Hey! I am sorry to report that I have been out of
commission for a while and have not been able to post anything due to a
shoulder problem—I
just have not been able to get my left arm high enough so my hand can work
properly on the keyboard. I have tried to do a considerable amount of one
handed/finger pecking, but it takes a great deal of effort to maintain a decent
frame of mind—forget
about the typos and words left out, etc.
My problems begins back in October of 2004 when I had my
left shoulder completely replaced—arthritis
being the primary culprit. They originally estimated that the fix was good for
15 to 20 years; I gambled that I would be OK with that. A little over a year
later (Dec 2005), I had the right shoulder completely replaced. The relief I
received from the constant pain was unimaginable. I felt that I had made the
correct decision and still do. The thinking on shoulders, knees and hips was
pretty much the same at that time—although
the physical rehab was significantly longer for shoulders than knees and hips—by a factor of 2X.
Do not get complete replacements confused with rotator
cuff surgery—the
contrast is like comparing kindergarten to a master’s degree—the incision gives you
the best clue: rotator cuff is arthroscopic and a complete shoulder incision
runs 9 inches or more.
Well, come to find out, 10 years down the road; shoulder replacements
durational length is running about 10 years. I was at 10.2 years when mine
began to fail. I have 11 months prior to my right shoulder hitting the average
and really hope I am not looking at the same trouble a year from now.
The first week of last December (2014), I began the
current trouble. For the first two days, I had zero use of my left arm—none at all—and the pain was so bad
that I just sat on the couch and did not move at all. This was typical of problems
I had experienced prior to having both shoulders replaced. There were days when
I had to be fed, the pain so bad that I could not begin to assist myself. I
will say that I still did not miss a day of work during these complications. I
do not remember how I managed to get to work, but I did. That was all put
behind me after December of 2005 and pretty much forgotten.
After the first two days of my current troubles, I began
to be able to move my left hand and after several days, I could use my left
forearm and hand. My wife says I favor my shoulder and I guess I must. Having
decided that the mind and body working in conjunction with one another, my left
arm immobilizes my shoulder and uses the remaining parts to accomplish the
minor tasks I manage to accomplish.
I started the rounds of Doctors in mid-December, starting
with my primary care physician. At the time, I had not been feeling well at all
and figured that the shoulder was just part of the problem. As it turns out, I
did have some bronchitis and my Doc gave me some stuff that knocked that out
fairly quickly. Not so with the shoulder.
I tried to get in to see my Orthopedic Surgeon (same guy
who had fixed the original problems) and could not get an appointment until mid
to late January. Well, this wouldn’t do. I finally got them to recommend
another comparable doctor and I made an appointment with him for mid-December.
His evaluation was that what was happening was more complicated than what he or
my other doctor had the skill to fix. He gave me the name of the ONE doctor in
the Austin area that had the required skill.
I was still in a frame of mind that told me I still
should get into my original surgeon, at least for a second opinion. When I
called I found out that he was departing on vacation the next day (this was
after Christmas by now) and the first time I could see him was now mid-February—I took the appointment.
Well, yesterday, I saw the PA for the ONE doctor who
supposedly has the skill locally. He was grim about the prospects and sounded
out several concerns. The surgery is complicated and time consuming. His biggest
worry is the amount of bone that will remain when they pull out all of the
previous fixtures (plastic cup, titanium ball and shaft) that are there now—this has to be
accomplished to be able to insert the “reverse fixtures” that are needed to
make the extremity work able again. From a regular complete replacement, the
only option is a reverse replacement so all the old has to come out.
The PA’s guess right now, pending the CT-Scan I have yet
to get (another week off) and the 14 day culture study they think they need
(may be some other problem internal: infection, etc.) is that the lack of
remaining bone will require a surgery to place a bone graft into the area where
the shortage exists. But that discussion is still over three weeks out in the
future. How long a graft takes to med with my internal structure, I have no
idea.
Let’s just say this takes 3months That means that, barring
any delay between mending and replacement surgery I have 6 more months
following that surgery prior to my life and limb getting back to the condition
I maintained prior to all this starting.
OK, so assuming that a graft is required, that will
probably not happen prior to mid-March (where newest doctor is booked
currently; probably even later). Another 3 months for graft to mend; that takes
us to June. Assuming there is not a long wait time for the revision reverse replacement
surgery, my physical rehab would be complete next December and complete healing
would finish up midyear 2016—a
full year after surgery and a year and a half (plus) after experiencing the somewhat
debilitating problem.
Hard to imagine!
I will try my best to do better with timely postings as
my condition gets better.
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