Home Stretch

Well.... almost have full range of motion back... I've been going to PT 2x a week in Lake Tahoe and it's been good. I dont have full trength back but that will come in time.
On July 23 I go to my dr in San Diego - and hopefully I  will get a 'go' to ride my horse.

I did fall on June 9 and was worried I hurt something...but after a couple of days all was well again.

This may very well be my last post.

If I have anything more to report --regarding the total shoulder replacement  -- I will let you know.

My advise....GO GET IT done if you need to - IT IS SO WORTH THE $ 80,000  it costs!!!! :)

Physical Therapy and Excersize

last set of x-rays taken at week 4

Moving along well in the recovery process, but need to slow down just a bit. Right now I am moving into week number six.  I have retired the sling, can move my arm in all directions cautiously and an able to do most 'average' things like the dishes and blow dry my hair - badly.

I started physical therapy in South Lake Tahoe and REALLY like it as it is a much younger crowd and geared toward 'athletes' like myself ! (hehe).... They have a state of the art facility and the therapist I have, is a guy who doesn't get his rocks off torturing people, like the guy in San Diego...(he was a little weird).

I still have some good days and some OK days in regard to discomfort but the good days out way the bad.
I am totally off all pain medications and am happy about that.

My new bike 'trainer' at home - beats an ugly lifecycle!

As far as weight lifting I am only suppose to lift up to 5 lbs with my 'bionic' side at this time, which is pretty limiting, but better than nothing. I bought a trainer (for my bike) and set it op on my deck to I can go on bike rides whenever I want. It is pretty cool and my a** will be in shape for a real ride whenever I am ready.

The weather in the mountains is very spring like . We had rain (and snow above 7,000 ft) and today is in the mid sixties...summer is coming slowly - but it is a good pace for me.

The Hard Part

I think I am in the hard part of recovery... my arm is killing me and I have been weaning myself off of the really strong pain medication. I have plenty of the 'stronger stuff' left but living in a deep fog has not been that much fun. I figure that it best I start weaning myself off little by little. While doing this, the arm pain is increasing. It's not so much painful - but a lingering pinching ache in the inner upper part of my arm. It makes life in general not very enjoyable because I am constantly aware of this discomfort. The good news is that I know there is hope for eventually feeling better - but for now - it sucks.

I am going to the DR next week for my check up and also for my second physical therapy session.
Driving with one arm also sucks - but I am going to have to do that 9 hour drive to So Cal from the Sierras.

I wish I had better things to report on today - but I don't. I am limited in what I can do - like open a jar or do anything that involves weight or alot of arm movement...meaning: just about everything. I can type as you can see.  I still get REALLY tired and spend alot of my day laying down. The weather is pretty nice outside so I do go out with the dogs every now and then and did go visit my horses. It is still too soon to do anything with my horses and to even hold a dog leash -especially with my right arm. So that is the report for today.

This has been the hardest time so far post surgery. I can only think things will  improve soon.

In Search of a Campsite

After the truck repair I hit the road...headed to points north along HWY 395. Once in Temecula I met commuter bumper to bumper traffic - argh.... 95 degrees in the afternoon sun.  I eventually get to Hwy 15 then to 215  headed for San Bernadino Mountains.

The first campsite I saw was off of Hwy 15 called Silverwood Lake. I decide to check it out. The sign said 10 miles. The sign did not say 10 long miles of  hair pin  turns on a very narrow road into a remote area with no cell service.

There wasn't anywhere I could turn the trailer around - so I continued  on finally reaching the State Park called Silverwood Lake. Never heard to this lake before this.

I decided that I would at least go and check things out in the park , afterall,  I was there. Without cell service, camping  bymyself didn't seem like an option. I was not going to stay. The one armed, limping bandit could not run nor fight back an animal or other 'bad' situation - so this was not the place for me.  TOO REMOTE.

After carrying on...I made it back to the main hwy and finally merged onto HWY 395... I knew my chances of finding a campsite were dwindling and the sun was setting fast. It had been a long a day and driving with my handicaps  were wearing me out.

FINALLY  after filling the truck with fuel  I camet to a four corner stop and I saw a sign saying RV PARK!  I was in  desert  town called Adelante off of Hwy 395... This was going to interesting.

I pulled into the RV park just at dark. It actually looked pretty clean and was not as scary as I was anticipating. I found one of several vacant  pull- through sites, with electricity AND CABLE!!!

I dropped my $30 check in the pay slot and hooked into my amenities...turned on the air conditioning, cable TV and made my microwave dinner. Life was good. There was no need for a view.

I woke up the following morning to some discomfort in my shoulder and a very stiff right foot.  I felt like a wounded solider in my sling, campoing. TIRED...it was 6am...so I took a pain pill...grabbed a frozen burrito out of my freezer and wrapped it around my ankle...then I grabbed two frozen tamales from the freezer and set them on my shoulder ---- ahhhhhh ----relief!!! I fell asleep.  I woke up again around 10am to carry on with my journey back to the Sierras.

Speed bump

Had a good bye dinner with friends in Pacific Beach last night...checked out of Mission Bay - packed and was driving North along  Hwy 15 toward Tahoe...then...the check engine light goes on. Grrrrr ----
Arm in sling and still limping (a little) from my  sprained ankle...I find a Ford Dealership in Escondido and pull in with my Airstream....

They say they may not be able get to get to it until tomorrow. I ask if they can do a quick diagnostic to see 'what is exactly wrong' or basically how far can I get on this engine... ???

They were nice enough not to make me unhook the trailer and did the diagnostic very fast....

Result:  it's the Turbo...something older Fords have a problem with... argh...its a 2004 and out of warranty of course.


The repair $2600.00....
BUT they can do it today (of course)...

So another little speed bump in my perfect plan for shoulder surgery - Damn....

I seem to have a continual life problem with diesel engines.... I have a boat with one (broken) too...but we won't even get into that right now.

I am heading North, to the best of my ability.

Arm/shoulder doing pretty well...Physical Therapy went well and I was able to watch my arm be moved into positions I have not seen it bend in years! Granted, it was being moved 'for me' by the PT - but it was moving, regarless, and with fairly little pain.  Whoot, Whoot!!

The PT  (Jim) said that rotator cuff injuries are much harder to recover from and take longer to heal than full shoulder replacements  Jim also said that  my range of motion is very good for being only two weeks  post surgery. He gave me pages of homework (exercises) to do until we have our next session in two weeks...

Well, back to my present reality...waiting for my truck to be repaired in this plush dealership lounge. The one armed bandit will soon be back on the road  heading for the hills!

Peace on the Bay

Ahhhh...lovely Mission Bay in San Diego! My new temporary home. Yesterday I drove the 'Silver Bullet" down the coast and found an awesome water view campsite to hang for the next several days. I can lie in bed here in the trailer  look out the window and watch the seagulls soar and kayak's paddle  on the water. The weather is fantastic, in the low 70's...not a cloud in the sky.

In a few minutes I will be jumping into my truck to go find a hair salon and someone I can pay to wash and blow dry my hair. I can shower just fine - it's the hair part that is difficult. Using a blow dryer is out of the question for awhile...so every few days I look for a hair salon to get the job done.

I also will find a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods store  and pick up a few supplies to get me through the next few days.

There is a gorgeous bike and dog walk about 20 feet from my front door and it wraps along Mission Bay.

Tomorrow I go to my first 'real' physical therapy session - then it'll be time to think about unhooking my sturdy traveling home and head back to the mountains.

Today...life is good! Very good. Right now I am enjoying the sun setting over the bay. Spectacular!

Out and About

I have been driving! Short trips around town, down to the beach, health food store, Sushi! Whoop, whoop!
My arm is still in the sling but not 24/7...I let it out to dangle every now and then. I have not done any outpatient physical therapy yet, but my first PT session is this week. I am going to go to La Jolla (the Scripps Physical Therapy Center) for my first treatment. THEN I AM LEAVING FOR THE MTNS!!! Yeah! Im going to pack my little Airstream and go home for a few weeks!

It has been nice recouping here in So Cal - but I really do miss my mountains, my dogs, my horses, and my life there. I will leave on Wed - sling and all - and take the Silver Bullet back to higher ground.

My shoulder is improving everyday and after 4 weeks I should  begin to do some light muscle activity with it. Since they cut through the muscle and tendons to 'install' my shoulder, the doc wants the muscles to heal first...makes sense to me.

