Second time considering shoulder surgery

HomeschoolingMom

junior member
Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Messages
53
Age
55
Location
SD
Country
United States United States
Gender
Female
Hello,
It has been about six years since I have been on here. I am not sure if my name still shows as homeschooling mom? I haven’t homeschooled in a few years now but I wanted to come back instead of starting a new account. Anyway, I digress! I am here because I am ten days post op on a Left THR Anterior approach.

I am so glad this support system still exists! My first hip was regular approach, and I am amazed as I read my own old threads and see how different the timeline is for me as far as progress. The biggest and most noticeable difference is that I have had no real pain this go around. A 0 or 2 most of the time, 4 at most resting right after activity maybe up to a 5 or 6 when in the middle of cooking, but straight back down to 3 or 4 when I sit. They did send me home with an ice machine which has been awesome. Last time I didn’t start ice until about three weeks in. The second difference is how well I sleep this time!

At ten days out I am on one crutch or cane in the house. Often taking steps with no cane in kitchen or bath as comfortable. I still need two on the stairs. I am showering, cooking, independently, etc., as much as pre-op. My biggest battle is exhaustion. Unlike six years ago when my kids were tweens in multiple activities and I was their teacher as well as mom...this time they are grown teens with licenses and cars and it is summer break for me. I have complete control of how much I rest so I do it often! I find that just showering and getting dressed tired me enough to sit a half hour, and after cooking a meal I can sit for two hours before feeling energetic again. I don’t remember being this exhausted last time, even doing so much more.

Now I have a dilemma. I am scheduled for right shoulder repair at the end of the month. It is to remove a calcium deposit and probably repair rotator cuff. The only time the shoulder hurts is sleeping on it. Now I am getting cold feet. I am reluctant to give up this wonderful feeling of health and healing from the hip! But it would be a year before I could afford to devote six weeks to recovery again. Any advice?

Thanks fellow hippies!
 
Hi and Welcome back! :welome:
Following is a refresher course on all things Recovery.
Sorry you have an additional concern in regard to your shoulder.
I also have a shoulder that only bothers me when I sleep on it. It's going to take a lot more than that inconvenience to go through another surgery, speaking only for myself.
Others may have different advice.
Wishing you a great rest of the week!

Hip Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​
3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

Pain management and the pain chart
Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of THR recovery

Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule
Energy drain for THRs
Pain and swelling control: elevation is the key

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it

Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

BIG TIP: Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery. While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each, member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
Thank you. I think my guideline is half of this due to anterior approach. My doctor said to expect 1/2 the recovery time as my RTHR, and so far he has been spot on for my milestones. (Thanks to this site I have a record of them!:))
 
@HomeschoolingMom Welcome back to BoneSmart! I moved your thread to the shoulder pre-op area since that's what you are discussing.

I totally understand your reluctance to have more surgery. But unfortunately these things rarely get better and can certainly get worse very quickly.

We have many several members who have been through shoulder surgery (including our expert Josephine). And now that we have a shoulder area on this board I am sure others will be along soon to give you input.
 
@HomeschoolingMom As the happy recipient of 2 new shoulder joints (and 2 hip joints) I can tell you shoulders are both easier .... and more difficult than hips. Easier because they are non weight bearing. And more difficult because, being a smaller joint the surgery requires more complex moving around of muscles, etc. So you probably will require some PT after shoulder surgery to get functioning back to where it's supposed to be. Right after shoulder surgery the sling (mine had bolsters attached so shoulder stayed in a set position) is a nuisance but was only required for about 2 weeks. Practice now using only your left arm to do usual tasks - I am very right side dominant but since right shoulder surgery I've become much more ambidextrous :)

My range of motion with the shoulders is better on the right side (first one done) than left but left is only 1 year along and gets better and better as time goes on. Only thing now I really can not do is hook a bra behind my back .... but front closure ones work just fine :)

And I too am a New England girl .... on the west coast :)
 
Don't know where the 6 week recovery came from but I can tell you from experience that that's somewhat optimistic for shoulder surgery. I think 10-16 weeks would be more to the point.
 
Sorry I realize this got moved to shoulder replacement category, but the surgery is to remove a calcium deposit. When I had it done on left side the rotator cuff had to be repaired. When I say “six week recovery” I mean that is how long I might not be able to work. Four weeks because I am right handed and a teacher, and my arm couldn’t move at all, and two more of the worst PT pain. After that I could work while continuing to recover.
 
I guess it depends how limiting to your life the shoulder is. If you can avoid sleeping on it and it feels ok otherwise, you might wait and let your body work on healing the hip for now.
I do hear you about the pain from sleeping on your shoulder. I've got one with a couple of issues and at least a couple of times a week I wake myself up in pain because of having slept on that side. :(
 
Right now it is the only side I can sleep on, so it wakes me up a couple times a night. The recliner helps. I have my first post-op on my LTHR tomorrow, so we’ll see what they have to say!
 

BoneSmart #1 Best Blog

Staff online

  • EalingGran
    Staff member since January 23, 2024
  • Jaycey
    ADMINISTRATOR Staff member since February 2011

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
65,181
Messages
1,597,066
BoneSmarties
39,365
Latest member
Dave4562
Recent bookmarks
0

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom