No more doorway pectoral stretches

I thought I had to be doing something wrong for it to be hurting so much, but Paul said we can just drop that one for now.  Maybe as I do my other stretches, I'll loosen up enough that I can eventually do that one successfully.  Probably it's because I spend too much time typing on one keyboard or another, ya think?

I got to use the rubber dong (heh) at PT (otherwise known as TheraBand FlexBar), in addition to more exercises with the stretchy elastic thingies.  Paul worked me like a rented mule today, but I am happy that I can do so much more than I was able to just a week ago.  I got some weight added to my front and side reaches today; I guess Paul thought it looked too easy.  It was, too - I was chatting to Doris while I was doing them.  All-seeing, all-knowing PT brute.

I've been having quite a bit of discomfort overall this week, but I still think I'll be able to pipe icing this weekend,  and I've promised my PT brutes some of the cupcakes that I'm gonna be baking!  So it looks like there may be some Blog Overlap Syndrome, as I'll have to post about the cupcakes here, too!  I will be making chocolate cupcakes with lemon cream cheese icing, for Brandi's birthday.  Also, before I scheduled my surgery, I had promised Nancy lemon cupcakes, but her birthday came in the middle of my disability.  So I will bring some to work for Nancy, too.  That'll be a lot of piping, but I'm pretty sure I can manage it if I take it easy.  As readers of my other blog will know, I like my icing on the thick side, so it takes a bit of strength to pipe it.  But it comes out so pretty!!

I was talking to a coworker about my surgery earlier this week, and it turns out that she's going to have to have rotator cuff repair on HER smart side, too.  And she lives alone!  I have learned a lot and will happily share my knowledge, but I don't know how I'd have been able to manage without my husband, stepson, and friend Gretchen.  They all were so helpful to me, and did things for me when I needed it.  I might be able to go over to Sally's after work sometimes and help her out around the house, if she'd like that.  I don't know her all that well, but if I can help someone I like, I will try to do it.

First day back at work

Bleh!

I was a lot more sore after working today than I'd figured on being.  I had 988 or 989 email messages to slog through, and slog I did.  Something in my daily typing at work, moreso than my daily typing at home, requires me to reach across the keyboard with my right hand, and I got a little stab every time I had to do that. So I did not have a great day at work, and my human resources representative also gave some not-great news.  I have FMLA, which expires in September, and I thought I'd be able to use random time from that to take off from work if I am in too much pain, or if I need to schedule physical therapy during work hours.  But that was continuous FMLA.  In order to have off any other time due to the shoulder, I have to fill out another claim for Intermittent FMLA, and have my doctor's office sign off on it.  Fantastic.  I really wish I'd known about that when I asked last week if there was anything else I needed to know about before coming back to work.  :-/

I did get lots of really nice welcome back, and that made it all a lot easier to bear.  :-)

I'm getting stronger, and am now able to lift my arm all the way up both forward and to the side.  3 sets of 10 reps each way!  Next week, Paul says they'll add weights.  My current extra miserable exercise is the doorway pectoral stretch.  Wowwwwww!  With emphasis on the owwwww.

Today's new sneaky exercise is oscillating with the TheraBand FlexBar.  Sneaky because all you do is stand with the arm out and vibrate the bar.  But as Paul warned me, it definitely does wear out the shoulder!  Whew. Ready to relax a bit and watch the Blu-ray my husband got me for our anniversary!  With my peas.  :-)  Have a good night!

Another good day

I had a good day at PT today (no tears at all!), and have some changes in my daily exercise routine.  Pulleys are now on an "as needed for stretching" basis, and I've got stretchy elastic bands instead now.  Since I'm going to be working again, starting a week from today on August 20, I can't do my whole big set of exercises in the morning before I go.  So here's what my new routine is going to be like:

Mornings:

• Doorway/corner stretch for pectorals - 4x 30 sec
• Leaning punch stretch (we're not too sure what to call this one. I stand by a doorway, put my right hand on the wall and then lean through the doorway to stretch) - 10x 10sec
• Behind the back strap from hell, which is now the behind the back and over the shoulder strap from hell - 4x 30 sec

And then my band stretches:

• Stretch both hands to chest (bending the arms) - 20-30x
• Stretch both hands to pockets (not bending the arms)  - 20-30x
• Elbow bent pull out  - 20-30x
• Elbow bent pull across  - 20-30x

At night, I will do all of the above, and add the following:

• Wall pushups - 20x
• Stick raising thing - 20x
• On the back punches - 20x with 2-pound, hold 5 sec
• Rows on belly - 20x

Turning a corner?

