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A Shoulder Saga

Jamie wish you would at least talk to someone about PRP. Your story is so much like mine. I was getting desperate when I decided to try it. It has been 19 mths. and I feel better now than I did two years before I had it done. I am serious--I haven't taken any pain meds. for my shoulder since before Christmas!! I had terrible arthritis--humerus head was flat and 3 partial rotator cuff tears. Now I can put a 1/2 gallon of milk on a shelf above my head, drive my riding mower for hours without favoring that shoulder and reach clear out to pull a car door shut. (Before the shot I had to reach across with my other arm to close the car door.) Although I think it does work better for shoulders, I am going to talk to my doctor about doing my remaining knee as it is starting to get a little worse. In any case, good luck!
 
@Jamie Hugs to you and best wishes for a very successful shoulder replacement. I continue to improve with my left replacement and the right one is excellent! Still can't hook a bra behind my back but oh well that's not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things :snork:
 
Jamie I haven't been on the site in so long. You remember I had both my shoulders replaced. My surgeon ( got lucky had the chief at joint disease) was able to save the rotator cuff in both shoulders. Compared to every other replacement this ones a breeze came home in a sling. Had to elevate ice and had PT. The worst thing was that it was during the summer and I couldn't get my hair in a clip. My friend came and chopped it off
I've had the PRP in my right knee last November and it' doing really good. Had it done twice but the cost is expensive. But it's worth every penny. Staring next month when I get my special Medicare card he will be injecting euflexor ( can't spell) for extra cushioning
Best investment I ever did
I don't know if you had your surgery yet but if you did wishing you a very speedy recovery


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@Jamie - sorry to hear about your shoulder. Do you have a date for surgery?
 
No, I see my surgeon tomorrow and we're going to talk things over. He may want another MRI to see how it's doing. I really feel like it's going downhill, though, so I expect to talk seriously about the surgery.
 
Kssii said:
Jamie wish you would at least talk to someone about PRP. Your story is so much like mine. I was getting desperate when I decided to try it. It has been 19 mths. and I feel better now than I did two years before I had it done. I am serious--I haven't taken any pain meds. for my shoulder since before Christmas!! I had terrible arthritis--humerus head was flat and 3 partial rotator cuff tears. Now I can put a 1/2 gallon of milk on a shelf above my head, drive my riding mower for hours without favoring that shoulder and reach clear out to pull a car door shut. (Before the shot I had to reach across with my other arm to close the car door.) Although I think it does work better for shoulders, I am going to talk to my doctor about doing my remaining knee as it is starting to get a little worse. In any case, good luck!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the recommendation, but I really can't pursue that route. That treatment is not covered by insurance and it's not something we can afford to try as an experiment. I know the replacement works and I'm good with that. I must have a good and quick fix as I am a caregiver for my husband. No time to try things and hope they work...gotta get back in commission as soon as possible!
 
Hi, Susanne.....good to hear you're doing well. Since I've been dealing with shoulder issues in one form or another for 3 or 4 years, I'll be glad to have this resolved. The arthroscopic surgery I had 2 years ago did a great job of getting me through my husband's medical issues. He's fairly stable now and it's a good time to now get my shoulder taken care of once and for all. I figure at age 68 this replacement should do me for the rest of my days.
 
Saw the surgeon and we talked about having the replacement. I'm ready. He's ready. It's happening. I even asked if he thought it was the right thing to do now and he laughed. He said, it was ready when I saw you two years ago! But, thankfully he does not believe I've damaged the rotator cuff and I'll be able to have a regular replacement.

I learned some things, though. We talked about the short stem implant. He said it's fine but more often used in younger patients who might need a revision at some point. It's obviously easier to remove for revision surgery. But he said, contrary to what the manufacturer brags about on their web site, recovery is not easier/faster/less painful or anything. It's the same.

I wasn't aware of exactly how the surgery went for a shoulder replacement, but I'm smarter now. What I didn't know is the rotator cuff is cut and then sewn back together. Well, duhh.....now knowing that, I realize that this recovery WILL be painful and long. When he described it, it sounded just like a knee but worse because you must be in a sling for six weeks. So, now I understand why all of you who have had shoulders replaced report significant pain for quite a while.

We have some planned trips in October, so the surgery will be in November. I'm thinking it may be the day after Thanksgiving, but the scheduler is so busy that we haven't zeroed in on a date yet. Maybe Monday....she's supposed to call me back.

I am dreading that long recovery. I may not be able to type for six weeks! That will be very difficult for me as I'm on the computer for hours each day!