My posts will most likely be sporadic from here on out - just to catch you up on my progress in physical therapy. To be honest ( I hate when people say that...like what - are you not typically being honest?) I thought this whole shoulder surgery thing was going to be much more dramatic and harder to recover from...which is why I started this blog to begin with.  Actually - it has  really amazed me how quickly the whole process as gone and how much better I feel as everyday passes.

Thanks for reading and listening to the whole shoulder story - my hopes is that it may help someone else get through the ordeal and give some peace-of- mind going into it. I had never known anyone previously that had gone through a shoulder replacement so - for me it would have been nice to have been able to read about the process.

I'll be checking-in when there is more to report.

Dr Heinz Hoeneke

The doctor Dr Heinz Hoeneke - deserves a page of recognition:


http://www.delmartimes.net/2011/03/07/del-mar-surgeon-and-padres’-head-team-physician-recognized-for-his-breakthrough-research-and-inventions/

http://beckersorthopedicandspine.com/sports-medicine/item/3259-dr-heinz-hoenecke-a-team-develop-3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFpVwiG1gnY

The history of a bum shoulder

The home care PT has just released me to outpatient care...she says I'm doing great. I will be calling an outpatient physical therapy clinic to begin PT on my own. I will go to La Jolla UTC  where my Dr prefers his shoulder patients to go, for my first few physical therapy sessions. Next week I will go home to the mountains for a couple of weeks - then will  return to San Diego at the end of the month for follow up care as well as get a cortisone shot in my right knee (yes, I have a bad knee too).

I originally found my shoulder doctor via my knee orthopedic (Dr Copp). While I was seeing my knee Dr getting my quarterly knee 'shot, he said I needed to take care of my shoulder first. Knee doctor, Dr Copp, said it must suck not be able to lift my arm higher than my waist or over my head...he was right. He told me about Dr Heinz Hoeneke and set up an appointment for me to see this shoulder orthopedic surgeon. He told me Dr Hoeneke did over 100 shoulder surgeries a year and that he was instrumental in some of the new shoulder replacement developments. Yep. This was to  be my shoulder guy.


It was October of 2011 when I first started thinking seriously about shoulder replacement...but I had a whole ski season to get through first. I figured I would get through this ski year and make my surgery the day the ski season ended so I would be fully recovered for the following season. So May 1st is the chosen date for surgery. When I first injured my shoulder (30 years ago while skiing at Mammoth). I knew I some type of surgery was inevitable in my future. After I dislocated my shoulder back in the early 80's the physican at the time  told me I could have a pin put in my arm to help stabilize my shoulder, but that it would only have a 70% chance of success. No thanks. I opted out of that idea and spent the next few decades with a bum shoulder joint that would dislocate frequently as well as limit my range of motion. Several sport ing activities had we now 'not an option' in my life such as play tennis,  softball, volleyball or anything that requires a tossing or overhead motion.

I could still ski...I could still surf. Surfing had it's limitations, in that I could not extend my right arm in a full paddle - but I could do a half paddle with that 'bad arm' - good enough. With skiing, if I just kept my arm forward and low enough,  the bum right shoulder would not be affected. If I fell, both of my arms would automatically  retract toward my body and it became a natural for me to protect my shoulder and I protected it very well for many, many years.

Stitches out!

Today was the day the stitches come out, just one week to date that I had the shoulder replacement surgery.

Wooh - dude!  Twenty (or so) nasty looking staples all lined up ready to come out...one at a time! They were a little 'pinchy' in my skin and very scary ugly to look at.

I was glad they served their purpose and even more glad to see them go.  Sorry for the graphics but this photo as it was taken right after surgery.

The removal of the stitches went surprisingly fast and painless. It hurt more to get botox in the forehead - really.

I have now survived my first week with my new 'bionic shoulder' whoop-whoop! It's a pretty exciting day for me.  I had dealt with that old bad shoulder for over 30 years and it is finally gone!

Poof.

Just thinking about having this surgery or having one like this for last 20 years, will make your hair grey.

When Dr Hoeneke came in to go over the post surgery x-ray with me, I asked him what kind of shoulder it was....he calmly said, "it's a Salomon"...hahaha!!!

If you are a skier you will know why this is funny.

Thia is a photo of my x-ray taken that day:

The real name is called Acsend... . I googled the shoulder type later and found link:

http://www.tornier-us.com/news/press_view.php?pr_id=77

Dr Hans Hoeneke hlepled to develope this shoulder.