Week 4

This has been the most painful week yet. It has been tough to sleep even in the recliner. I did figure out that I can't do any PT exercises at night because that definitely makes for a long night in which I get up every hour trying to re-adjust so the pain isn't apparent. As far as my exercises, I figured out that I was doing the pulleys incorrectly because my good shoulder barely moved and my right shoulder and traps went from a zero degree angle to a 45 degree angle. In addition, my PT is telling me that I am behind on progress. She is always telling me that my upper back muscles are super tight. Not sure what to do about that, but now I am trying heat for 10 minutes before my exercises followed by 10 minutes massaging with the Theracane. After the exercises, I do 20 minutes of icing. The whole routine takes 80 minutes. I have been doing this 3 times per day. Overall, I am getting depressed about my lack of progress and my increasing pain levels. I have a one month follow up on Monday.

Week 3

This blog covers days 15-21. First of all, having older parents take care of you is quite a bit of work. They don't know where anything is, even after a couple of days. I tried to hide out in my office, but was continually interupted by parents needing help.
Accomplishments: I showered by myself, slept in the bed one night - the recliner is still more comfortable, increased shoulder rotation, slicing veggies.
New PT exercises: assisted overhead lifts and drops behind by head while lying down, exterior forearm presses against a door jamb, hand presses into a door jamb with straight forearm.
Bent elbow abduction while lying down with elbow bent is still limited in range.
Accomplishments: Unscrew Gatorade Cap, Walking 3.5-6 miles per day, learning French

Day 14 & 15

Washed the sheets and tried to make the bed. Took 30 minutes. The fitted sheet was a PITA. Each pillowcase took me 2 minutes and 30 seconds!
Mom and dad are here to help since my husband is traveling for work.
Walked 3 miles around the lake two days in a row in addition to the PT exercises.

Days 11, 12, 13

Completed by PT exercises 4X per day except on Monday when I went to PT. Got four more exercises. Now the exercise routine takes 30 minutes and consists of: arm hang, biceps squeeze while holding a squeeze ball in my hand and squeezing, 5-10 minutes of pulleys, diagonal shoulder slide while holding a rod lying on my back, shoulder shrugs while lying on my side, forward and back shoulder blade squeezes while lying on my back, forward and back shoulder blade squeezes while standing. Super sore after PT. Had to ice 5X for 20 minutes every hour after PT.
Over the weekend, we also got a new shower mat with 200 suction cups.

Day 10: Happy haircut day

Extremely windy today. Wind speeds up to 32 mph.
Went for a walk - 7 blocks.
Did PT exercises 4X.
Took a shower and didn't fall, but the new bathtub non-slip strips are already coming off. Need a new solution.

Day 9: Day 2 of PT

Went to the docs in the morning to find out if I ruined my surgery with my bathroom wipeout. Short answer: Probably not. The PA took off my steri-strips to inspect the damage.

Went next door to PT. Got a different therapist. She started to do some passive manipulations of my shoulder and I was feeling a great deal of pain. She then told me that I should take my pain meds before coming to PT to make her job easier. Never mind that the Percocet made me throw up and the other pain pill gave me a headache. double vision and extremely sleepy. My plan for the next visit is to take the pill right when I get there and then she'll have to carry me around because I won't be able to keep my eyes open. See how easy that makes her job!

Day 8: Slipped in the tub

Today I slipped while reaching for a towel after my shower. As you can see the bathmat slipped out from under my foot. I stepped forward to stop my self from falling, but my healing arm swumg forward and out much further than it had in the last week causing a great deal of pain. The pain lessened during the day, but there is more pain that the previous day. I am so mad at myself for possibly undoing all the work the surgeon did. Why didn't I wait for my husband???????