I'm now 48 hours post-op from shoulder surgery. I was warned that this would be rough, but I didn't really think that would apply to me. I was wrong. This is nothing like a little meniscus trim.
The day of surgery was pretty uneventful. I was mostly concerned with knowing exactly what the damage was, and exactly what repairs were made. I knew I would go nuts waiting until Monday to talk to Tim, so I asked my mom to remember exactly what he said. She did me one better and recorded their conversation so I could hear it for myself!
Tim said I had two complex inferior labral tears, and if you consider the glenoid as a clock, they were at 5:00 and 7:00. He roughened up the surface of the bone so the labrum would have something to attach to, then used one anchor for each tear to reattach to the bone. Apparently, the 7:00 one was challenging to reach, because even with traction my shoulder was in the way, so a nurse had to sit on me to pull my arm out so he could reach the tear.
The post-op nurse also let me read the op report, and I vaguely remember something about debridement and removing loose bodies. I don't recall anything about a SLAP repair.
I woke up with a significant amount of posterior pain, and the post-op nurse grabbed Tim. He explained that it was harder to repair the posterior tear, and that's where he was digging around the most, and unfortunately the nerve block is less efficient posteriorly.
The nerve block was so weird. It felt like my arm wasn't mine, I had zero sensation or ability to move it. I started getting tingling back in my fingers around 8pm, and it was completely worn off around 4am.
The first night was rough. I dozed off a couple of times, but never actually fell asleep. This continued through post-op day 1.
The pain was real on day 1. Shit. Even the slightest movement, like my mom shifting her weight on the couch, was excruciating. Tim didn't want me relying on the painkillers, but I didn't care. My day was spent counting down the minutes until I could take something, nibbling on crackers and gelato, and dozing in front of Planet Earth for 20 minutes at a time. I did take a super gentle walk around the block just to get some fresh air.
Took a double dose of ZZZquil at 9pm, which thankfully knocked me out completely. This also meant I skipped two painkillers and woke up in a ridiculous amount of pain at 4am. Took an oxy and slept until 7:30, and with a good night's sleep, I finally feel a bit more like myself. But, this hurts like a bitch. They should have just put me down. I wonder when it will get better.
Icing a lot, more than Drew wanted me to, but I can't help it. It seems to help a lot. Getting a little antsy, so I'm gearing up for an excursion to Sleepy Bee this afternoon, where I will unveil my left-handed feeding skills. I should get a bib.
Onward!
