Reverse Shoulder Replacement Long Wait for Reverse Shoulder Replacement.

My rotator cuff surgery was on dominant arm so I get your concern. I had to rely on my 19 YO son. He was helpful but sometimes needed extra reminders. I identified any jar I was going to need opened and had my son do the night before or in am. He quickly learned that I'd help with fixing food for him but only if he brought things up from freezer and did anything that required lifting. In addition to freezing meals, I browned ground beef, made meatloaf ready to pop into oven and cut cooked chicken, pork chops, etc into chunks. I could then quickly mix with other ingredients and fix dinner.
 
Celle, I managed quite well on my own. The main thing I needed help with was getting groceries. I ordered them online and a friend picked them up for me and brought them by. I was able to drive at 6 weeks, so I didn't need that help for too long.

I could dress just fine, but it took time to pull clothes on one-handed. I only wore very oversize shorts and t-shirts for those first 6 weeks. But since I wasn't going anywhere or seeing anyone, it was fine. I only needed a bath aid to wash my hair. I could shower just fine once I was allowed to do so.

You might want a foam wedge to put in bed or on the couch. Many surgeons want you to sleep or rest semi-sitting up and it is more comfortable than lying flat for the first few weeks. I recliner can work too, but sometimes I just wanted to be on a couch or bed.

I was allowed from the very beginning to use the hand on my surgery arm, so I was able to open jars or containers and do some chopping for cooking. I didn't actually do any of that for a couple of weeks, though, because I had food in the freezer. I drank the Ensure bottles each day for extra protein and did have trouble opening them. I finally figured out that the caps would loosen easier if you turn the bottle upside down and bang it hard on the counter. That breaks the seal and the top twists off easily.

Amazingly I was also able to type on the computer with no problem. My office chair has arms and I could easily rest my surgery arm on the chair for support and just use my fingers to type. Unlike when I had my arthroscopic shoulder surgery and could not type at all without great pain, this was a big surprise.

Everything I've heard says that reverse shoulder replacements are slightly easier to recover from than a total because of the different approach and muscles that are not cut. I hope this is the case for you.
 
Thank you both for your advice.

I think this is going to be OK. I know I'll have to supervise and remind my husband when things need doing - but that's par for the course nowadays, anyway. The series of surgeries and complications he's had in the past couple of years seem to have dulled his memory and initiative.
 
@Celle I hate that you have to have surgery but I guess it's better to get it done and get on with life. I am sure you will have everything organised in preparation. Hope your appointment goes well!
 
I saw my surgeon this morning at the public hospital. I was officially approved for surgery there, but I was told I can now expect to wait for 4-6 months for a surgery date.

I was hoping it would be much sooner than that, so I feel like throwing all of my toys out of the cot.
There's nothing I can do about it, except hope for a 4-month wait, rather than a 6-month wait.
Maybe I'll get a new shoulder for Christmas.
 
I wish you didn't have to wait so long! Of course, most of us are hoping the rest of this year goes quickly!
 
So sorry you have such a long wait @Celle ! It's the same here. So many surgeries postponed due to the pandemic. Hang in there!
 
Celle, I'm so sorry to hear of this long wait. I hope your shoulder cooperates and doesn't worsen too much during that time. It's awful when we are at the mercy of scheduling. I understand why this is happening but it doesn't make it any better. Sending (((HUGS)))).
 
Thanks, Jamie. I'll have to learn to be patient.

When the Registrar and my OS examined my shoulder and its ROM, it made some quite impressive clunking noises and we could all feel the joint move (ouch!). It didn't do that back in February, when my OS last saw me.
I'm hoping that made them think my shoulder replacement was a little more urgent.

They kept asking me if I was sure I want this surgery. You bet! I told them I would have it next week, if given the chance. Of course, I'm anxious, but I'm sick of it the way it is now.

My surgeon also asked if the anaesthetist had phoned or emailed me about her decision to have me in the public hospital, with an ICU close at hand. She hasn't and he said he was going to talk to her again, and also speak to Charlie Brown, the anaesthetist I had when my last TKR was done. I would like to think that could shorten my wait, but I hardly dare to hope so.
 
Hmmmm.....that would sound like a positive thing if your surgeon wanted to discuss your case with with the anesthetist now. I too would think there was a possibility they might work you in sooner than 4-6 months. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

If it's any consolation, my shoulder made lots of noise before surgery too. It never hurt, but sometimes it would pop and feel like it was dislocating slightly. Very strange and nasty feeling, in my opinion. Every time it happened I just knew I was scraping bones together that shouldn't be doing that.
 
I too would think there was a possibility they might work you in sooner than 4-6 months
I hope you're right, Jamie.
Maybe my surgeon can pull a few strings, but I dare not hope too much.

It seems as if all the surgery scheduling is done by ancillary staff, not doctors. They're clerical staff, who have to "follows the rules" and the rules are "First come, first served."

When I quietly expressed my surprise and disappointment at being told I would have to wait another 4-6 months, I received a little lecture from the Registrar - nice, but a lecture nonetheless.
It was along the lines of "You get no special treatment just because you started out as a private patient. You have to take your turn, along with everyone else."