I am really having a great day today.  PT wasn't too bad, even with the new exercises I did there (I did wall pushups and resistance strap.  I was even able to raise my arm from lying down to vertical, with a 1-pound hand weight.  Don't get me wrong - I felt every bit of it!  But I didn't feel completely wrung out, and didn't even get iced afterward.  I drove to and from PT, had lunch with my sweetie, did some grocery shopping, and had a nap.

I feel tight and a little sore, but it's just worlds better than it has been.  I felt really good, and baked a batch of cookies this evening.  We'll see how we roll tomorrow!  No more appointments until PT on Wednesday morning.

Aches and pains

I'm having a lot more ache, but fewer pains when I do things with my right arm.  That kick in the teeth just doesn't happen as often these days, since I've been using it more.  That's terrific!  But the ache is pretty much constant.

I drove!

I drove today, for the first time since June.  I need to drop off some Amazon returns to a UPS dropoff location, so looked one up and phoned a friend to meet me for lunch in the area.  Lunch was great, but the errand that got me out of the house was a bust; both UPS locations I tried were closed, and one of the packages was too big to fit in the dropoff box.  And I drove!  I have painful shoulder now, so I'm back at home waiting for my pain pill to start working.  But I drove!!

Surgeon's bill came today

Here's the bill from the surgeon:

Shoulder sling:  $113.00
Adjustments:  -$37.16
Insurance payment:  -68.26
Member responsibility:  $7.58

Surgery:  $4411.00
Surgery:  $2889.00
Adjustments:  -$5264.62
Insurance payment:  -$1831.85
Member responsibility:  $203.53

That's a total due of $211.11.  Total out of pocket for me for the surgery is about $350.00.  Not too bad.  I am also paying copays at each PT visit.

Progress!

I finally touched my spine with my right thumb with that behind the back strap from hell.  Yay, me.  Time for ice, though.  That is not a happy exercise at all.

Not a great day today

I'm super sore this morning.  I took a pain pill and am waiting for it to start working before I start my morning exercises.  My exercise set has changed a bit since last PT session with Kyle.  The pendulum swings are out unless I feel like I need them for warm-up stretching, which I might today.  Ditto the shoulder blade pinches, although those will be handy for stretching while on the computer at work.

So now my exercises are:

• Biceps curls with 3-pound weight (yay, me!)
• Isometrics (7 different exercises on the wall)
• Pulleys (3 minutes each way)
• Behind the back strap from hell (4 reps if I can manage it, hold for 30 seconds)
• On my back stick raising thing (2 sets of 10)
• On my back arm-up shoulder raising thing (2 sets of 10 with chili can, or 3 sets without, hold for 5 seconds)
• On my side elbow rotating thing (2 sets of 10 with chili can, or 3 sets without)

The stick raising is going well; it's already easier to get that stick up than it was when I started.  So that's a good thing.  I am not sure I should tell Kyle it's getting easier, though...  whenever something is easy in my PT sessions, he adds weight.  Cracks me up!  I can see the Diabolical Mad Scientist rubbing his hands and cackling in glee.  "Ahhh!  Ze silly patient zinks she can get avay wiz easy exercises, hm?  Ve vill show her vat is vat, eh?"  :-)

I'm feeling kind of discouraged at the amount of misery my shoulder is dealing out since I lost the sling on Tuesday.  I know that I have got to do my exercises but it's hard, because I know they're going to hurt while I'm doing them, as well as after.  But exercises must be done.  No pain, no gain, right?

Right??