has anyone had rotator cuff surgery?

[Cinderella]

Dale goes in for his surgery this morning.....just wondering if anyone else here has had the surgery and knows what to expect?

I guess they are gonna cut him in 3 areas and then fix the rotator cuff. Doc says it will be about 6 weeks before he can even lift 1 lb with that arm!

Being a workmans comp claim they are sending him back to work Monday on restriction which means he will probably get sent home each day, but he has to show up:think: Seems way to soon to me. Plus they dont cover his wages for the first 3 days......anyone familiar with all this and how it works?

Me thinks its gonna be a rough cpl weeks at first from what I have heard.

 

Wonder how long it will be before he can handle the bike, im sure there wont be much if any riding this summer:crying:

[Yama Mama]

Geesh, Cindy that is no fun. I hope he heals quickly, but that does seem strange to make him come to work to be told to go home. Just the waste of gas is dumb.

I hope everything goes well. I have never had the surgery, but I know it is a very common one to have done.

I will wear my Yama Hog shirt in his honor.

Mama

[hipshot]

cindy, i don't know anything about the surgery, but i will be watching this one REAL close.

my right shoulder is so badly torn, i can't even lift my arm to put on a long sleeve shirt, or put my cap on with that hand.

can't afford to have it checked out right now, because they will want to do the surgery.

i have too much on my plate , right now, to be "broke down", for 6 or 8 weeks.

i guess, i'll wait 'till all this chemo stuff is done, and then have it checked out.

tell dale i'll be praying for him.oh , and please keep us posted on the WHOLE procedure.

just jt

[venturejockey]

Dale goes in for his surgery this morning.....just wondering if anyone else here has had the surgery and knows what to expect?

I guess they are gonna cut him in 3 areas and then fix the rotator cuff. Doc says it will be about 6 weeks before he can even lift 1 lb with that arm!

Being a workmans comp claim they are sending him back to work Monday on restriction which means he will probably get sent home each day, but he has to show up:think: Seems way to soon to me. Plus they dont cover his wages for the first 3 days......anyone familiar with all this and how it works?

Me thinks its gonna be a rough cpl weeks at first from what I have heard.

 

Wonder how long it will be before he can handle the bike, im sure there wont be much if any riding this summer:crying:

 

Havn't had a rotator cuff surgery but worked with quite a few. Had a SLAP and bony Bankhart repair last September. I was on my bike by November. That said I'm only just now feeling like the shoulder is getting strong enough for me to depend on it. I still have lots of cracking and popping, but the shoulder is pretty strong.

 

He'll find that sleeping in a recliner is most comfortable. Or pileing up pillows to get him into a semi reclining postion with pillows supporting his arm. Most likely he will be in a funny sling with a wedge pillow between his arm and trunk with a strap that goes around his waist. Sleeping is absolutly the worst. I would do great during the day but wake up every couple of hours. I didn't really get a good nights sleep until some time in December. I will still wake up with some achyness in the night but not too bad.

 

No matter how it hurts he will get the best result if he starts his range of motion as soon as the doctors allows and pushes up to the maximum that the doctor allows. That is if the doctor says no more than 90 degrees then he should bite the bullet and go to 90 degrees. No more and no less. Take a pain pill 30 minutes prior to exercising.

 

God bless him I feel his pain.

[Crash]

Cindy, I did talk to Dale at Don's MD. I had an impingement in my shoulder and had surgery and thought I would be back to work in a few days but basically lost a week from the pain and medication. I know a R.C is much longer recovery.

Randy

[plainmd]

I had a shoulder replacement and was out of work for 6 months.....It was the best thing i have ever done.......i went back to rideing and working ....I am suprised that they would send Dale back to work that soon with the rehab and pain pills he will be taking...

[Venturous Randy]

My wife Laura has had three shoulder surgeries related to the rotator cuff. Not a pleasent thing to go thru. Venturejocky did a good job of describing some of the things he will go thru. I ended up making arm rests for our bike so she could ride more comfortably due to her shoulder problems.

We wish him and you the best of luck and for a good recovery.

RandyA

[JayJay]

I had rotator cup surgery a few years ago. Mine was a complete tear where all the tendons had torn off in a fall. After the surgery I woke up with my arm strapped to my chest so it wouldn't move and tear the stitiches. The pain in the hospital was controlled with a morphine drip. After I returned home and the healing began I was told to start excercising it by bending over holding on to a chair and start making small circles with the arm. As the excercising progressess the circles get bigger and bigger until you have full use of the arm again. I was off work for about six weeks.