I think what annoys me the most is the sheer waste of time and resources and I'm getting tired of fighting.
  • I had to work hard to convince my own doctor's partner that I needed a shoulder X-Ray, when I had already had an ultrasound scan. She said the X-Ray wouldn't show anything more than the scan had.
  • When the shoulder X-Ray did show more, including that I have advanced shoulder OA, I had to insist I wanted a referral to a specialist. (She said the specialist wouldn't do anything.)
  • I saw the shoulder OS, who immediately said I needed a reverse shoulder replacement.
  • He scheduled me for surgery in about 6 weeks' time, but the anaesthetist said she wasn't happy to have me in a private hospital.
  • My OS then referred me to the public hospital, as needing surgery.
  • One month later, before Covid lockdown, I received a letter from the hospital, saying I had been approved (by a committee) as needing an out-patient appointment. Some people are turned down, even at this stage, as health funding is limited and everything is assessed on a points system. (My husband was refused surgery for a cataract in one eye, as he had already had surgery on the other eye.)
  • I attended my appointment on Friday, 5 months after my initial appointment with my OS, only to discover that this appointment wasn't to arrange a surgery date, but to assess, once again, whether I needed surgery, or not. I hadn't even been placed on the surgery waiting list. So, that's 3 times I've been assessed, to establish that I need surgery.
  • My OS and the Registrar having agreed that I do need surgery, I was then given a card to take upstairs to the clerical staff who do the waiting list. There, I believe my case will be assigned a degree of urgency, depending on the surgeons' notes and on an assessment form I filled in, which recorded the extent to which my shoulder affected my quality of life, daily activities, etc.
  • Prior to surgery I will have another out-patient appointment, this time with a nurse, who will check my temperature and blood pressure and do an ECG. She/he will list all my medical and surgical history, family history, and current medications - all of which information is already in my notes, because I gave it to the Registrar.
  • By the time I eventually get this shoulder replaced, I will have officially become a year older which, also adds another risk factor to my surgery.

I apologise for my rant. I'll try to be quiet and patient from now on.
 
You don't have to be quiet. Remember, this is the place where it's just fine to rant a bit when needed. I can certainly understand your frustration. For a health care system that's supposed to be all about providing the best possible care at the least possible cost, it's mind boggling how they can do so much duplicate work. You would thing there would be some process analyst somewhere looking at how things are done and seeing that many of these steps could be omitted if people would just read what is already recorded in your medical records. It would frustrate me too. But.....it's one of those things you cannot change, so you just have to figure a way to work with the system. You do that really well, so I'm sure you'll be okay. I know you're smart enough to figure out when you can be a bit of a pain in the patootie and pester people and when it's best to just wait it out.

Are you on some type of a waiting list in case there are cancellations? You never know when that could happen.
 
As Jamie said - rant away. We're probably the only ones you're dealing with who truly understand the pain and how it impacts your life and the frustration of the process of getting to the surgery! It is so irritating to have to give the same information multiple times, too!

I hope they are able to move you forward given the severity of the situation. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
 
Are you on some type of a waiting list in case there are cancellations?
No, there's nothing like that.
If a person cancels, the next person on the list gets the surgery. So, if you're number 22 on the list and number 21 cancels, it's your turn. If you're number 23, you move up to 22 - and the person who was number 21, but who cancelled, goes back to the end of the list, so he/she could go to number 100+.

Since you might only get a few days' notice of your surgery date, you don'tr want to go away to anywhere you can't be contacted, or you could miss your turn.

For a health care system that's supposed to be all about providing the best possible care at the least possible cost, it's mind boggling how they can do so much duplicate work
"At the least possible cost:" is the over-riding factor - not for the patient, but for the Health Board.
While the NZ NHS provides free treatment, it is chronically under-funded. The money to pay for it comes from our income tax and a certain amount is then allocated to the District Health Boards (DHB), of which there are 20 in NZ.

Each DHB is allocated a certain amount each year, with which it has to provide health services and attempt to stay within budget. There's never enough money to provide all services, so each DHB has to find a way to deny what it considers to be non-essential services. That's why patients have to be assessed according to a points system for their need for surgery.

Everyone is treated in an emergency, but there are seldom enough funds for some routine surgeries. For example, if you have a hernia and it strangulates, you will be given an emergency operation and excellent care. But if you have a simple hernia that causes no problems, you will not get surgery, unless you pay for it privately.
 
That pretty much describes how I thought things worked. However, it does seem that someone should be evaluating the processes to identify inefficiencies like you're talking about. That's wasting time and time is money when you're providing a service. In today's world of automation of records, it would seem the data needed to make decisions should always be there if people would just use it. And things would operate more efficiently. If you and I ruled the world, Celle.....:rotfl:....we'd get this squared away!
 
I know there are shortcuts. My husband's arterial surgeon took him through a shortcut, to get his surgery within a couple of weeks. My husband started out as a private patient, but his arterial surgery was too complex to do without the special machines at the public hospital. Also, he needed to be in the ICU for several days post-op.

The surgery was urgent, as he was getting only a small amount of blood supply to his foot and the alternative to the arterial surgery would have been losing his leg.

But my husband experienced many complications, including a very severe wound infection, and he ended up with 6 surgeries in about.18 months.

I don't want to jinx my surgery by trying to buck the system this time.
 
My left shoulder has started to hurt more and it's now keeping me awake for much of the night.

In addition, my right shoulder, which also has OA, but not as severely, has also started hurting. I do want to get my left shoulder done before my right one packs up as well.

My own doctor is going to write to the hospital, stating that my need for surgery has now become more acute.
I suppose I'll now have to go back to Out-patients for another assessment.
 
I hope they're able to get you in soon!
 
The hospital has turned down my GP's request for my shoulder to be re-assessed as its need for surgery having become more urgent.

And so I continue to wait, not necessarily with much patience.
Two months have now passed of the 4-6 months' waiting time I was told to expect.
 

BoneSmart #1 Best Blog

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
65,167
Messages
1,596,863
BoneSmarties
39,356
Latest member
JanieMarie
Recent bookmarks
0
Back
Top Bottom