Monthly Archives: February 2013

Under the Knife

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By the time most of you read this, I’ll hopefully be done with this shoulder surgery. The surgery was moved up to 7 am this morning from 9 am. The meeting yesterday with the doctor didn’t go as well as I had hoped. Actually, I’m not really positive how it went. I’m nearly positive I have the right guy doing this, but I did get squeezed in last minute, so I had to work around them.

I spent a pretty long time just sitting and waiting, nearly all afternoon. By the time that Dr. Millett came in, I had lost my train of thought about the questions I had. He was checking out the important parts of the MRI with his fellow guy, so I was listening more to what they were talking about. So, I still have a few questions, but I guess I can ask them after the fact.

I do know that my shoulder isn’t so good. The doctor did say that he has seen worse, which I took as a good statement? I said something like I suppose there is a low percentage of attaching the big retraction and he said, no, he was going to attach it, maybe not all of it, but he said he would fix it, which was all I wanted to hear I guess.

When the doctor was talking in code, I did understand that they aren’t going to be doing this arthroscopically. The are going to cut open my whole shoulder to get at the one tendon. I heard something about a patch too, which I realize now is a graft from a cadaver, which doesn’t thrill me much. I guess they drill into my bone and get some stem cells out of the marrow and sandwich them into the attachment area and then inject some platelets, that they spun out of my blood, into the whole area. This is just generally what I got out of the whole thing.

I do know that I’m spending the night in the hospital, which I didn’t plan to do. I asked about the PT after the procedure and he said something like, “In a case as extensive as this, we might just want to leave it still for a while.” I’m wondering what a while is here. Guess I’ll know that later too. I’m just going with it now.

Okay, hopefully I’ll be drugged up enough to be able to post something later, or by tomorrow at the latest. It will probably have to be short, since pecking with my left hand will probably be a tad frustrating. We’ll see. Okay, heading over Vail pass to get this whole thing over with. Ciao.

There were tons of hockey and football jerseys in the hallways and examination rooms of the Steadman Clinic.  One that surprised me was a sign jersey from Alex Steida.

There were tons of hockey and football jerseys in the hallways and examination rooms of the Steadman Clinic. One that surprised me was a sign jersey from Alex Steida.

How about this great deal for a parking space for your car?

How about this great deal for a parking space for your car?

Trudi and Bromont playing in downtown Vail.

Trudi and Bromont playing in downtown Vail.

Bromont wanting to check out the ski hill.

Bromont wanting to check out the ski hill.

Bromont posing like he does a lot.

Bromont posing like he does a lot.

This is a Breg Polar Pack that my friend Stacey had the Breg guys send to me in Silverthorne.  It circulates cold water to a shoulder bag, reducing inflammation and such.

This is a Breg Polar Pack that my friend Stacey had the Breg guys send to me in Silverthorne. It circulates cold water to a shoulder bag, reducing inflammation and such.

Yesterday Could Have Gone Better

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It’s 3 am and the pain block for my arm has worn off. I can’t say it’s the most pain I’ve ever experienced, but I am pretty uncomfortable on a lot of different levels. I have a splitting headache, which if I could alleviate just one thing, that would be it at this very moment. Then there are a multitude of other issues that I don’t really need to list here.

The fixing part yesterday went about like I had prepared myself for, not what I was hoping for. They could only reattach one of the tendons, so there other is a write off. I’d done enough research myself to know that it was a long shot to get the worst one back on, but after talking to Dr. Millette on Tuesday, it sounded like he was going to be able to do something with it. Guess not. I’ll find out more at 8 am when he stops by to talk. That was the first depressing news.

The second depressing news was that my bicep was detached and had to be reattached. The MRI didn’t say a thing about that. I guess I am gong to lose about 15% strength there. There goes my awesome sprint.

And finally,the last depressing news is that the PT guy stopped by and said that I could do absolutely no movement for 6 weeks. And that was super unusual. Usual would be doing PT right after the surgery. I don’t know what that is all about, but I’m hoping that is a very pessimistic view. Again, I’ll find out more about that soon.

Yesterday was way long. Enough whining (and this is officially whining). I really haven’t slept since 4 am Wednesday morning, so that is approaching 24 hours now. I should feel better with a little sleep. Think I’m checking out this morning. I’ll post something more, more upbeat, hopefully later.

Self portrait

Self portrait

The doctor came by and marked the correct arm to operate on.  That lowered my confidence level just a tad.   They had already shaved all  the surrounding area, including my armpit.  The nurse apologized about being a little rough and said something about knowing how weird it must feel.  I told her I did it all the time, so no worries.

The doctor came by and marked the correct arm to operate on. That lowered my confidence level just a tad. They had already shaved all the surrounding area, including my armpit. The nurse apologized about being a little rough and said something about knowing how weird it must feel. I told her I did it all the time, so no worries.

Wondering the halls late at night.

Wondering the halls late at night.

Dinner was good, but I had to eat at 6:30, so ordered a lot.  Trudi ate the salad.

Dinner was good, but I had to eat at 6:30, so ordered a lot. Trudi ate the salad.