shift, manage my lunch and potty breaks, and commute back.  I'm only sleeping 2-3 hours at a time for the most part because my shoulder keeps me from being able to change positions.  So I nap throughout the day to make up for it, but I don't think my company will be happy with my working from 7am until 9pm so I can be sure and get my daily naps.  A lot has to happen before I'll be able to stop worrying about starting work again.  I'm glad that I work in a cube farm instead of on a real farm!

New exercises involve a stick.  I am lying on my back and hold a broomstick across my body with hands 2' apart or so.  My left hand helps (which is why the stick instead of a rope or something), but I need to raise that broomstick up to a 90* angle.  2 sets of 10 reps.  Then, on my good side with bad side up, I rotate my elbow up.  And there's something else about trying to raise my arm up all the way.  I'll have to refresh on that when I go back in on Wednesday morning.

When Kyle stretched me after the exercises, he applied some pressure to the muscle in my upper arm (maybe the biceps? I do biceps curls, after all) in order to try to loosen it up while he was bending it.  Whenever I do anything with the arm extended, like my pulley stretches, I can feel a painful 'click' as I move through a couple of degrees in the middle of the exercise.  That muscle being tight is keeping the shoulder from rotating freely in its socket, and when it sticks, it 'clicks'.  Ouch!  So, yeah, please do whatever you're doing to keep that from happening.  I find myself flinching in anticipation, just like when a novice shooter flinches when about to pull the trigger.

I hate feeling this sore, but am really looking forward to being pain-free when all of this is said and done.  You only get one chance to heal right, so going through this misery is worth it.  Speaking of misery, I am going to see if I'm ready to move up to a 3-pound hand weight for my curls next time I go.

Next up: Dr Latshaw tomorrow morning.

Dentist appointment today

Dr. Julie Montgomery at Dublin Dental Associates is the most caring, nicest, kindest dentist you could ever want, and I'm terrified of her.  All dentists, really, because I grew up in Texas, where the prevailing patient pain management theory seemed to be "Man up, sissy."  So trips to the dentist are usually accompanied by shaking, hyperventilating, and crying, even for cleanings.  Dr. Montgomery prescribes a tranquilizer for me to take before my appointments, which eliminates the panic that goes along with those big chairs.  The downside is that I have to be driven to my appointments, and I sleep a good chunk of the day away afterwards.  I'll get in one round of PT exercises before I go, and I probably will be able to get another one in when I wake up.  If not, I'll do an extra round on Saturday to make up for it.  

If you need a dentist, I recommend Dr. Montgomery and the folks at Dublin Dental.  If you already have a dentist but you're not absolutely in love with them or their office, you should check out Dublin Dental.  They're awesome folks there.  

PT Hero, and one month out!

No, this is not the newest offering from the console-game wizards who brought Guitar Hero to the world.  Sorry!  But my PT brute, Paul, is now my PT hero, at least until my next appointment with him!

I am typing this WITH TWO HANDS!!!!!

Amazing, innit?  I have been typing with one hand (and get your mind out of the gutter, you perv!) since I came back from surgery, but Paul said yesterday that if my keyboard is at waist-level, he doesn't see any problem with using both hands to type.  Yay!!!

The laptop is now on the coffee table, and my right hand is resting on the hand-rest, and I am typing away.  I am not nearly as fast as I am accustomed to being, and since my hand is resting on the computer instead of hovering above, I am not as accurate, either.  But what a boon to be using both hands.  Using my stupid hand only was frustratingly slow.

AND!  And and and...

Paul is my PT hero also because I did not cry a single bit during the post-exercise torture session at the end of yesterday's appointment.  No tears *at all*, and he alleges that he wasn't slacking, either.  We'll see what happens next time.

I did get some new exercises yesterday, to add to my two-to-three-times-daily routine.  I had been doing pendulum swings, shoulder blade pinches, biceps curls, pulleys, and the strap from hell.  Now I have added to that a series of isometric exercises, which means that I'm going to be very good friends with the wall pass-thru between my computer room and the living room.

I have a series of seven different isometric exercises that do not require me to actually MOVE my arm, but to stand with my bad side against the wall and use the wall to push against.  And one of those, which Paul has named "Shoulder Extension Stretch," may actually enable me to see some progress with the strap from hell.  Go, PT Hero!!!

I also told Paul that when my shoulder complains, it doesn't start out with a warning.  I get no kind of "watch it, hey now!" from my shoulder.  It goes directly from zero to kick-in-the-teeth.  Paul says that's pretty normal for this stage, so that's kind of a relief.  I was worried that I was causing myself damage whenever I get that sort of pain from it.

Next week is busy.  PT on Monday, Dr. Latshaw on Tuesday for a checkup and new PT script, and PT on Wednesday.  I hope I'll be able to start my strength-building soon.

My arm is hot in the sling, and the point of my elbow joint feels kinda bruisy, like I whacked the hell out of it a few days ago, but it still hurts when I poke it.  I think it's because it's under pressure from the weight of the arm while it's in the sling.  I need to replace my flannel liner and use a liberal application of Caldesene cornstarch today. Will be delighted when I don't have to spend so much time in the sling.  My armpit looks a fright, and it'll be happier when it can get some air on a regular basis.

When I feel frustrated with how slow my recovery is going, I can just think back and remember what progress I've made in the month since my surgery.  I hope that progress curve continues, because I'm due to go back to work on August 20.  Wish me luck!  And patience, which anyone who knows me can attest that I'm a little short of, especially with myself.

Physical therapy has earned its rep

I started my third week of physical therapy today, and have been working on passive range of motion exercises per Dr. Latshaw's prescription.  PROM, as it's called, is a lot more grim than it sounds.

I was able to choose from a list of clinics that Dr. Latshaw refers to, and selected Banyan Tree Rehabilitation, because they have a location close to home.  The week after my surgery was pretty much pain-free, and I appreciated it then. I would have cherished it even more if I had realized that the pain-free-ness was going to be coming to an abrupt halt as soon as Paul, the clinic director and my personal brute, laid hands on me.  


I have been going twice a week, and spend roughly (sometimes rougher than others!) an hour at Paul's tender mercies.  I was really in pretty grim shape when I started, and was amazed at how little range of motion I had in my shoulder, and even more startlingly, my elbow, after only two weeks in a sling. I can't imagine how much worse it would have been if I had waited to start PT.  


Paul gave me pendulum exercises first, and stretches where I put my forearm on a towel, and slide it away from my body as I lean towards it while it rests on a table.  The point is to stretch the shoulder while NOT using its muscles to move it or even support it.  At the end of each session I get a stretching on the rack from Paul, which usually ends up with at least a few tears.  I told him once last week that he was slacking because my eyelashes were barely wet!  Then comes ice pack, pain pills, recliner, and nap.


At each visit, I have been given new exercises to do at home.  Last week, I started doing biceps curls, to work on straightening, and strengthening, my poor elbow.  The 2-pound hand weight was too much for me (!), so I started with a 1-pound weight at the clinic, and used a chili can at home.  In addition to that, I started using a shoulder pulley that allows me to use the left arm to pull up the right one. I also do  shoulder blade pinches.  I do my whole set of exercises two or three times a day.


I like doing the pulleys and the stretches and the curls, because I can see improvement in each set. I start out tight, but as I ease into it, I can feel the shoulder loosening up and before long I'm fully extended. Yay, me! Feel the burn, see the success.


Not so much for the strap from hell.  Imagine a dog leash, about 1" wide and 6' long. Only there's two leashes, stitched together every 6" or so to make hand-holds. It's green, and nylon, and I hate it.  I use this strap at the clinic, and a dog leash at home, behind my back, to try to stretch the right arm back behind my back. I used to be able to put my hands together at the small of my back, but the right arm no longer does that. At all. Ever.


I can not stretch it, and it doesn't seem to be improving at all.  Today, not-Paul said that the behind the back motion can take the longest to come back.  I believe it.  I am under instructions to be GENTLE, in capital letters, to try to regain that range. 


I'm up to a 2-pound hand weight now, because the chili can is no longer a challenge. I wonder how long it will be before the strap from hell isn't a challenge?

Bill from the Anesthesiologist

Received two copies of the following bill in today's post:

Repair Ruptured Rotator Cuff, Chron:  $765.40
Plan Payment: -$520.65
UHC Adj: -$186.90

Brachial Plexus: $195.00 (I think this is the nerve block in my neck)

Plan Payment: -$65.28
UHC Adj: -$122.47


Ultrasonic Guide Needle Plcmt S/I: $101.00

Plan Payment: -$32.00
UHC Adj: -$65.44

Leaving the total due for me to pay: $68.66

Product endorsements

A lot of consumer items have helped me during my recovery, and I'm going to list a few of them here.

First, microfiber mitts like this.  I pump some antibacterial hand soap on it, and lather it up with my left hand. The little fingery things make me feel like I am able to get my hand clean. I got them from the dollar store, and have several, so that I can use it a few times and start a fresh one when needed.

Cottonelle Flushable Moist Wipes are absolutely worth the additional cost over store brand wipes. They are thick and strong, and have made life more bearable.

