Oh Goody. More Surgery in My Future

Update: Well, boys and girls, I’m gonna have right shoulder surgery. Should have had it in 2013. Rotator cuff is fully torn—actually, my rotator cuff has completely disingrated and I have dead (atrophied) muscles. There’s a new arthroscopic surgery procedure they’ll be doing. It’s a Superior Capsule Reconstruction, using a dead person’s derma. Ugh!!

Jan 6 is the date I chose for outpatient surgery. Dec 19 starts pre op. But I need to start preparing mentally and physically for this operation. Recovery will take SIX MONTHS! 😪

The doctor told me very flatly that my rotator cuff has disintegrated and that my muscles are dead. The hemoral head is riding high because the rotator cuff has disintegrated. I blinked when he told me that. I knew my rotator cuff was messed up. Hell, I diagnosed it from reading about my symptoms online. But I had no idea it was torn, and I certainly had no idea it was gone. 

I had reached my hands over my head when it first ripped. Pain struck and it hurt like a bitch. But sadly, I also fell, hard, on that same shoulder on concrete a couple of weeks later. I couldn’t stop my fall, and I knew I was going to land on my poor shoulder. Bam! That’s when the pain was so severe that I couldn’t sleep on that shoulder, and I couldn’t lift my arm more than a few inches. That blunt force trauma did me in. My guess is that’s when the rotator cuff completely detached. 

My doctor told me there wasn’t much they could do in the olden days. They used to use metal. Now they take a dead person’s skin and reconstruct the cuff. 

Dr. Ninh showed me how the hemoral head is riding high on my X-ray. It’s hitting bone; hence, the pain. What pisses me off is that I have been talking about my shoulder since I got insurance in 2015. Finally got an X-ray in 2015. But nothing came of it. Why didn’t they notice the high riding hemoral head and that no rotator cuff existed back then-?? They probably didn’t take the right views?? Don’t know what the hell happened, but they sure f****d it up. 

But luckily I got an MRI approved for my shoulder in 2016 from my PCP. So all this bad stuff showed up. Then I had new X-rays taken, and voilá! There it was!

Check out the pic. I could identify the humeral head easily since I saw my X-ray. I put text over the humeral head. It’s held in its proper place by the rotator cuff, which is that band going across. Again, I put text on that band. I have NO band. Zilch. It’s gone. So the humeral head is riding too high and striking bone. Hence, the pain. The only recourse is surgery. 

But my meniscus surgery was a walk in the park compared to this shoulder surgery. There’s lots of pain afterwards, but that’s not worrying me as much as the fact that my dominant arm will be in a sling. 

For over a month, I won’t be able to use my hand or lift my elbow. Dressing, feeding myself, bathing, brushing my teeth, cooking, going to the bathroom, sleeping… doing every day simple tasks will be exceedingly difficult. I will need special tops with Velcro. My sister suggested ponchos. I checked out a few online; they might be a good way to go and I can wear them after my recovery—except I won’t be recovering until at least June, and that’s not poncho weather. I haven’t figured out the bra situation. And honey, with this hourglass figure of mine, I definitely need to wear a bra!

Gals, have any of you had shoulder surgery? I need ideas. I won’t be able to drive, go to the store, make coffee… and I won’t have help because another family member is seriously injured. 

Any suggestions?