Week 16 bicep tenodesis update / SAD / DCE

It is now 16 weeks since my major surgery. Last night during my strengthening exercises, I did 5lb weights on both arms, when I did the arm curl. It felt like my left arm was lifting 10lbs to the 5lb weight on my right arm, so we do have strength issues there. And I can't just power lift, because I am looking for toning. Then, once I get my muscle toned, I can start to do heavier weights. It was the first time I tried the 5lb weight on my left arm, and boy was it hard. I only was about to do 20 reps. I will shoot for 30 reps tomorrow. (I do strengthening every day).

On another note, my "sleeper stretch" is improving. I am almost able to put my arm all the way to the ground, just a few inches to go. I have my next physical therapy appointment in a week and a half, and I hope to be able to be close enough to show off!!

I am in pain still. A lot of movements in my left arm cause pain. But, I have to say that it isn't excruciating like it was before the surgery. And, I almost have full range of motion, which is nice. It is just that my arms are so weak that I have trouble with certain movements. Don't know how I am going to paint walls this weekend!!!

I am sleeping better. While I still have a lot of pain at night, and especially in the morning, it IS decreasing. slowly but surely.

Where I am most tender still is the tops of my shoulders, where the acromium is, where they cut off the end of the clavicle. This is very tender on both shoulders, and like I mentioned in a few earlier posts, it is because of the ligament that is up there, I can't remember the name. It is traumatized from the surgery and can realistically take up to 8 months (one person said 6 months, the other said 8 months, so what I want to hear is the 6 month one. That way in 3 months I can hope to have both shoulders back to normal!)

I can't wait. This is a struggle, a daily battle. I am exhausted from all the things I have to do, on top of the physical therapy. If I miss a day of physical therapy I REALLY feel it. It is amazing the difference that it makes. And, I THINK the pain is slowly going away. It is hard to tell when you live with it day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute. I know my range of motion IS getting better, and my strength is getting better as well.

I will just keep on keeping on!

My ultimate goal is to be able to work my garden come spring, and not have ANY pain associated with my shoulders. I can't wait!

Week 12 bicep tenodesis post op left shoulder and week 7 SAD/DCE right shoulder

I am crazy. Well, those who know me already know that. It is those little quirks that make each of us so lovable (yeah, right!)

Why am I crazy? Well, I had my shoulder surgeries only 5 weeks apart. Looking back on that, I can't believe I did it.

I have gotten to my 12 week post op on my left shoulder. This is a big deal because it takes about 12 weeks to heal the bone where the screws were screwed in. Now, my chances of pulling out the screws are almost nil (well, probably 100% nil because the screws disintegrate and become part of the bone). I can, however, still injure the bicep muscle or what's left of the LH bicep tendon. I don't think I will, they say I really have to TRY and do something drastic to do it. But at least now I can start doing arm curls and strengthening the muscle (slowly).

But... here is the bad news. I went to my post op appt on Monday and got some bad news. My shoulder capsule is very tight (the beginning of frozen shoulder!!) Very painful. I don't know if the pain I am experience now from certain stretches is the worst I have had since my surgery, since the pain I have had in the past was pretty bad, but it is up there. I don't even know how to explain it. The bone beneath my tricep and deltoid muscles is just extremely painful, deep inside. And, my range of motion is much more limited than it was a week ago. So I am extremely worried about that.

My thoughts as to what happened are, after I injured my arm in my sleep last Wednesday night (8 days ago), that when I did my stretches, I overcompensated, not stretching that area like I should have. I don't know how to explain without physically showing someone, but imagine your shoulder in a shrug. I can lift my arm up without limitations if I do the shrug. And inadvertently I have been doing that the past week, vs. having my shoulder blade down while I do my exercises, causing the shoulder capsule to tighten. Oh boy that is painful. So, I am working diligently on my stretches so I don't get a frozen shoulder.

Sleeping is still very painful. I didn't like them telling me that my shoulder will probably be painful during the night for the next 6-12 months. Who wants to hear that!! Yikes!

It definitely is harder than I thought it would be.

But I will keep going. Keep trudging on. I am not afraid of hard work.