AuburnChick's Adventures

24 hours ago, I was preparing for shoulder surgery on my right shoulder. I guess you could say that today is officially day two of my recovery.

First off, I’d like to thank each of you who left a comment telling me you were praying for me. Even if you didn’t comment, but you prayed for me I thank you. I definitely felt the prayers.

I thought I’d do a little recap of surgery day. This will help me remember it in the future and make you more knowledgeable in case you have to go through this one day.

10 for 10 don’t recommend though.

As you might remember, I was up at o’ dark 30 because I couldn’t sleep. The hubby and I left the house around 6 AM and got to the surgery center about 6:15.

That place is a well-oiled machine, let me tell you. They had me checked in very quickly, and before I knew it, I was in the back getting prepped.

By the way, the lady who checked me in was the same gal who checked me in back in December. She was so sweet!

I put on my gown and cap because fashion is super important for an event such as this.

If you look closely, you’ll see a foam box behind my head. That’s actually the “pillow” on the bed.

The last surgery I had, I commented to the Mr. about how comfortable the pillow was. I didn’t realize it was foam. So I looked a lot closer this time.

I told the nurse how much I liked it, and she seemed surprised. I found it in my bag of stuff that I took home with me.

My nurse was the sweetest thing. She shares the same name as my sister! I loved that little God nod.

The warm blankets she got me were everything!

She went to start my IV and actually got one put in, but then my vein didn’t want to cooperate. The IV was too close to a valve, so when she removed pressure, it wouldn’t drip or do whatever needed to do. She even called in another nurse, but they couldn’t make it work. 

I told her that if she needed to do it again, even though I cannot stand needles, she could. That’s what she ended up doing and the second one took much better. It actually wound up being in a better spot too, so it worked out all the way around.

The bruised part of my hand (left side) with the red dot in the middle was her first attempt. It didn’t bruise up until yesterday afternoon. She wound up getting a good stick at the top of my wrist (bottom right).

While she did her thing, we had a a good time getting to know each other. I learned that her husband also works for the college. It’s very possible that I’ve run into him.

Another God nod.

Meanwhile, the hubby sat in a corner indicating, through married silent looks, that he was not amused at the amount of talking I was doing. He cannot handle much verbal interaction early in the day, and since he hadn’t had a cup of coffee, he was really struggling. Ha!

I was the second surgery for my surgeon yesterday morning. I heard him talking to the lady next to me. Her procedure was going to be short and quick. Then he stopped by my cubby and had a little check in. He was pretty confident that things would go quickly. He didn’t think that my right shoulder was as damaged as the left.

Then, he placed his hand on my left shoulder and prayed for me. This man can pray, let me tell you. He even prayed for my marriage – probably because he knows how hard physical challenges can be for a couple. I’m so thankful that he is a Christian and knows the Lord personally.

The anesthesiologist came in and administered the nerve block, which numbed me from my shoulder to my fingertips. Before he did that, the nurse administered a relaxing medication. That was also wonderful.

Then, they wheeled me back and I stayed awake a couple of minutes. I saw most of the surgical techs and even my doctor in there, but then before I knew it, I was out cold.

You’ll laugh at this next part. The first thing I remember was dreaming about blogging, and then all of a sudden I was awake in recovery.

My hubby came in and told me that I had a 50% rotator cuff tear, and my labrum was torn all the way around. Although I was a little surprised at the news, in a way, I wasn’t. I had been telling him that the pain was worsening.

Then, the surgeon came by, and he had pictures from my surgery. I didn’t get pictures when he fixed my left side.

He spent some time talking to us about what he had seen and what he had done.

He found arthritis. I think he might have cleaned that up. He seemed a little surprised with the labrum tear as well as the rotator cuff because the MRI had not shown the rotator cuff torn like that. He also fixed a rather large bone spur and opened up some space in the AC joint. So, essentially, he said we had done a repeat of the left shoulder – the same injuries- the same procedures – the same anchors – the same time I’ll be spending in my sling. Joy joy.

The procedures he performed: rotator cuff repair, bicep tenodesis, and distal clavicle excision.

Although I was numb down to my fingertips, I had a lot of pain on the edge of my shoulder where I think the bone spur was fixed. The nurse gave me more pain meds through my IV, and by the time I was in the car driving home I couldn’t feel that pain.

The nurses at the surgery center were absolutely amazing! They wouldn’t let me go home until I was 100% comfortable. I think it helped that they weren’t super busy too. I think most surgeries happen towards the end of the year when people are trying to finish using up insurance benefits.

Because the surgery took longer than what the doctor had expected, I did not get home until about 11:30. I think the surgery was a little rougher than the first one. We will see though.

Gambit was very happy to see us, and I think he’s happier because the surgery was on the right arm, which means he can still sit with me in my recliner because he sits on my left side.

One thing I’m having to watch out for right now is my arm dangling from my sling. Because my arm is still numb from the nerve block, I cannot feel when it slips out of the sling. So every time I have to get up, I have to check to make sure my arm is not hanging down, which is a very bad thing with the repairs I had done.

I’m grateful that I didn’t wake up nauseous from the anesthesia. My throat was very dry and sore, though. The hubby had bought me vegan ice cream which he fixed me a bowl of after I got home.

Other than that, I’m just taking it easy, and we’re going to take it day by day.

We sat on the front porch for awhile.

This is Gambit’s favorite place, other than beside me on my recliner.

The nerve block started wearing off late afternoon – a mere nine hours after being administered. Rats! I immediately started taking pain meds, per my doctor’s instructions. By 8:00, the pain was rolling in.

Fun times, y’all. The first three or four days were the worst the last time.

I start physical therapy Monday, which sounds crazy doesn’t it? I have a follow up appointment with my surgeon next Friday.

I’m off of work all next week, and I’m really grateful for that. I know things are going to get a little bit tougher before they get better, but I’ve been through this before, so I know what to expect.

Thank you for all of your prayers! They mean so much to me. I know that God hears prayers. Please keep them coming, as I have months of recovery ahead of me.

Filed under: This-n-That |