Shoulder labrum repair??

[Simkie]

Better today, making progress on the pain front Yeah, keys, I sure do know better than to skip doses. Especially on the first night without a block. Don’t really know what I was thinking.

Most exciting news lately is the shower I got last night. Yay! Bit of a production, but I feel so much better.

One surprising thing that has really been nice to have is the heated mattress pad. Covers are just a bit too difficult, but I can crank up the pad and sleep comfortably without them. Something to consider for anyone who is facing shoulder surgery!

[keysfins]

Great idea for the heated pad. And a shower already? Must feel great! Probably just enough activity to get you crashed out again, too.

[Simkie]

No kidding, keys–showering is exhausting :lol:

Got through the night last night without waking up for pain meds, and today was really able to extend dosing from every four hours. Definitely starting to feel human again.

[keysfins]

Hey Simkie, how are you feeling?

[Simkie]

Not to bad, actually!

Pain decreased every day from surgery to being totally off of narcotics at about a week out. Couple days after that had a TERRIBLE night that was nearly WE NEED TO GO TO THE ER until I slapped a couple lidocaine patches on that brought it down to tolerable levels. Don’t know what happened. Doctor’s service wasn’t terribly concerned, but wrote script for a little more oxycodone. Couple days later, back to the former trajectory. Still on a lot of tylenol and some gabapentin, but really doing pretty well.

I am, however, BORED. :lol: There’s only so much TV watching one can do, you know? Reading real books is kind of tough, so I’m sticking with the tablet. Have gotten through all of Harry Potter and Hunger Games, plus a smattering of other Kindle Unlimited books.

There are some things that are difficult/impossible that I didn’t think about…like contacts. No way can I get my contacts in. Glad I have a pair of glasses! Also, blowing my nose is kind of tricky. So is putting on socks.

The cats are glad that I was able to open cat food cans without problems :lol: In the barn, I can lead a horse, but don’t think I could put on a halter. I’ve been able to put some flakes in a net, but not hang the bags. Can scoop up some poop piles, but cleaning a full stall would be really hard, if I could get it done at all.

I’m in the immobilizer for three weeks 24/7, then it looks like as needed during the day and on at night for another three weeks. It is HARD to keep it on and just not very comfortable. Boo. Actually ordered another one that promises to keep the weight off my neck. (Doc uses a previous model of this same line, so think am okay to switch.)

I guess that about sums it up Anyone have suggestions on tv/movies/books to keep me busy? :lol: We have Amazon Prime/Netflix/Hulu/Kinda Unlimited…

[keysfins]

Try Sudoku. It can become addicting, it is all logic-based.

Glad you are doing so well! Yeah, that immobilizer was no fun for DH.

[JanM]

Simkie-Dressage Chronicles 1 through 3 are all on Kindle.

Laurien Berenson writes great books (read from the first though, the characters change through the books, and it’s more fun that way) she’s LaurieB on here by the way, and they’re wonderful books.

Donna Ball’s Ladybug Farm series is fun, and her dog series is great too (there are two, one about Flash, and a search and rescue dog series).

[ReveilleandRinsie]

Simkie, I’m nine weeks out from a labrum repair, bicep tendon repair, and a little rotator cuff debridement. Sounds like you’re healing great! I do PT twice a week and do my exercises at home, and I’m able to clean stalls as of last week (don’t tell my physical therapist, though). I definitely can’t lift a hay bale or a feed sack, though - I’m technically limited to two pounds of lift only on my repaired arm. I think the eight week mark was the most recent turning point - I was able to get my arm over my head without pain, which meant hair in a ponytail, putting halters on, etc!

That first shower is SO good! I hope you remembered to shave everything (if you do shave) right before surgery … the inability to shave under my arms for five or six weeks sucked A Lot. I could put deodorant on, but ugh, I felt awful.

Best advice: do your exercises at home, and take the time you need to heal. (I know, I can’t really talk here, and neither can most horsepeople, but … yknow.) NCIS has a lot of episodes, and Criminal Minds!

[Simkie]

R&R, who knew that doing stalls and putting in a ponytail would ever be so thrilling, right? I hear you–totally can’t WAIT to be at that point! SO glad to hear your feedback on the timeline. Have to laugh about your comment on shaving…yep, sure did take care of everything pre surgery, but things are a little hairy now and the left over adhesive from surgery isn’t helping one bit. Ugh.

Thanks for the tips on reading material, Jan! Will check those out.

Keys, I used to LOVE sudoku. But Mr S is the MASTER at it and that’s kind of taken away the fun for me He does the impossible ones in his head, no notes.

The new immobilizer thing I ordered arrived and it is SO much more comfortable than what they sent me home in from the hospital. Arm is in same position with same restrictions, but I’m no longer strangling from the strap on my neck. Highly recommend for anyone facing this.

[pennyforyourthoughts]

I had the awesome idea to go volunteer at a sleep away pony camp the day after my labral repair. Awesome idea. NOT. It worked out ok, but i was too independent too fast for sure. Pain meds make me violently ill, so i’ve never taken them. I did ok with advil/tylenol switched off.

Hair tip? Soon you’ll be cleared for passive motion. bend over at the waist, dangle arm, bend at elbow. I could get my hair up on my own by day 4 (because while the pony kids LOVED it, I’m not the “play with my hair” type.

As for riding, the worst part (besides tacking) was dismounting. Most of us swing down and our arms stay up on the reins/saddle/mane/whatever. Pro Tip? put your bad arm hand in your pocket or grab on to a belt loop. Otherwise you’ll be in the dirt from the pain from the involuntary reaching motion.

[Simkie]

GUYS GUESS WHAT!

