bbgonnabe’s BodyBlog

I saw the orthopaedic yesterday. I no longer have to wear the sling. He said I have excellent range of motion and that by now the re-attachment of the labrum to the cup of the shoulder joint has healed. Based on that, he ordered a change in the physical therapy. The PT will now start giving me exercises [elastic bands, 2-5lb dbells] to strengthen the atrophied muscles. [Thank you, God!] He was quick to say "No 60lb dumbells!". He said that he knew I would try to overdo it. I promised that I wouldn’t. I hope I remember the promise when I see that rack of dbells.

The second procedure he did during the surgery is going to take two more weeks or longer to heal. That’s where he shaved bone off the underside of the acromion [bony part of the shoulder that attaches to collar bone and hangs out over the shoulder joint itself]. My PT said it’s similar to a fracture healing. That and some scar tissue from the surgery are giving me the most pain now when move in certain ways or get jostled in some way.
I’m very happy about this milestone but I know there’s a long road ahead to get back to where I was before the surgery. There will be an even longer road to regain what I lost a little over a year ago when this whole thing started. "If you’re going to play then you have to pay."

Speaking of paying, I’m grateful to have insurance even though it isn’t the best. I saw on the computer monitor that my insurance had paid the doc over $7,000 for the surgery and two office visits. The thing that is killing me is that my physical therapy co-pay is $30 per visit. By mid-Jan, I will have had 16 post-op. I already had several pre-op to see if I could avoid surgery and/or strengthen my muscles for the surgery. [Not to mention the co-pays for the surgery itself and the anesthesiologist plus $200 for a special cooling pad device.] I don’t have much in monetary reserves since I was already on long term disability. I can’t afford more injuries like this one. If only I hadn’t participated in that diabetic resistance training study! I normally didn’t lift as heavy as one of the protocols required, especially with only one warm-up set! Since I’m pretty careful on my own, I’m hoping I will be able to train without serious injury. Again, I am grateful to have insurance and fortunate that I was able to save a little for emergenices.

Oh, regarding the comment in my last entry about my workout partner’s pecs having grown, I’m not sure they have but he’s gone up on pressing by 30%. Prior to my surgery he was dbell bench pressing 60lb ea arm. [Mind you, he had only been back in the gym for two months after years off and he’s no spring chicken. ] So here we are now five weeks later and he’s doing 180lb on the Hammer Strength incline. I have to be careful not to be envious and not get frustrated that I’ve lost over a year on upper body plus my pecs were never all that big or strong. Gotta watch the comparisons!

It’s great to be back at the gym even though I can only do legs and cardio.  I’ve lost 6lb which scares me a little.  My arm has atrophied.  I wonder if I’ve lost muscle in my legs even though that’s only been one month.  I’m eating as much if not more so I guess it must be muscle loss.  However, my strength is essentially the same on the leg press.  For cardio, I prefer the elliptical machines but that’s too risky with the current condition of my shoulder.  I opted for the treadmill.  It was also good to be back with my workout partner.  I think his pecs have grown!  Bummer!  LOL.

Well, it will have been three weeks tomorrow since the shoulder surgery. I have had very little pain since the first week for which I am grateful. I was able to stop the narcotics on day 2. I’ve been allowed to take my arm out of the sling most of the day for two weeks now. I’m not allowed to lift more than 7lbs with that arm. My bi, tri and delt have noticeably atrophied.  The orthopaedic said it would take about a month for the labrum (cartilage around the cup of the shoulder joint) to heal where it was re-attached to the bone.
I started physical therapy this past week. They focused primarily on loosing up the muscles that had tightened up in order to "protect" the shoulder. I have ten more sessions at least. My church homegroup prayed for my shoulder the evening after my first pt evaluation. When I went in the next day, the pt found that there was greatly increased range of motion in the shoulder. I mean greatly!
All in all, things have gone a lot better than I was told they would. I was grateful a few days ago to be able to wash my hair with BOTH hands!

Update in a couple of weeks.  Looking forward to building the muscle back and growing from there.