I graduated!

I went to see Dr. Latshaw today, for my second post-surgical followup visit.  I told him that my physical therapy brutes said he did good work and that I'm recovering well.  My range of motion is great, and he gave me thumbs-up to do whatever I can do.  The risk of re-injuring it at this point is very remote.  I won't be pull-starting any lawnmowers at any time ever, but I've got a clean bill of health and don't have to go back to see him again unless I think I need to.  He says I've graduated!  He also called me young, which does me good considering I've had another birthday this week. :-)

I am also phasing out of my physical therapy and into home exercises only.  I have another week or so of PT, and then my PT brutes will be history.  Good deal!

I really am feeling good for the most part.  I get my twinges here and there, but my baseline is pain-free, which I can tell you is a big improvement over before surgery (and post-surgery, too!).

Sleeping

Sleeping is getting somewhat better as I heal.  I take a 50-mg Tramadol before bed, along with my regular Benadryl, and it enables me to sleep on my right side a little bit.  My doctor didn't want to give me too strong a pain killer for bedtime, because he didn't want me to sleep on that shoulder so long that I damaged it.  It helps, but I'm still not getting as much solid sleep as I'd like.  I guess it'll come, too.

I really wish that I'd requested 10 weeks of disability instead of 8.  My shoulder was pretty much healed and moving pretty well at 8 weeks, but the sleeping problems really made going back to work for a full day difficult at first.

Life gets in the way

It's a lot more difficult to get my morning and evening exercise sets done now that I am back working again.  :-(  I have a new stretch that is supposed to be done in bed, though, so that is definitely workable!  Good times, folks.  Good times!

My forms for the Intermittent FMLA have been received back from my surgeon's office and faxed on to my disability insurance company.  This keeps me from getting in trouble at work if I have to miss time due to PT or painful shoulder.