Surgery Recovery, Day 5

Recovering from a major shoulder surgery is new to me and really does give me a whole new respect to athletes who have been injured and have worked their way back to competition level. You don’t see all the work they put in until they appear in competition the next season. But I know now that recovery it is difficult, painful and probably long, definitely one day at a time.

So the day after surgery the pain block that they had put into my neck had worn off and feeling had returned to my arm – boy did it ever! I won’t describe it as a sharp pain; more of a dull ache that becomes sharp if I moved my arm in the wrong direction. What made things worse were the pain meds, which made be sleep but really didn’t abate my aching shoulder.

Sleeping has been a real challenge. I slept upright the first night and over-enthusiastically decided that I would try my bed the second night, sleeping on a wedge with pillows to prop up the sling. Uh, no; there was so much pain and discomfort that I was driven from the bed back to the recliner. It’s been like that for four days now and I suspect I will be back on the reclining sofa again tonight.

I began the doctor prescribed exercises on the third day, which consists of leaning over a table supported by your good arm while letting the operative arm dangle free from its harness, making sets of little circles in either direction. It is a challenge because the arm cannot yet be lifted away from my body without sharp pain. I can bend it easily at the elbow close in but not away.

Today I have kept my harness off for at least an hour and want to begin extending that time. The more I have to support the arm with its own weight the stronger the muscles will become. I do suffer muscle spasms from the bicep up, but Linda explains to me that the muscle has been compromised and I can expect that until it heals. I’ll have to be patient but I am just not used to arm weakness, especially in my right arm.