I have to have yet another Surgery, Torn rotator cuff

[johnniebear]

I  fell a few days after Christmas on my back deck  just down three stairs,  thanks to this  demyelinating disease.  I turned my head and BAMMM down I went.

I'm really feeling down and depressed over yet another surgery. After I got out of the Dr's  office and was in my car,  is ok to say that I started crying..


I fell backwards and extend my left arm out..
It was a  fight the get the  MRI,  I had the MRI  this past week and had a follow up with my PCP, all he could say after  looking at the  report this is BAD -BAD  and you need surgery.   I have two tears in rotator cuff and bunch of other stuff I've seem to hurt that also needs repair.   I see the ortho surgeon on Wednesday.


WHen I fell I didn't go to the Dr for weeks,   I was just trying to endure the pain,  after my wife said go have it looked at I went  & they did  x-ray and said no broken bones,  however my PCP said  I failed the exam and he thought it was a torn rotator cuff.

I hit the trifecta with out any prize,   this will be three years in row with one surgery a year.  I'm right handed  and need surgery on my left shoulder so that's good  :-/)

I'll give you some idea how bad it is,   lets say if I had a tee-shirt on a hanger and wanted to hang it in the closet, I can't raise my arm that much  and then the popping starts.  

total surgeries, both ankles, both knee's and back surgery twice, and I still need to have neck surgery.

Oh well,   another summer of not cutting  the grass....


              BOOO  WHOOO  FOR ME,
I really feel sorry for my wife,  yet once again having to go  above and beyond to help me..  



Take care.
Johnniebear,    

[Mike_Shuswap]

Sorry to hear it John. Darn stairs!

Take care

Mike

[Lulu54]

this injury sure sounds pretty common.  JB, I'm glad yo u decided to share this - get it done soon and you might not miss out on all that lawn mowing after all. hugs, L

[wheeliegirl1]

I'm having to go through this surgery too very soon on my left shoulder also. I feel your pain. (((hugs)))

[HVAC]

Sorry John.

Alex

[PastorDan]

I worked in building safety for over 17 years.  The number of injuries from falls on stairs is astounding.  Before you build something with stairs again, look into that issue carefully.  (If nothing else, ask me!)

Use great caution on every stairway.  We with compromised equilibrium should avoid stairs as much as possible, even the short flights.

[anon07072023]

Sorry for all the medical problems that you've been having.

My partner had rotator cuff surgery last year - they said she had a tear the size of about quarter and some other stuff. They did a nerve block before the surgery, which was on a Thurs and she was back to work by Tues.  She never took any pain killers.  She did PT I think for 6 wks or so.

We were talking to a friend of ours on Sat. Her best friend that she's always telling us about fell 3 stairs a couple of weeks ago. She hit her head and had a big gash on the back of it, so they went and grabbed a bunch of towels and called an ambulance.

Her friend was being her typical self, flirting with the guys in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. After they all arrived there, my friend said she was laughing & joking and then started to slur her words. They quickly did a ct scan & found bleeding on her brain & a blood clot so rushed her into surgery. They had to put her on life support. Now she shows no brain activity and they're taking her off life support ( I think they were going to do it some time yesterday).  ALL OF THAT FROM JUST FALLING 3 STAIRS - unbelievable, and very sad!  
After hearing all of that, I'd say that you lucked out by only tearing your rotator cuff. :-/

[PastorDan]

John, my oldest brother had a torn rotator cuff repaired about a decade ago.  He seemed to think it was a significant ordeal at the time, but recovered fine.  His was also due to a fall, in snow, back when he lived in Albuquerque.  We will pray that it all goes well for you, with an outcome that seems too good to be true, but is.

[SarahL2491]

ah, hang out with us JB, we're good company and yeah, somehow we didn't manage to stock up some spare parts on ourselves, too bad!

You will do fine and then be better shape than some of us!  We gotta get you bigger glasses to wear, huh! (just kidding)  Hurry up, get it done and GET WELL

[essdipity]

Hey, JB, I'm so sorry to read this. As one who's had a bunch of orthopedic surgeries herself, I know how long, painful and frustrating the process can be.

Rotator cuff stuff is supposed to be especially bad. Just make sure that you're adequately medicated and that you get into PT as promptly as the situation will allow.

And maybe you can find some new hobby or interest that will occupy you as you heal, even if it's a new online game. Just something to perk you up. The days are getting longer and warmer, and soon football practice will be upon us. That should give you a little cheer.

Always feel free to come here and vetch as much as you want, about anything you want. Even though we can't do much but listen, we'll sure do that, and maybe come up with some creative ideas for you as time goes by.

Sending you cyber hugs,

ess

[maestro1959]

I just had surgery for that after Thanksgiving, and although you know we tend to heal more slowly I have progressed quite well.

My best advice is to be anything but brave when it comes to pain control.  Let them help you to be comfortable.  Also, do not rush yourself in the healing process.  That will only serve to hold you back.

Blessing for an easy surgery, and quick recovery.

Beth

[twopack]

Hey Johnniebear.  Look at this way.  This warranty work isn't too bad as long as they're willing to do the repair work.  You only really have to worry if you hear anyone talking about being totaled or (heaven forbid!) replacement costs.

I appreciated the tears shed though.  I had my own sob fest after an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon last week.  He delayed my return to work from knee surgery for an additional three weeks (not to mention I lost track of my car keys between the time I unlocked the door and the time I was ready to place the key in the ignition- grrrrr).  I was just missing the good-old-days when things used to come so much easier :(

You'll do fine as long as you follow all the therapy instructions to the letter.  Really, you will.  I know this because my husband's had rotator cuff surgery........................  FOUR times!

Maybe you can think of some special ways to say thank you to your wife.  A series of little surprises maybe that you could get ready now and have ready for gifting her with later?  Hard as it is to be us in these situations I always think its worse to be the caregiver.  I'm impressed you're thinking of what this means for your wife and I bet she would be thrilled beyond words to be shown how much you appreciated what she does.

Keep us posted on your progress please.

[IamGiGi]

I have had 2 rotator cuff repairs... the last one wasn't caused my injury... 2 years ago, but I was just diagnosed with ms.  My husband has watched me go through 20 surgeries with me.  The last one was a 7 hour back surgery, which was extremely affected my heart and the day after my surgery I had to be transferred by ambulance to a heart hospital for another 10 days.  So! As a spouse... I wish I had done something ahead of time to do some things just for him.  That was a GREAT IDEA!  It is a tough road to recovery.  Talk to your doctor ahead of time about what he allows for pain recovery in and out of the hospital.  A lot of docs are terrified about narcotics.  Hopefully he will listen to you if you need them!

[Maks322]

It's ok to feel sad, this all s*cks.  It really does.  But our spouses though they truly have no idea how it really feels, they do want to be there.  They are as supportive as one can be without really knowing.
Good luck with your surgery,
Wish you all the best
Maureen