Sleep... Finally

I was finally able to get a solid nights sleep last night, in a bed, lying down. I propped a pillow or two behind my head, and I was golden. For some reason, this time it worked. It was kind of odd sleeping the whole night with my arm pointing straight up in the air, but it wasn't painful at all. I've been told by a few people that I will be a "back-sleeper" when this is all over with, its just a matter of retraining yourself to sleep that way, and not move.

1 Week Post Op

So the pain I had experienced was short lived, only about 8-10 hours. By 6pm on 4/11 I was already starting to chill out. The nausea was purely from my one attempt at trying to put back a higher dose of pain meds during the bad stretch, and that too was short lived. By day 4, I began scaling back all pain meds and on day 5 I used only 1 dose just to sleep at night - supplementing with Tylenol as needed. Day 6 I was pain med free and on Day 7 I was back at work. I feel like I have settled into a plateau here with respect to how it feels and this will be life for the next 3 weeks at a minimum.

I had my 1 week post op visit and all my sutures look great and I was instructed to both drop the sling and make my first PT appointment on 5/9 (exactly 4 weeks post op). I got a better understanding of what was done in my procedure - it was described to me as 3 repairs in 1, as I had large but still separate superior, inferior and posterior tears. I was told if it were not for the posterior tear that I would not be stuck with my arm outstretched, but due to the nature of that repair, healing must take place in that position.

A few things I have noticed:

1. Sleeping sucks. I look like a deviant because I can't string together more than 4-5 hours of solid sleep since the surgery. Its a comfort thing more than a pain thing. I hate sleeping on my back in bed - I was a stomach sleeper before. I've tried the bed on two occasions, with mountains of pillows bracing me up, etc. and both times I have ended up back in the recliner. I'm going to keep trying the bed every other night or so until something clicks because the recliner sucks only a little less than bed. Any suggestions?
2. Showering is scary. I can't fully describe the feeling of having the arm out of the sling to shower. It more or less feels like its going to fall off. The entire experience it tiring to say the least. Its also near impossible to clean and deodorize my right armpit.
3. I am a prisoner in my own home. It sucks not being able to drive anywhere. I travel 100% for work. I am in the car every day on the road visiting clients, so this is a major lifestyle change and I'm starting to get frustrated. On that note has anyone had difficulty driving a stick after dropping the sling? I'm wondering if the force needed to shift gears will be too much right away. This thing feels like it's made of glass.

24 Hours Post Op

So day 2 was much worse... The nerve block wore off at around midnight last night and things got progressively worse pretty quickly. This was some of the worst pain ive ever experienced, totally unrelenting and unaffected by pain meds in the dosage I was prescribed. I found it impossible to achieve a seating position that provided any relief. I called my NP and she upped my dosage to help with the break through pain. This worked for me but resulted almost immediately in nausea and vomiting - insult to injury. things are finally starting to get better now and I'm hoping that I'm getting through the worst of it. This blows, I don't know what i would have done without the nerve block last night.

7 Hours Post-Op

Just a quick 1 handed update: 7 hours post op... nerve block still effective - no pain yet but i have started on the meds to stay ahead of the pain. Surgery was a success, Ive got 5 anchors now and im looking at 4-6 weeks immobilization and a total 4-6 month recovery. More to come...

Shoulder Surgery

I'm having surgery to repair a circumferential labral tear in my shoulder next week and I'm planning on documenting the entire recovery process here - stay tuned.