Looks like I might need shoulder surgery....

doc's office called back from my shoulder MRI yesterday.

looks like i've torn some stuff in my shoulder, as well as some cysts have developed around the labrum. getting scheduled with an orthro. surgeon.

i think they can do this arthroscopically...i hope.

more fun...yeehaw.

anyone have shoulder surgery for torn stuff?

awww geez, you poor dear. I hope it won't be too harsh an experience.
No, I never had anything like that so I am not able to give you any insight, just hugs...

Risa

Yes Marc,

My Sweetie did. Work injury - his orthopod said rotator cuff was torn 95%. It was barely attached. Terrible pain before and after the surgery. Many months of intense PT. The Dr said 50% of the folks who have the surgery he did have the whole thing tear again at 2 years. That's mostly because the patients wouldn't follow the PT plan and ignored the movement and weight limitations recommended by the Dr.

I hope yours is not nearly that bad.

Chris

I'm waiting to get a report and copy of the MRI. Right off the bat, I think I'll need surgery. Looks like there's a lot of injury.

I have to start the doc search to find who can do this surgery given all my problems.

The sucker hurts quite a bit, and it isn't going to get any better on its own.

The person who called wasn't technical, so the report will give me a better look. Found out the doc i'm supposed to see has a good reputation.

More fun. Gotta get this thing fixed though...feels like my right shoulder can pop right out.

Thanks guys!

When I was in a car accident all the ligaments and connective tissues in my shoulder were stretched so badly that my shoulder would dislocate at the slighted jostle, jar, sneeze, strong twitch. It was horrible. I had to tape my shoulder into place every morning to keep it from dislocating. The good thing was that since it was so stretched out, I could put my shoulder back in pretty easily. It hurt most when it was just hanging there. Kinds gross, I know. I tried physical therapy for months trying to avoid surgery but they had to operate in the end.

They tried to go in orthoscopically but there was too much damage and they had to cut. I STRONGLY suggest a nerve block for the surgery. The pain is brutal. Make sure you have good pain medication for when the nerve block wears off. The first two/three days are the worst and then it is much more bearable.

I had no movement in my shoulder for a couple of weeks while it healed. You get one of those cool braces to wear. Showering is a no for the first few days.

It took three months of physical therapy to get 80% of functionality back. I don't have as much strength or mobility as before the accident but I can do most of it. I don't require that much strength so it is no biggie. There was a firefighter who was going through shoulder rehab at the same time I was and his course of treatment was much more aggressive and harder than mine, so if you want strength, the PT will work with you to get it. Just remember, PT= practically torture!

Once it was all done, it was so much better! I still get some stiffness and pain in cold weather, but nothing major. Nothing like before the surgery.

Let me know if you have any questions, if I didn't give too much already!

Hi Marc,
sorry to hear that you have to go also through this.
Focus on the benefits that you'll get after the surgery, it will help to overcome it.
Take care

I've not had it but I know several people who have.

I'd follow Alli's suggestions. I had an ankle surgery a couple of years ago and had a nerve block and that helped a lot - rather odd feeling going in but worth it on the post-surgery side (well minus that they did the cast a bit wrong and I had a pressure sore).

Oh and I've heard PT referred to as Personal Terrorism (from those with shoulder issues). My experiences haven't been that bad but I've heard it can be pretty brutal.

You're in my thoughts.

Becky

How did you injure your shoulder in the first place.......was it forbidden snow shoveling?

thanks everyone, and alli thanks for the tip.

i'm not too worried about the surgery, but have a bit of angst finding the right doc to do the work.

i've had my heart threaded 11 times, so heck, this should be a piece of cake, right? mmmm, maybe not.

we have to see if there's a tie in with the nerves...neck pain, syncope, and some blood flow issues.

it's pretty sore all the time, and especially if i roll over and sleep on it (which inevitably during the night i do).

my joints always ache, but i tore the shoulder when i slipped going down the stairs in a parking ramp (ha, at a hospital).

i grabbed onto the rail, landed on my backpack (took all the impact) but wrenched my shoulder. Felt it tear and pop.

if i can have it done locally, that would make life a lot easier for dad and me.

I have had to have both my shoulders fixed.
Left was torn rotator cuff and impingment,bone spurs,
right was bone spurs, impingment, removal of almost all my bursa.
Interesting thing is none of my MRI's showed the spurs or bursa.

I had no injury.. my Sjogrens affects the connective tissues.

It is kind of a tough surgery to recover from, at least for women but with good care you'll be fine. It took 4 weeks to start to feel better from post op pain. Your shoulder is very complicated and you don't realize how often you move it until after surgery. Buy a lot of bags of frozen peas, they are a good fit for the shoulder. Many times after PT I walked around in public with the bags. If people really looked at me like I was crazy I just said I might get hungry later. ha ha

Don't let them put a pain pump in. It's a tube placed into the incision with a plastic ball attached with a lidocaine soaked sponge inside.
There is a class action suit because some people have developed permanent cartilege damage in the shoulder. I haven't but they said the people who have are in constant pain.