 

JayJay

[Steve S]

Rindercella, I've had 2 rotator cuff repairs in the last 3 1/2 years and Eric hit it right on the head with the recliner. It will become his best friend.

 

The one thing I can add is DONT LET ANYONE GRAB THAT ARM:no-no-no::no-no-no:. The first time I went out to eat after my first surgery, two different people came by, slapped me on the shoulder and said "I sure hope that arm gets well soon" . Talk about a lesson in pain management.

 

I hope Dale does well and recovers quickly. I will pray for the both of you.

[skydoc_17]

Hi Cinderella and Dale,

When I had my RC surgery a few years ago, It too was a workmans Comp. affair. They tried to rush me back to work for "light duty". My job doesn't have much light duty to it so What I told my doctor was without the use of my right arm, and taking the pain meds,I don't feel I can operate my auto safely, He wrote a letter to my employer, they let me stay home for 9 weeks. I'm not sure what Dale does for a living, but you might try the above suggestion. During the time I was off, I pushed myself to exercise my arm to get my range of motion back, and I have to admit, after the surgery my arm works better now than it did before. I didn't even realize how the injury had affected my quality of life.

As I remember, at 10 weeks I took my VR for a few short rides, I found that the handlebars raised my arms to a level which caused a fair amount of pain. but after a few weeks, it got better and I would tell Jean that the riding was therapy...Yea right! Even to this day, before it rains, or gets cold or wet, my arm lets me know if the weather is going to change for the worse. Jean for sure suffered the worse during the whole recovery what with all of the pillow fluffing, coffee refills, etc...hahaha! Sleeping was the hardest byfar, Jean would find me in the morning, contorted on the couch, in my lazyboy, but whatever position Dale can get into, for whatever time he remains comfortable, don't be embarassed, just do it! Dale and you will be in our prayers for a speedy recovery.

Earl and Jean.

[nanaof6]

:whistling:Hey Cindy,

Hope Dale does ok, had mine done in sept. last year was off work for 6 months, then light duty for 2 months, my job has no light duty so i had to answer the phone in the detectives office for 2 months and file. hope he has a high tolerance for pain. dr had me doing small circles for a couple of weeks, then on to therapy for 7 months. the pain from this is tremendous and no he will not be riding the bike this summer sorry, unless he is superman and can handle lots of pain. i could not sleep in the bed, recliner, chair or anything else to good, finally slept on the futon with my back to it so i could not turn over on my shoulder, just now able to sleep on that side good. its harder for rotator cuff because there are so many nerves, muscles and all that u use all the time to make fist, turn hand, lift arm, and so on so it is kinda complicated, and any movement hurts, but he will do ok. hope u have a lot of patience u gonna need it. sorry, let us know how he is doing ok, the dr did mine outpatient, hope all goes well.

Beth

[Eck]

hope he has a high tolerance for pain. My heart and prayers are with him (and you)

[mini-muffin]

Hope the surgery goes well. I don't understand the going back to work just to go home again either. Hope that works out so he can stay home and recover. Hang tough kid we'll be here if you need to just vent a bit. It's gonna be hard on you too. Not much you can do for him with the pain he'll have. Keep us up on how things are going.

 

Oh Steve those folks that hit you on your shoulder are nuts. How cruel to do that sort of thing, nobody hits a heart surgery person in the chest. Glad you survived that.

 

Here's big hugs going out to you and Dale. His is much more gentle though.

 

 

Margaret

[funrider]

I have had 3 surgeries on each shoulder, not for rotator cup but because of dislocation problems. Messed the left shoulder up in a fight originally and had problems with it again years later because of another injury. Right shoulder messed up in a motorcycle accident and went through 2 surgeries in a few weeks at that time to repair it and another surgery years later because of complications. All I will say it that it is no fun but each time my shoulder has been much better than it was without the surgery. As you get older it all catches up with you and I have some more problems but nothing to serious. I wish him the best and a quick recovery.

[venturejockey]

On going back to work. Neither employers no insurance companies like for physicians to take patients off of work. The reason is, is that there are so many goldbricks out there. Now hear this I am not calling anyone a goldbrick. People do become legitimately disabled. But in the past many people ended up being disabled because of psychosocial reasons rather than because of the original musculoskeletal injury.

 

It is well documented in occupational medicine journals, that if a person is off of work for six months or more there is only a 10% chance they will ever go back to work. Conversly, keep a person going to work even if it is to clock in then back out greatly increases the chance of return to work.

