AuburnChick's Adventures

First of all, thank you for the warm welcome-back wishes. I had desperately missed writing but couldn’t muster up the time or energy to do so. Your encouragement is very motivating!

I thought, for posterity sake, I’d share the details about my shoulders – or rather my left one, which is currently getting the most attention.

We have been buying season tickets for our beloved Auburn Tigers since we moved back, and our little crew of friends decided to do a tailgate last season. We had purchased parking passes for a lot up the road from our tailgate location, so we were set.

We used our beach wagon, which has big wheels, to tote our stuff back and forth, and all went well the first week. The walk back after the game wasn’t much fun because it was all uphill, but you do what you’ve gotta do in the name of college football.

Between the first and second home game weekends, the Mr. hurt his hip playing pickle ball (because all retired people play this sport now), so I offered to pull the wagon back after the second game.

I figured I was in decent shape because I’d been doing yoga, weight lifting, and kickboxing each morning before work.

Well, that walk back to our car was all uphill. It was also nearly a mile away.

That’s a hard walk, y’all. Especially when you’ve tailgated all day in the South in early September. It’s even worse when you’re petite and have short arms, and you’re trying to pull a wagon uphill for almost a mile.

To his credit, the Mr. offered, three times, to “take the wheel,” so to speak. I refused because I’m Ms. Independent.

The next morning when I woke up, my shoulders and biceps were on FIRE. I figured I’d gotten a great workout and would stop hurting after a day or two.

I figured wrong. Although both arms were sore, the left one was the worst of the two.

I flew to Florida a couple of weeks later to visit Chicky and attend little man’s second birthday party. I wasn’t sleeping well by this time, and when I reached in her cabinet to retrieve a plate, I found that I couldn’t. The pain was unbearable. I cried when the Mr. picked me up from the airport. I was absolutely miserable.

I made an appointment to see an orthopedic doctor a couple of weeks later. He followed what I later learned was standard and conservative protocol. An x-ray didn’t show any fractures (I knew I had not broken anything), and after performing typical rotator cuff arm tests, determined that I had bursitis. He gave me a shot and sent me home with a prescription for an anti-inflammatory medication. He assured me that I’d be feeling better within a month.

The shot worked for half a day; the meds did nothing. I quit taking them two weeks in, waited a month to see how I’d feel, and scheduled another appointment with the doctor. That’s when he decided to do an MRI.

Unfortunately, my insurance company had a major technical issue right as my provider put in the referral, and it took almost three weeks to get the MRI. Meanwhile, the Mr. and I visited Chicky’s family for Thanksgiving. I had the MRI when we returned.

The surgeon had ordered it with contrast, which would show up any issues much better. That was the most painful shot I have ever had, and as he pulled the needle out, he said, “We are going to hope for the best, but I think it’s torn because there wasn’t any resistance.”

I went back the next day for the results, with the Mr. in tow, and that’s when I learned that I had a high-grade tear in my rotator cuff, a torn labrum, and a bone spur. It was real bad, y’all.

Did I mention that I wasn’t sleeping? I’d fall asleep and wake up three hours later in TREMENDOUS pain. I couldn’t turn from one side to another without picking up my arms. The pain was the worst thing I have ever felt.

The surgeon’s plan was to fix my rotator cuff via arthroscopy, and perform a bicep tenodesis for the torn labrum. Bicep tenodesis involves making an open incision near the armpit (in the front of the shoulder), removing the bicep from the labrum, trimming the damaged end, drilling a hole in the humerus, and pushing the bicep through the hole and securing it with an anchor. He was also going to remove the bone spur from my shoulder.

Yeah, it was a lot, but his confidence as he described each procedure gave us peace, so we scheduled surgery before we left the office. Surgery Day was set for the week before Christmas. I was fortunate that the college closes for two weeks, so I only took two days off beforehand. We had to get up at the butt crack of dawn on the day of my surgery. I’d had the absolute WORST night of pain. It felt as though my arm was falling off. They make you shower off with surgical scrub, and it was not easy for me. By this time in this journey, I was barely moving my arm. I couldn’t lift it at all. Forget fixing my hair. Everything was difficult. I would have let anyone welding a knife to have a go at my shoulder. I was pretty desperate.

The surgery center that my doctor uses is new and super fabulous. Every staff member who tended to me did so with so much tenderness. I felt very loved. My surgeon asked if he could pray with me before they wheeled me back for surgery, and even though I was barely awake after getting my nerve block, I heartily said yes. It was the longest, sweetest prayer. I knew I was in good hands.

