I’d never in my life taken off a shirt that way before. It never occured to me to do it. I’ve always crossed my arms, grabbed the hem and pulled it over my head from there. Since that tendon was totally torn, I couldn’t raise my right arm using its own power at all. It didn’t hurt. I just didn’t work and I had to learn the “new” way to take off a shirt.
Good luck with your surgery. I hope you only have to have the “minor” part. The nerve block they did on me was pretty cool but took a looooooong time to wear off. It was many, many hours before I wasn’t numb any more.
Thanks, all. I am supposed to get there in 2.5 hours. We’ll see how it goes.
Yes, I’m married. That’s a help.
Walgreens didn’t have anything noteworthy, though I checked out two of them. I wish I had had the foresight, and that this was scheduled for longer in advance, so that I had mail ordered a few things. I may yet try my spring clamps on the edge of the bookshelf.
At the moment my wonder is about using ice. Their instructions refer to a “cryo-cuff”, one of which we have here from an old knee surgery, but it’s crossed out and “ice” is written in. I hope they give me a cooler with a pump in it, like one friend got, but just in case I get nothing I bought a couple water bottles last night.
I had a nerve block on my lower body, from chest down, years ago. It was for lithotripsy. I remember how odd it was to be temporarily separated from half of me, but not problematic.
We’ll see! Thanks everybody for all the great ideas and the kind wishes!
Haven’t done it for 6 months, but HAVE done it for a few weeks.
Pullover shirts are possible, but should be reasonably stretchy. You slide it over the bad arm, then use the other arm to stretch it over your head and work the other army into it.
I don’t recall whether you’re an XX or XY sort, so bras might or might not be an issue: those require a little practice. You might (if possible) want to have someone else help you there - you can use the good army to get the strap on the bad arm / shoulder, then have the other person fasten it in back. Alternately you can use the bad arm to pin one end of the unhooked bra against your stomach while you somehow sling the rest around your waist, fasten it with the good arm, then work it around the front way. Then you stick your bad hand through the strap, and use the good arm to do the rest of the work.
Some stretchy sports-type bras (like Decent Exposures) are another option.
Something to try: Wear a sling around the house for a few days before the surgery. That might give you some insight into things to accommodate your broken wing afterward.
Oh yeah - I don’t know if this would work for you, but with my most recent broken elbow, I found a formal sling was almost useless - the arm kept sliding out of it and I’d wind up with it drooping underneath my upper arm. Instead, I bought a long, thin scarf, knotted it, looped it around the neck/shoulder like a sling - and rested my wrist on the bottom of the loop.
That reduced the elbow movement, and my hand stayed put. Sheer dumb luck that I tried this - I was carrying a purse that I wore cross-body, and realized that resting the wrist on the purse worked pretty darn well :).
having already been through this with the former fiance let me say this: ice, ice and more ice. ice is your friend. did i mention you will need to ice the whole area regularly? a lot?
also don’t be a hero. take the painkillers as prescribed. stay ahead of the pain if at all possible. your body will thank you later and you will heal faster. take the pain pills as prescribed.
one last bit: stay on top of your medical coverage. the fiance ran into a snafu that delayed his starting PT and that set him back far further in his recovery. make sure you’re on track to begin PT when cleared to by the surgeon.
My report back to everybody: The surgery was done without incident. I lucked out, and some of the posts drive home how lucky I am. I got the easier version of the surgery, and did not have to separate my supraspinatus from its anchor point. He said he got a huge solid chunk of calcium out of it , the largest he has ever seen in this surgery. He had to cut into the tendon somewhat but did not need to part it. He said this thing should have caused me a great deal of pain and trouble.
I am typing now with the sling off. But that’s the only thing I’ve tried without it.
Having taken my narcotic for the morning, I find it’s a little hard to stay focused, so away with me - but I am most happy that you have all taken the time to help me out!
Thank you Mama Zappa. I agree with you regarding the suggestion I take retroactive steps. I have been wearing one occasionally, though. I’m male. Bras are not an issue, but it did take a good 20 minutes to mow my chest and back, from the centerline all the way out to my arm and down to nipple level. This is the longest hair I own, and there’s so much it actually makes my shirts fit a little differently and unsymmetrically.
Scubaqueen, thanks. I am taking meds every 6 hours, as I understand you need less of them if you do it this way.
I came to this party late. VWife had her shoulder rebuilt 2 days after last Christmas, and on re-read, her procedure was probably much more involved than yours. Her entire meniscus separated from the bone, so your mileage will vary.
Don’t even try to use your arm for whatever period the doctor says. Undoing your surgery is extremely easy.
Take your meds religiously, and be vigilant with your therapy.
Consider sleeping on the couch as a step between the recliner and your bed. VWife found that the couch back made a good nighttime support for the healing arm.
Beware of any pets that like to jump on you, or camp on your chest when you lay down. Also, be vigilant to reduce or eliminate trip and fall hazards.
This is an interesting one. I heard it also from a friend on Monday. The picture I get is that the victim tries sleeping in whichever internal 3-way corner of the couch puts the surgical arm on top. Last night in the recliner was OK, but it was only my first. Don’t know how long it will be before I get tired of it.
uh, yeah. about the recliner. the ex fiance lived in that recliner at night for quite a while, which wasn’t much fun for either of us, frankly, but he needed to be comfortable and lying down flat was impossible, even with elventy-billion pillows for support.
even after he healed, trying to lie in bed wasn’t possible for a while. gravity tended to put too much pressure on the muscles, etc. and made him miserable. you may run into the same thing - or not. it just depends on the surgery and how well you recover. i recommend you don’t force the issue. the shoulder will let you know when you can go back to a regular bed.
I personally find it hard to sleep sitting up at all, and don’t sleep well on my back. Gotta be on my side (though I often move onto my back during the night).
When you feel up to lying on the regular bed, you can try using extra pillows to prop your army in the desired position. Maybe one of these full-body pillows in front of you or something.
I sleep on the floor on my stomach with my arms at my sides–a position that is physically impossible with a full cast on one’s arm.
It took me two nights to fall asleep in a fetal position with my encasted arm over my head–a position I slept in for quite a while after the final cast came off.
Wow, that sounds like it would be really uncomfortable. Can I ask how you came to sleep in that position? For a while I slept on the floor but would be rolled halfway between one side and my stomach, and have the lower arm below my head. It’s hard for me to picture sleeping as you do!
I had surgery on my left non-dominant hand and it’s been a month without use of it. I mainly slowed waaay down and didn’t overdo it.
That said, I love my Windows 7 voice controls for my lap-top. It took about an hour to configure, and to train it to my voice, but right now I love it!
Things are going surprisingly well right now. I’m about at the 40 hour mark, haven’t had any painkillers in 8 hours, slept in the recliner and then napped a little bit in the bed, and am typing fairly comfortably. The pain is very roughly similar to what it was presurgery, though distributed a little differently. I am slowly and carefully using the arm, and getting used to where the limits of comfortable motion are. They did tell me that, because they did not separate the tendon from the bone, I could let comfort be my guide. After all the warnings I got, I’m surprised - I guess the warnings were aimed at the situation where they would have separated the tendon.
Wow. Another nearly 15 hours on, and it certainly hurts way less than it did presurgery. Still has sensitive areas in the range of motion, and I’m guarded about moving it, but just sitting here feels fantastic!
Feel free to warn me not to get cocky. I don’t mean to.