Looks like I'm just one day in the hospital so hubby thinks he can stay by himself rather than going to a respite place for a few days. We'll see about that.... Puppy dog will go to the kennel until I'm sure I can take her out for short walks in the front yard. She's so spoiled, that's the only place she'll go!
 
Jamie. It really isn't as bad as you make it out to be. Maybe I should have asked more questions but trusted the chief surgeon at joint disease for both my shoulders
Granted there is pain but nothing like a knee remember there is no weight bearing! Plus if the rotator cuff is in tact like mine was recovery is less painful than rotator cuff surgery ( my friend had to be in a fitted body sling). I don't remember how long after I had PT but the massages were great and the exercises will give you great guns think madonna arms
I was able to drive myself to PT when I had mine done the hardest part was washing my hair like I said I chopped it off because I couldn't put it up in a clip during the summer. Did you have a chance to read back on my posts ( yes I know they're quite exciting to read) but honestly after 2 hips and a knee this one is not so bad. Also if you're used to sleeping on your back you need to prop your arm up under pillow. You'll do great. But after thanksgiving your shoulder might hurt even more from cooking and lifting turkey take a rest from lifting for awhile
Keep me posted as you get closer to your date
Thinking of you
Susanne


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Thought you might like to see this nice piccy of an arthritic humeral head! What a doozy, huh?

[Bonesmart.org] A Shoulder Saga
 
Awww.....Suzanne, you are such a sweetie! I really appreciate your honest assessment of what recovery might involve. Maybe my surgeon was just covering the bases with his description. After all, he's not the same one who did my knees and he doesn't do TKRs at all.....mostly just shoulders. I'm definitely going to keep your words in the front of my mind!

I think mine should be somewhat like yours since the rotator cuff should be in good shape. Time will tell!!!

Jo, lovely photo!!! I'm going to see if my doc with photograph mine.
 
Jamie, I agree with Suzanne -- the immediate recovery right after shoulder replacement was not so bad -- not nearly as bad as rotator cuff repair! Not as easy as hips but not terrible bad either. Wearing the sling is AWFUL but mostly the nuisance of it -- get some collared or high neck tops to give some cushioning between neck and sling.

I agree with Suzanne, too, that much of the PT felt good as you could really feel relief of it. And the massages did feel and hurt so good!

The first couple times putting sling off and on can be a little complicated so practice before if you can.

As I said over on MystickFairy, I may be right in there with you all doing shoulder fixing --- my left one is a cracklin, and poppin and hurting like crazy. Surgeon had said six-twelve months til we'd need to fix it. When I cancelled by appointment back in August, I guess I shouldn't have stretched it so much patting myself on the back for the gentle exercises that really must have made it all better - NOT. I remember thinking "good, we (the surgeon and I) were wrong. Its going to be all right!" Now, I'm thinking not so much. I'm hoping to make it to Christmas -- I'm closed from Christmas Eve to New Years -- maybe I'll be able to have ten days of recovery time! Then again, maybe its just a phase the old shoulder is going thru and it will be all better.

You said this was your non-dominant hand right? You'll be back to taking care of hubby in no time!
 
Thanks for the vote of confidence! I was concerned about the recovery because the surgeon indicated that he does cut the rotator cuff to have access to the joint. So, I figured recovery would then be much the same as if you had a rotator cuff repair. Maybe not since it's a clean cut and sew job. Guess I'll find out!

It is my non-dominate hand. I'm actually both right and left handed, so it doesn't really matter which shoulder it is for most things. But I'll definitely miss my two handed typing!

My surgery is now scheduled for the day after Thanksgiving. That was the soonest I could get in and if I didn't take that day, it would be the end of December! Yikes!!! All those people trying to get work done before the end of the year. My surgeon told me he'd be a busy guy during that time.
 
Good to hear you can have a "regular" shoulder replacement. It is useful hearing about these because I think I'll be needing one someday. My shoulder is basically shot but since I have pretty good function my OS doesn't want to operate. He says most people lose ROM and function. What did your OS say Jamie?
 
I had surgery scheduled for the day after Thanksgiving. My husband, who has a lot of health issues, was doing better and I thought I could squeeze it in. Nope. Shortly after getting it scheduled we learned that my sweet hubby's lung cancer returned and has now spread. So, shoulder again takes a back seat as I care for him and work to ensure whatever time we have left together is the best it can be. I'll get to the shoulder eventually. Those of you who posted about your recovery when you were home by yourself have given me confidence that I could do it just fine if he wasn't here to help. Thank you.
 
@Jamie I am sorry to hear about your dear hubby - :prayer: and :friends: for you both.
 
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