Don has had shoulder problems for several months. He finally asked his regular doctor about it and he sent him for an MRI. After seeing the results his doctor recommended he to go to an orthopedic doctor, Dr. Jimmie Conway.
After Dr. Conway reviewed the MRI and took his on X-rays he recommended that Don have arthroscopic surgery to repair a tear of the supraspinatus tendon(rotator cuff). Also the MRI showed that he had a torn bicep tendon that had retracted completely over time. Tendinitis in the infraspinatus tendon. Two large bone spurs.
Surgery was January 31, 2012. Complete range of motion should be achieved in 6 months.
This was an outpatient surgery and we were scheduled to be at the hospital by 5:15 am. Ricki offered to go with us for moral support. I don’t know why when she had to get up that early, but it was very nice to have her there. She is much more medical savvy. She knew what the doctors were talking about.
They took Don back to ready him for surgery and then Ricki and I were able to go back and harass him until he went in for surgery.
Funny incident was that he was in a recliner and wanted to set back up but this recliner wasn’t a normal one and I didn’t know how to operate it. I finally found the lever to let him down but it almost threw him out of the chair. We all had a big laugh and the above interview was taken after the incident. I think Ricki was a little worried about my nursing skills. 
The anestheologist had required Don to get an EKG, blood test and permission from his heart doctor before the surgery. Don was given a pain blocker at the time of surgery that would last for 12 hrs.
The surgery took about 1 1/2 hrs and Dr. Conway talked to Ricki and I after the surgery. He said the tear was larger than they had expected, it was repaired. He removed two very large bone spurs, one on the end of his clavicle and the other on the tip of the shoulder bone. Everything went well.
When we went back to see him he was already dressed, awake, had his new sling on, eating and drinking his coffee. We were to go by pharmacy to get 2 pain pills & 2 nausea medicines. One nurse explained the CPM chair that would be delivered to the house in the afternoon along with the ice pump. We had to rent the CPM chair which isn’t covered by medicare, $350 for two wks and had to buy the ice pump,(not covered) for $250. Then another rehab guy talked to us about a Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulator that they were sending home with us (covered by insurance). Plus the nurse gave him a lung tube thingy to suck every 2 hrs.
After all the instruction from the medical staff we carefully loaded Don in the car and headed home, with a stop at the pharmacy. I dropped Ricki off at home and she volunteered to go back and get the prescriptions & ice for the ice pump.
Don wasn’t feeling any pain & couldn’t do anything for himself. Let the fun begin!!
We started the hard core pain medicine. One was everyone 8 hrs and another every 4 hrs. I had to start a written schedule to keep it straight.
Don was in his best form of asking for things and directing me how to do everything. It was a nightmare. I thought if this keeps up for 6 wks I am in a lot of trouble. My thoughts were that if I was the one doing everything for him that he needed to let me do it the way I wanted to and when I got to it. We had some conflict with that.
They delivered the CPM chair and ice pump about 5:30. More frustration of learning how that all worked. Everything was Velcro, it all stuck to each other. What a mess.
We had the alarms set for medicine during the night, I went to bed exhausted wondering what the night had in store for us. Don slept in the bed but got up 3 or 4 times for the bathroom and I had to help him out of bed and with the bathroom. No pain but about 2:00 the nerve blocker wore off and he slept in the recliner from about 4 am to 6 am. Recliner was a challenge because he couldn’t engage or release it. I needed to get up and do that for him.
Day 2 – All the pain medicine was kicking in. He couldn’t keep his eyes open. I brought him morning coffee. I wasn’t watching and he nodded off holding his coffee and spilled the hot coffee on him and it burned his leg and stomach pretty bad.
We had an appointment on the South side of town with surgeon for him to check dressing at 9:00. We were a little late, we weren’t moving very fast. Incisions looked good. Made appointment for the next Monday.
This day was great! He couldn’t stay awake and he didn’t do any directing. I just took care of him my way. Started the black lizards for bowels (prune juice & MiraLAX).
He had to spend 6 hrs. in the CPM chair. I figured out a way to put a pillow behind him. Hooked him up to the ice pump and he slept while the machine did its work. He couldn’t even stay awake to eat. I had to keep talking to him to get him to stay awake & get things done. Slept in bed with just a few wake ups. Good night.