That said I am thrilled with my results!!! I did need a cortisone inj in my right shoulder after but the right one is great.
Make sure you have help and don't over do it. I can now swim laps and even sleep without pain waking me up. You know when you sleep with your arm up and on the pillow above your head, and try to bring it down...ouch.
Good luck
kathy

Marc, I saw this interesting press release today:

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2010/06_08a_10.html

Kathy, the pain pump info you shared was interesting. I read another HA forum, and several people there have had nerve decompression surgery for their intractable HA's with a particular TX plastic surgeon. This doc puts in a type of pain pump in the surgical area, like you described. Do you suppose there are problems with it for HA patients? Because some of them never get better after the surgery. Just curious.

Cheryl

Marc,
I had a ac joint reduction a few years ago...... had fallen on my r elbow.......
never got any relief from PT or steroid injections.
the surgery wasn't really that bad, had to sleep in a recliner for a few days though.
of course if the surgery is on your dominant side, certain bathroom activities become extremely awkward HAHA.

I work in anesthesia and I concur on the interscalene block, if they don't offer it ask why not.
Our docs do the interscalene infusions as well with no untoward effects......

Good luck, let us know exactly what surgery they are suggesting when you know.

Yea i did research and found the best doc, paid off.

I still have to have a steroid injection about once every 12-18 months, but that's really not a big deal.

beth

I hope it goes well for you. I have had three surgeries in ten months and the recovery is never fun and always takes longer then the doc said. Hope you find a good doc also.

Marc, you have too many problems in the first place to add shoulder damage to them!

My brother had shoulder surgery his fourth year of college. During his senior year of high school, he dislocated it playing football and had to work hard with PT to be able to pole vault that spring, since pole vault puts a huge amount of pressure on the shoulders.

He kept getting the shoulder rehurt and often dislocated afterwards and got to the point his third year of college when he couldn't even try to jump without it dislocating. So he red-shirted his fourth year and played again his fifth.

The surgery was very painful for him, but he had never experienced any medical problems before, so he didn't know what pain was like. He found it painful to lie down, so he got one of the big pillows that you can sit against to sleep on for a while. He also went through very intensive physical therapy afterwards. He was able to do that at his school, using PT majors to do the therapy. In fact, his roommate's then-girlfriend (later wife) was his therapist, so he used to joke to Dan that he saw Amy more than Dan did! With my brother, he had to meet certain physical criteria in order to be NCAA eligible again, so he worked really hard for a year at his PT and was able to vault again his last year. He started out not being able to clear the lowest bar, but ended the year making a personal best and earning the most improved trophy!

But you won't have to pole vault, just get through life. So hopefully PT won't be quite as strenous for you as it was for him. But on a personal note, because he got through his surgery so well, he had a very hard time before he got married to a migraineur with other health issues to understand why my mom and I couldn't just "get over" our migraine problems. He was able to grit through painful PT, so he didn't see why we couldn't just grit through our own stuff. Now that he sees his wife suffer her own health problems (she almost had to have her galbladder taken out this month, in addition to regular migraine problems), he is much more sympathetic.

Status Update:

Thank you everyone for your very kind posts.

I'm having an EMG done + Nerve Conduction Velocity studies done prior to surgery. Have to check out some stuff before someone starts cutting.

I didn't do much with it over the last few weeks, and the shoulder felt better. As soon as I used it (waxed a car) it became quite sore again. I don't think there's anything else except a surgical fix and PT.

Other than that, much complication has arisen out of my tumor. cholesterol has spiked, as well as liver functions (and I'm not boozing). Shoulder might be put off until these other things get reviewed. Thanks again!

Take care,
mgb

Marc,

So sorry to hear that you will need surgery for your shoulder...keeping you in our prayers.
Blessings,
greeneyes

hey marc, just wanted to say good luck with everything!! haven't popped in here in a while, and just saw your post.

Check out Dr. Williams. cleve clinic out of Euclid Hospital. He did my left. Dr. Fitzgerald in Houston did my right. I met a guy last week who had surgery. For some reason men do better faster. He was 2 weeks out and a little sore. One guy was golfing in 2 weeks. It mnst be a structure thing. We may be more complicated. That's what makes us women rock. Think about it...we have hips to balance babies guys don't. We can carry bags of food and hold a baby.

Bill thought this was funny, Ryan was in grade school and Bill picked him up that day. He told Ryan that the doctors cut my arm off and sent it out for repair and would sew it back on tomorrow. My arm was out of my sleeve because I wasn't supposed to move it and I had a big ice flow contraption on it. Ryan comes in and looks at me and starts crying I mean really crying. He told me what Bill said and I showed him my arm and he finally settled down. Needless to say I told Ryan he could have the most expensive toy he wanted and daddy would buy it.Bill still thinks it was funny.

kathy