Mirra Renew Cleansing Wipes are pretty terrific. Taking a shower is a bit of a production, so I can use one of these to refresh my face between showers. Very lightly scented, but leave a nice clean feel.

The sling has become a lot less uncomfortable thanks to liberal application of Caldesene Baby Cornstarch Powder with Zinc Oxide.

My Kindles have kept me from going stir crazy. My Kindle Fire allows me to surf the web, stream movies, and play games from my recliner sofa. Since I have to swipe to turn pages, it's not quite as stellar for reading, although I do read on it, too.  My Kindle 3 (now called Kindle Keyboard) is simply fantastic for reading. No glare, and I can hold it in one hand and use the side buttons to turn the page without having to involve my right hand at all.

And I can't forget my near constant companion for the first week, frozen peas. We have half a dozen bags of Kroger frozen peas, and I wrap a bag in a dish towel to ice the shoulder when it needs it.

Catching up - week of surgery

I woke up from surgery in a sling, and nauseated like all get-out.  The nurse was able to inject some medication to ease the nausea, but that sort of set the stage for a fairly miserable week.  I haven't had any surgery like this before, so I really was clueless as to the coming misery. Not just the shoulder itself; a lot of small miseries were concomitant with the sling, the medication, and the heat here. First off, the anaesthesia and the pain meds can cause constipation, and by late in that week I was taking Dulcolax to move things along.  Also, I had a heat-rash in my sling, which developed into fluid-filled blisters. I am real glad that I had put a layer of cotton fabric into the sling as a liner to ease the heat rash; it was easy to remove and wash.  I am allergic to opiates, too; they make me itch. Imagine hives all over, but on the inside. Insane itches. I told the surgeon's office that I have this allergy, but was counseled just to take Benadryl to help with the itching caused by my Oxycodone prescription.  For the first couple of days after the surgery, I was asleep most of the time, so was not overly miserable. But the more time I spent in the conscious world, the more time I had to fully immerse myself in the misery!  


It could have been worse, though. Friday after the surgery, massive storms rolled through our area, knocking out power for thousands of homes. Some of those folks were without electricity for more than a week, with daily temperatures in the high 90s or worse. We kept our power, for which I am very thankful!


I have been wearing sleeveless dresses since the surgery, loose enough that I can get them on without having to move my surgeried arm.  That has been a boon, because I can't pull up anything without help yet.


Most of the pain from the surgery was pretty much gone by Sunday of that week, which I find amazing.  And the baseline pain was just gone. Incredible to have no discomfort at all in that shoulder. The surgeon found considerable fluid build-up from bursitis in there, and that was the source of a lot of the constant baseline discomfort I had been dealing with for so long.  He drained that out, and that has relieved the ache.

Bill for the surgery came today

Check this out. It is the bill from my surgeon:

Arthroscopy, Shoulder, Surgical:  $6706.00
Contractual write-off:  -$5221.00
Insurance payment: -$148.50
Patient payment:  -$77.73 (no idea what this is.)

Balance Due: $70.77

I can handle that!  Of course, there's still the bill for the anaesthesiologist yet...

It is ridiculous that the procedure costs $5k LESS simply because I have insurance.

Catching up - surgery day

My surgery went off without a hitch on Monday morning, June 25.  I am in a sling now, so can only use my left hand to type. I was daunted by the prospect, so haven't posted until now.  I'll try to get caught up over the next few days.

The folks at Ohio Orthopedic Surgical Institute were really nice.  It is attached to the Center of Excellence, but is not the same company.  The ladies showed me where to change into the surgical gown, and gave me little non-skid socks to put on.  I was able to leave on my shorts and panties, but everything on top had to come off.  I haven't worn a bra since that morning!  First time since I needed one that I have gone so long without.  I also had to provide a urine sample; they did not believe my assurances that I was not pregnant. 

Once I was dressed appropriately, I was taken to my rolling bed.  I had pillows, and nice wedges to prop my knees up.  I also had to use my left hand to write my initials on the shoulder that was getting the surgery, and the nurse did, too.  I haven't intentionally written on myself in some years! I had compression wraps on my lower legs, which inflated and deflated to keep the blood moving.  Then they covered me up and added a toasty warmed blanket - they said it's really cold in the operating room.  And the nurse started an IV on the back of my left hand, to start the zone-out process. 

At that point, the anaesthesiologist came in and explained about the nerve block that he was going to inject INTO MY NECK!! I'm glad that the zoning-out was starting soon, because shots in the neck is just unnatural.  It was to block the worst of the pain, and lasted about 12 hours. I wish they'd find one that would last 3 days!  And that's about all I remember until afterward.  The zone-out did itsjob nicely, and I was happy for it.