Day 3 – I started spacing the pain pills out more. This made it to where he didn’t sleep as much and that meant he was directing again. Not good. The CPM chair took a lot of time but he is an over achiever and did it with no complaints. The range of motion on the CPM machine goes from 30 degrees to 90 degrees. Dr wants him to get to 110 degrees by 2 wks. When he wasn’t sleeping he was watching the TV. We kept the ice pump on a lot during the day and he wore it to sleep two night. I think that helped with the swelling.
He took a shower today he or we put in one contact and then tried two one day. Got them in ok but took for ever to get the right one out. Didn’t try that again.
He tried to work at his desk & computer but couldn’t concentrate to do anything.
This night was a nightmare for both of us. He couldn’t get comfortable & woke up every 2 hrs. He finally went into the living room and slept on the couch.
Day 4 Thursday – I continued spacing out the pain medicines. I decided that he is very high maintenance more so than I am.
Coffee – 4 times a day, contacts, waterpik, shower, brush teeth, 3 meals a day, CPM machine, ice pack, muscle stimulator, pillow behind head, ottoman, blanket on him, tv remotes, water, lung blower, eye drops, snacks, housecoat, taking contacts out, putting sling off and on, help him walk, & chief gopher. I ‘m sure I forgot some of the jobs.
Not any pain in shoulder yet unless he moves it wrong. He tries not to do that.
I went to see mom for a couple of hours and he was on his own. He did fine.
This night he slept in the recliner and only got up twice. Great night. He has decided that the recliner is the most comfortable. He can’t get comfortable in the bed & when he turns in bed with the sling on all the velcro strips stick to the sheets.
Day 5 Friday – He is walking better by himself, very loyal to the CPM machine. I am not using ice pump as much. Swelling isn’t bad. I got out and did some grocery shopping. Only doing Oxy pain medicine at night now. He is able to shower, put in contacts, get in and out of chair now. He is already to 110 degrees in the range of motion in the chair. No pain in the chair.
Day 6 & 7 Saturday & Sunday – More of the same
Day 8 – Monday – Dr. appointment at 1:30. Met with Sarah the nurse practitioner that looked at incisions. Everything looked good. We asked questions about CPM machine, ice pump and what happens next in the rehab. She was good about answering everything. She said he could increase the degrees on the CPM machine but not to go over 160 degrees. She said he didn’t have to wear sling if he didn’t want to except in crowds. He had developed a knot on the inside of his arm and she thought that was from the sling not letting the blood drain. She told him to let his arm hang more to get rid of that. Made appointment for the next Monday and I made an appointment to see the Dr. about my shoulder at that time.
Second week of rehab going well. He is getting real tired of the 6 hrs on the machine. He is completely off of the Oxy pain medicine and is only taking the percocet before he goes to bed now. He is off of all other medicines. 
We went two days this week to walk 30 min. at the gym. The first day he was still unsteady on his feet and had to hang on to me. The next day he was able to walk by himself. Getting off of the pain medicines made a difference in his balance. He can feel some pain now in the shoulder now but it isn’t unbearable.
He is doing a lot more things by himself. Thank goodness. We aren’t doing the ice pump anymore, swelling is down.
I went with Ricki to “An Affair of the Heart” a large local craft show. We had a blast. Don was by himself all day and did fine but he didn’t like it. Then that night I went to a friend’s birthday party and was gone another 3 hours. He thought he was pretty mistreated. I also had to do a little plumbing under the kitchen sink. I had to unclog the drain in the garbage disposal. He was directing of course.
He was up to 140 degrees in the chair on Friday but said that hurt so going back down to 135 and staying there.
Ricki and I went back to “An Affair of the Heart” today(Sunday) all day. Back home & finishing this blog that has been too long in coming.
Going tomorrow for his two week follow-up and the end of the CPM machine and starting new rehab. Can’t wait to see what that is. I also will find out what is wrong with my shoulder.
Snow is coming in tonight. Maybe 2 or 6 inches. We’ll see in the morning what happens.
Hope this answers questions about Don’s recovery and some of you probably didn’t even know he was having surgery. He is going to be good as new in a short 6 months.