I was actually able to put in contacts today! Yay! :lol:

penny, I can’t even imagine pony camp less than a week after surgery. Were you in an immobilizer thing??? I could barely put on my own PANTS, much less be productive with other people!

Doctor tomorrow for my first post surgical visit and first “real” PT. Hopefully all good news. I feel pretty good. Biggest problem right now is sleeping in the immobilizer…which is supposed to continue until 6 weeks post. Ugh.

Overall, though, this experience has been SO much easier and better than my hip labrum surgery. I was really afraid it was going to be as bad, but it’s not even in the same ballpark.

Next hurdle? We’re moving in two weeks. Fun!

[walktrot]

Glad to hear things are moving along. If I recall correctly I didn’t have to use an immobilizer, which I guess is really a good thing.

So if you’re moving in 2 weeks does that mean you can sit tight and supervise?

[Simkie]

Not a whole lot to report here Four weeks out and into real PT, which is mainly passive stretching. Ho-hum.

And YUP walktrot, I supervise. And point! It’s all pro packing and pro loading and pro horse moving. Ms S and I will drive out with the small animals and the horse trailer loaded with hay, then he will come back to supervise the horse loading, the packing and the house loading. Then he flies back. I will be alone when the horses arrive, but I imagine the driver guys will be helpful with that piece and horses can just go in a paddock together. Shouldn’t be hard to toss hay with my good arm.

I should be off of the immobilizer at night by then, THANK GOD, because we’re going to be in an empty house and on an air mattress for awhile until all of our crap catches up with us.

I do have a copy of the operative report if anyone is curious about the specific details of what all went down. I think it’s kind of neat

[JanM]

Since the horses will be outside in the paddock, is there someway DH can line up enough hay bales, cut the string, and then you haul on flake at a time? Or can he put out a round bale that will last long enough so you won’t have to do hay?

If you can’t do the air mattress, a friend had surgery where she couldn’t sleep flat for a while, so she went to La-Z-Boy (or however it’s spelled), and bought a quick delivery recliner (apparently they keep some in stock, either regular or floor models). Then when she didn’t need it any longer, she sold it.

[Simkie]

That’s the plan, Jan! No round bales, but the small squares are easy enough to deal with one hand.

And <whispers> I cleaned a couple stalls today. I was VERY cognizant of how I was moving and stayed faaaaaar away from anything that even hinted at hurting. No big deal! (We’ll see how tomorrow is.)

[Wojjie]

Simkie - I missed this entire thread! I just read a few lines, and will go back and read through it all, but I wish I had seen it sooner! I had this same surgery in May, and I could have given you many ideas/tips for those first 3 weeks. Darn it. I had a pretty good surgery with Twin Cities Orthopedics [right shoulder with Bankhart repair…], recovery, PT, and now - 6 months later - I can tighten a girth pretty well, and just have soreness in my ELBOW. I have nearly full ROM; just a little difficulty reaching up behind my back but otherwise, full and although still needing to gain strength to be back to 100 % there, no pain. You will be fine. [One of the PT exercises was to stand facing a wall, hold hand up at shoulder level at a comfortable distance in front of you, and press a squishy wall onto the wall, and make circles. So…basically…curry the wall with a small squishy ball. That is when I went to the barn and curried, and when I knew I’d be ok.]

I’ll read your story tonight; GOOD LUCK. Wish I could come clean your stalls!

P.S. - I figured out that I was on the road for work in October/Nov [field work with lots of overtime and long long days after which checking COTH just didn’t happen…] so that’s why I missed your thread.

[Wojjie]

Wait, … what? You’re moving? When? to where? where is the thread about that!? and the barn-shopping, etc…
??

[Simkie]

Oh man! We’ve been in the “we’re moving” process since … July? I don’t know if there’s one thread, more comments peppered throughout other stuff. Work is taking my husband to CT, and I like him enough to go with We’re in the final stretch and really have a week left in MN.

I’ve heard fabulous thing about Twin City ortho and not surprised you had good results there! I love the currying exercise. Certainly not there yet, but I really do feel pretty good.

I do have a friend who comes out to do stalls, but had the farrier out yesterday and got a little carried away. Not a normal thing for me right now for sure!

[Wojjie]

Good for you! How exciting! I’ll search for your other posts about where you’re moving to, how you found a place and all, etc. etc. But darn it, it would have been fun to meet you in person in MN before you left. I believe we exchanged some information around the time of the Transworld horse rescue effort in Dec. of 2015. If I didn’t work full time, I’d volunteer to help IM and load your horses on moving day.
Have you sold your place here, or were you renting? I guess I’ll be able to keep in touch here on the COTH.
Keep up with the stretching exercises; strengthening can com later, but stretching and loosening now is very important, or as I understand it, you can loose that range of movement.
Keep posting! Good luck with the move.

[Simkie]

I know, we just haven’t been here long! Not even two and a half years. We pretty much just got our place set up the way we like, and it’s time to go. People buying it don’t even have horses. Sigh.

We’re going to Newtown, CT for a job relo. My husband works for a company that’s headquartered in Stamford. Will be a huge change of pace! Bonus: lots of top notch vets and farriers and trainers and other assorted horse people. Con: CRAAAZZEEEEE costs. Wow.

My shoulder continues to feel pretty awesome. Cleaned two stalls last night, filled hay bags, did water (all heavy lifting with the “good” arm!) My hip is honestly the bigger problem, and it’s been an issue since surgery 3 years ago…or before that, I guess, because we went to the OR for a reason!

I have one PT session left for the shoulder and one left for the hip, and then we’re outta here. I hope I can find someone talented in CT. The shoulder stuff, frankly, feels like the “easy” question. It’s coming along so well. I hope to find some answers for the hip, though…