Standard Shoulder Replacement Finally after 5 years - a new shoulder

You know, I really don't think I have overdone things other than the peeling taters. And my arm got better the next day. So for now I'm going with the "sleeping funny" idea since I was fine before going to bed last night and not so fine this morning. It's delicate dance we do sometimes in recovery.

Thanks for the good wishes, my recovery buddy.
 
Sounds like, besides the "Tater Caper" you are doing pretty good Jamie!
 
Whew! It must have been that I slept wrong with my shoulder somehow when I was sleeping so soundly night before last that caused my sudden arm pain yesterday. I kept the arm in a sling most of yesterday and really babied it, only doing pulley exercises. Today it is much better. I'm very, very relieved and still going to try and take things easy until I see the surgeon on Monday.

One thing I noticed that may have been part of the problem was that the waist strap on my immobilizer brace was very loose. I think it's because I had a lot of water weight around my belly immediately following surgery from all the saline they give you and the nurses set the strap then. I lost that bulk and then it was too loose. It allowed the pillow to move around too much and may have put my arm in a slightly uncomfortable position while sleeping. So, I tightened up the waist strap today and it now holds the arm closer and more securely to my body.

So....note to anyone wearing an immobilizer brace after surgery: Be sure and check the fit now and then and make adjustments if needed to ensure your arm really is secure and not able to move around when you reposition yourself at night during sleep.
 
A milestone today! I have not needed any Tylenol for pain since 4:45 a.m. Friday morning. Things are going okay and I'm just counting the hours until I see my surgeon on Monday. Can't wait. Still doing my pulley exercises every day.
 
:wave:Best of luck on getting a good report for Monday! Hope your Sunday is sweet.
I am going to a wedding shower for son and his fiancee...it's 3 1/2 hours long! Why?:umm:
Hope you get release for driving...I'm guessing that's what you are waiting on.
 
Yep....I feel the need for speed!
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I had a follow up visit with my surgeon on Monday and got a good review. I was cleared to drive and can ditch the immobilizer starting Friday (6 weeks out). Right on schedule. I still need to wear just the sling part of the immobilizer contraption when I go out in public for 2 weeks just to alert people that I have an injury. I can handle that. I'm pretty sure that sleeping will be much more comfortable without that thing strapped to my body. I also start therapy 3 days a week next Monday. It will be 7 weeks of therapy and then I see the surgeon again. He advised that I need to continue my pulley exercises 5 times a day for 5 minutes in order to get the best chance at restoring range of motion. I actually kind of like the pulley as it stretches everything out really gently and generally feels good.

I still take 1000mg of Tylenol now and then at night when I wake up to go to the bathroom. Some nights are just more "crampy" than others.

An interesting thing is that my blood pressure has lowered dramatically after this surgery. This has surprised me as it's always run in the high-normal range around 140-150 over 80-85. My home health guys were consistently getting between 120 and 135 over 65 to 70. Sure enough when I was at the eye doctor yesterday and they took it, the pressure was 130 over 64. The only thing we can figure is that my shoulder was causing enough pain to elevate my BP but my relatively high tolerance made it not register to me. My shoulder was definitely bone on bone, so there most likely was inflammation there even if I didn't register it as pain. I don't know.....whatever the reason, I sure hope that holds.

Strange things happen when your body is put right again after joint replacement surgery. My first knee replacement pretty much instantly cured my raging plantar fasciitis that I'd had off and on for a long time. My surgeon was very skeptical when I told him that, but it was true. I've never had it again since that knee was replaced.

I'm experiencing off and on "twinges" in the area near the incision and attribute that to nerves getting hooked up again. It's real similar to what I experienced with my knee replacements, but not as "zingy." It's strong enough that I feel the sensation, but doesn't take my breath away like some of the knee zingers used to. All part of the grand and glorious healing experience.
 
@Jamie :yes!:You rock, gal! I'm so delighted that your recuperation is going so well. Lower BP, cleared for driving again, no bolster, limited zingy twinges! An excellent report! :cheers:
 
Great news, glad your recovery is going so well.
 
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I was a bit of a bad patient last night.....I decided to allow myself to sleep without the immobilizer brace two nights ahead of my 6-week schedule. I know, I know....I'm not setting a very good example for the BoneSmarties out there, but I have felt really ready for that for a couple of weeks. And it was only 2 days.

It was HEAVEN!! I slept so much better. I'm getting glimpses of what it's going to be like when the shoulder is fully healed and it's a wonderful picture. I wish I could have done this years sooner.

So now that yukkie brace is history and I'll be wearing the sling only for two weeks, but only when I go out in public.
 
You go, girl!
 
Ouchie! I must have had some moisture under my arm after a shower because now I have a raging fungal rash in my surgery armpit! It's really bright red and hurts. Yuk! Fortunately I have some anti-fungal cream that I'm putting on it and I hope that takes care of it over the weekend.

Two steps forward, one step backwards. Yep, that's a typical recovery!
 
Gosh Jamie, I was catching up with your thread and came to your "bump in the road". Hope that rash eases soon. Sounds like you are doing amazingly well with this recovery.
 
It's a bit better this morning than it was last night. The cream seems to work well, but it sure hurts when the cream wears off. It's like diaper rash of the arm pit!

Oops....wrote the above this morning and forgot to post it. Tonight the rash is better. It's still red but doesn't hurt like it did. If it's like other fungal rashes I've had, it will probably take about a week for all the redness to disappear. I noticed that I still have some swelling on my side right below the scar, so I'll need to ice that area a bit to see if it helps.
 
I'm glad your shoulder's doing well, Jamie.

Pity about the fungal infection. I hope it clears up quickly.
 
I had my first outpatient therapy session today. I think I'm really going to like my new PT group (my old therapist moved back to Pennsylvania). The massage the trainee gave me today was absolutely heaven. They have a "very slow and steady" philosophy and were very interested in BoneSmart. But....the old arm muscles are a bit sore tonight and I think I need some Tylenol.

I also attempted to run a bunch of errands after therapy which probably wasn't the wisest thing to do. I found that 6 weeks at home of just moving around the house and yard has made me grossly out of condition. I had difficulty getting in and out of the car and walking all around the 3 stores with a cart that I went to. Fortunately we discussed this at therapy and they promised to also work on endurance and balance along with the shoulder.

But they were very impressed with my shoulder's current range of motion and the lack of pain. They felt I will be able to gain back all my range of motion and strength. I'm happy about that.

They added two exercises that I'm to also do at home in addition to the straight pulley exercise. One is with the pulley and passive motion. But instead of moving my surgery arm straight up as much as possible, I'm to move it out to the side. My range of motion that way is not so good, so there is progress to be made. The second exercise is done lying on my back with a stick. It's also a passive exercise where I use my good arm to gently push the surgery arm out to the side and back. It works different muscles than the side pulley exercise.
 
Boy, did I ever hurt overnight from all that running around and the muscle massage I got at therapy. I took 2 Tylenol at bedtime, but woke up with pain around 3:30am. Every part of me ached. It was too soon to take more Tylenol, so I took a Tramadol. For some reason, it kept me awake for about 4 hours in bed, but I suppose I did get some rest. I finally fell asleep around 7am and slept until 10:30am. And when I woke up, all the pain was magically gone. Hooray!!

So I'll be sure to moderate my errands after therapy for a while. I had to take my dog to the vet today and did notice that I seemed just a bit stronger. So either that's improving or I was just really, really pooped yesterday. I could close the door easier in the car and use the turn signal properly. Yesterday I couldn't.

I go back to therapy Friday morning. I have one errand to run tomorrow to go to the beauty salon, so that should be enough to give me a workout.
 

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