 

There are many psychosocial reasons why staying at home decreases the likely hood of returing to work and I wont go into them here.

 

Trust me all of this is true.

[Sleeperhawks Mechanic]

I am not familiar with the surgery but hope all goes well for Dale. More and more, patients are being discharged quicker than before. As far as having to go to work and coming back home, that has to the company policy. What a waste of money on gas! He will be in our thoughts and prayers.

 

On the lighter side:

 

I guess this means that you will need to wait on him hand and foot. :whistling:I would suggest hand feeding him grapes! That always goes over really well!

 

Also foot massages are nice for him too! They will take his mind off the pain. Be sure to keep him supplied with fresh cups of coffee too while he is relaxing! It will keep his strength up!!!

 

I think I better stop before I get the book thrown at me!!!

 

For really real, hugs to both of you. I hope his recovery is quick.

 

[Freebird]

There is also another reason that they may want him to come in every day. Years ago when I worked for Texas Utilities, they would do the same thing. It had to do with their lost time accident reports. As long as they could get an employee to come in every day, even for a few minutes, they didn't have to report it as a lost time accident.

[venturejockey]

There is also another reason that they may want him to come in every day. Years ago when I worked for Texas Utilities, they would do the same thing. It had to do with their lost time accident reports. As long as they could get an employee to come in every day, even for a few minutes, they didn't have to report it as a lost time accident.

 

That too.

[Cinderella]

we just got home....all went well....bout 50 mins in surgery...ended up not being the rotator cuff but a labral tear....doc repaired and cleaned it up and cleaned up the torn cartiledge involved.

every lil bump in the road comin home caused an "ughhhhhh":crying:

 

he is pretty out of it....and doped up....lol

 

in a sling and will be for a while.....cant drive for a week....cant move the shoulder, no ifs and or butts, etc etc.

 

the sending him to work thing, we have been informed that ford is the only co. around here that does this....I guess they will make him stay at work but send him to the cafeteria to sit the whole shift......ridiculous if ya ask me.

 

yes Bobby im sure he will utilize the "wait on him hand and foot thing"....gonna be a long week with him and trying to keep the young un away from him ..good thing I put the pool up yesterday:D if i can stand to be near him since there is no bathing til sunday unless i give him a bath...

 

got a cpl different pain meds....one for pain rated 1-5 and the big boys for pain 6-10:rotf:

 

he is in the recliner snoozing ....they said the only thing he was allowed to operate is the remote:rotf:

will keep ya posted on the progress and maybe I will get around to posting my maintenance day photos in the next cpl days:cool10:

 

thanks everyone for the info and the words of encouragement and well wishes!

[sarges46]

Great news! Now for the healing to begin. It takes time and listening to the docs. I wanted to comment earlier but our docs here are not as knowledgable as yours are in many cases. I didnt want the wrong message to go out.

 

My co-worker had his done a couple of years ago. He was off for 6 weeks and then restricted to light duties for a while after. But, as a supervisor he just had to make sure not to get into any scuffles at work. He had a tough time getting arm over shoulder and required some physio for that. But he is good a new now.

[Dano]

Tell Dale in his semi-groggy state that you are going out to get a new bike, you just can't wait for him to get better! There's riding to do and rallys to go to!

 

Seriously, hope his recovery goes well and I'm just glad it wasn't any worse.

It was nice to have met you 2 over the weekend.

 

Dan

[Sleeperhawks Mechanic]

Glad to hear that Dale is home now. The best thing for him right now is just to sleep - it doesn't hurt so much! Oh yes, sponge baths are a must!

[mini-muffin]

Glad he's home, You should survive this time. At least it wasn't more. Guess this means he'll heal up faster and maybe you'll get some more riding in this summer?

 

Hang in there Cindy. Maybe you could get a nice nurse to give him his sponge bath, someone named Olga maybe. You know the strong type. :rotf:

 

Margaret

[hipshot]

great news, cindy. thanks for letting us know.

now! get busy, and see what you can do to make him comfortable , when he wakes up!

lol:stirthepot:

just jt

[Cinderella]

Guess this means he'll heal up faster and maybe you'll get some more riding in this summer?

 

Hang in there Cindy. Maybe you could get a nice nurse to give him his sponge bath, someone named Olga maybe. You know the strong type. :rotf:

 

Margaret

 

 

well not sure he will heal any faster.....its my understanding that it was more in the shoulder joint where his was torn kind of in the socket rather than around the outside of the shoulder ( rotator cuff)

 

Olga isnt good enough actually I think I will find him a CUPCAKE to take care of him:rotf: