Wish me luck, please!

[Snattlerake]

Been there got the T shirt.

Yep, I remember the medieval torture device very well.
Stay on your meds because hit and miss doses don't give you the same pain relief. You have to maintain a level of medicine in your system for it to work. I've been on pain management for over 5 years and go every month to get checked. I could not function without them.

 

[Aries]

Best wishes, dealing with cervical fusions now, waiting on some more. I take half the prescribed meds because I don't like being loopy.

You get used to it after a while.

 

[Louro]

Best of luck, prayers sent.

 

[TerryMiller]

You've got my prayers as well. (A number of folks here at OSA have them too.) Unlike many of the other commenters, I can't say that I understand your pain. I've been blessed with good health and dang few injuries throughout my life. My biggest problem at 75 is an arthritic knee, which may also have a cyst. It only bothers me when I walk on uneven surfaces like slopes and such.

 

[DRC458]

Thanks, everyone! I suppose the good thing is, I have a pretty good idea what I've got to look forward to! Since this injury does not seem to be as serious as the first shoulder, I am hoping the repair procedure and recovery/rehab will not be as bad either! Call me naive or optimistic. Thanks for all the well wishes, prayers, and offers of help.

 

[2busy]

It's pretty much the same surgery and recovery. They had to remove part of my collar bone on my right shoulder with my partial tear rotator cuff surgery. I didn't get any rehab since I lived too far away according to them. Sucked to say the least.

 

[DRC458]

It's pretty much the same surgery and recovery. They had to remove part of my collar bone on my right shoulder with my partial tear rotator cuff surgery. I didn't get any rehab since I lived too far away according to them. Sucked to say the least.

Daaaayyyyyuuuuuuummmmmm! That does suck! Rehab hurts, but it's very crucial!

 

[BillM]

I'll make this the Cliff Notes version, 'cause it's a long story. I see an orthopedic surgeon Monday morning about my left shoulder. It started hurting me a full month ago, made a trip to the ER, had an X-ray and finally an MRI. I've already had surgery for a full-thickness rotator cuff tear on my RIGHT shoulder. The MRI on my left one shows a partial-thickness tear of the rotator cuff, a significant loss of cartilage, some bone spurs, and quite a bit of fluid build-up. I don't know what they do for partial-thickness tears or the cartilage loss, but I'm hoping it's not a repeat of what I went through with the right shoulder. That was no fun whatsoever! SO, please wish me luck and, if you're the praying kind, I would certainly appreciate your prayers as well! The pain level at times gets up there to about an 8 or 9. I have opioids I can take (due to back issues), but I really don't like to take them. I've been suffering through with quantities of acetaminophen and the occasional opioid (limiting myself to no more than one a day), but I can't keep this up forever. Something's gotta' give!

I use naproxen sodium & SWMBO uses ibuprofen, which don't have the toxicity problems acetaminophen has. They are blood thinners, so you would need to stop taking them a week or two before surgery. Talk to your doc about it when you see him next.

Bill

 

[DRC458]

Yeah, I've been on prescription-strength naproxen sodium every day for many years, as well as some other meds that act as blood thinners. Thus, the reliance on acetaminophen since it is not a blood thinner. I know, it has other drawbacks, but I don't need to add another blood thinner.

 

[Roadking Larry]

Good luck with what ever course of treatment you have to endure.
I had the "pleasure" of 3 shoulder surgeries last year.
Managed to tear up both shoulders in late 2019.
Left shoulder in January 2020, standard rotator cuff repair with associated bone spur clean up and such. Recovery and PT went well and the left shoulder is near 100% with no issues.
Right shoulder was also torn up in late December 2019 but the left was worse when we started. between toughing it out getting the left shoulder back up to speed the right shoulder was pretty much useless by the last week of June when I finally got in to get it fixed. 2nd go around on the right side after I blew out the bicep tendon in 2009. Mostly a pretty normal rotator cuff repair with bone spur and scar tissue clean up.
Right shoulder was doing good with PT and little no pain at the 6 week point when my gall bladder jumped up and tried to kill me. Spent 3 days in the hospital due to a gangrenous gall bladder.
Had the gall bladder removed the 1st week of August. Woke up from the gall bladder surgery, after they had been rooting around in my gut and all the associated mess with yanking out a diseased gall bladder and the first thing I remember was how bad my right shoulder was hurting. My guess is that after I was under anesthesia they had to move my fat ass around and managed to re-tear the fresh shoulder repair. Couldn't prove anything and basically had no recourse.
Toughed it out till the end of October and had the right side fixed again. Problem was that after the 1st two repairs and the fresh damage there wasn't enough left for a regular rotator cuff repair. so I had a Superior capsular reconstruction with allo-graft (cadaver graft) to put it back together.
A year later I have about 75-80% function on the right side and only occasional pain that I rarely need to take anything for.