The doctor called the Mr. while I was in recovery and told him that my rotator cuff was hanging on by a thread. I had so much damage in my shoulder! He said he’d fixed everything you can fix in a shoulder. Go big or go home is my motto, y’all.

I woke up to no pain (yeah nerve block) and with my arm in a sling; we were home by lunch time. My entire arm from my neck to my fingertips was numb. What an experience!

I wound up with three holes in my shoulder and an almost two-inch long incision from the tenodesis.

Even after the nerve block wore off the next day, I already felt so much better. The sleeping situation was still a situation. I started sleeping in the recliner because I had to keep my arm elevated. Sleeping after shoulder surgery is not fun. The only way I could sleep was with the prescribed muscle relaxer, which I was hesitant to take but finally caved to.

The Mr. continues to be a saint through my various health challenges. He has shined through this shoulder issue. He had to help me with almost everything those first few weeks. Forget driving. He had to do it for me. I couldn’t get my own food, drinks, or dress by myself.

I started physical therapy FOUR days after surgery. That was the most humbling experience. By this time, I was pretty uncomfortable, but I still wasn’t in as much pain as before the surgery. Physical therapy after shoulder surgery is not for the faint of heart. It’s all about the very smallest of baby steps.

My physical therapist has been kind from Day 1. He is gentle as he stretches my arm each visit, and he always listens with a sympathetic ear. We have developed a great rapport – full of humor and real-talk – and he pushes me when I need pushing while providing sound guidance with the stuff I can’t do. He put the kibosh on me going horseback riding and snorkeling during our recent cruise. He knew those activities would result in a lot of pain and discomfort.

The progress has been s-l-o-w. Like so much slower than rehabbing my broken ankle back in 2017. I’ve purchased some of the contraptions I use in PT for home use. I currently have a pulley, and I put up my BeachBody track to help me with my triceps and biceps work. The Mr. fashioned a cane-like thing from PVC pipes after seeing the one I use at PT. This has been a handy tool that I’ve used to work on my external rotation. I’m also trying to regain the ability to put my arm behind my back. This tool is helping with this.

I slept in the recliner for two months and only started sleeping in a bed during our cruise. That was the best sleep I’d had in months, so I tried sleeping in a bed when we got home, propped up with pillows. Being able to sleep again has been such a blessing! I still keep my arm propped up, and I cannot sleep on my side yet, but those days are coming.

I went to physical therapy twice a week for 15 weeks until my insurance company decided to cut me off. Ha! Last week, we bumped my visits down to once a week now, and my PT office is working with me on the $$. So, at the moment, I’m still in physical therapy. I have a little ways to go before I’m ready to fly solo again.

I’ve had good and bad weeks, but I think I’m finally on the upswing. I’m in constant pain, but it’s dulled a lot. I’ve found that the day following PT or an afternoon of home exercises leads to a day of additional pain – much like day one or two after a gym workout where you’re sore in an almost-good way.

I still have things I can’t do, like washing my back, reaching behind me to hook my bra, taking off a jacket or sweater, and opening or closing my blinds. I’m getting there though!

I’m also not working out yet. I still struggle with reaching my arm out to the side, so yoga is a no-go at the moment.

Repetitive movements lead to a lot of pain, so I’m not at the point where I can knit or crochet. I tried, but my shoulder was a hot mess for a week, so I’m giving myself more time to heal.

I had a follow-up with my surgeon this week – most likely my last with regard to this shoulder surgery – and he assured me that this recovery is one of the toughest a person can go through and that everyone’s timeline for healing is different. Honestly, I’ve read that it can take between nine and 12 months for a full recovery. I’m almost five months in, so I can see that.

I’m so thankful for the other patients I’ve been doing life with since December. There’s a sweet lady who had the same bicep procedure I did – a week after me. We see each other each week at PT, and we encourage one another because this journey has been SO HARD! I’m sad that I probably won’t see her with my new PT schedule changing, but I know that God walks us through different seasons with different people.

I am so grateful for my Christ-minded surgeon and every medical professional who has helped me. My PT’s office often plays Christian music in the background, which I find incredibly soothing. I know that God is with me – that this chapter in my life is preparing me for the next one (probably surgery for the other shoulder, which is progressively getting worse).

God is so very good, y’all. All the time – in every situation.

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