Not at all Humerus

Over this week I keep doing the recommended shoulder exercises, and used the pulley I'd bought from Amazon. Each day the ROM gets better, and when I run my left arm can now support its own weight in a running bent position, and the shoulder swing becomes more normal. I'm still slow though. The physio had recommended something that worked though - Actipatch. I wear this pretty constantly, and within 3 hours of putting it on the first time my shoulder had started to feel more relaxed and the ache went. Apparently creates an electromagnetic field between the coil which encourages blood flow and re-trains nerves. Works for me. The pain remains different. My shoulder no longer feels jammed up and stuck, and there are no spasms. However I do continue to take codeine at night, as the pain can creep up on me in the early morning, particularly when I've been running. The pain doesn't bother me though - I can't even bear to see a broken bone on tv, and a bone sticki...

Oh how I miss the physio I had in Australia. She was a really tiny little Kiwi girl, and I never understood how she was able to get so much force through her fingers. She fixed my left shoulder when my rotator cuff was damaged years ago. She probed under my left arm where the lat attached and it made me scream. I thought  (foolishly) that she would move away from the painful spot. Nope, she just gave me a towel to bite on. Still, whatever she did in the next 10 minutes of excruciating pain fixed my shoulder almost completely. This morning I had an appointment with the hospital physio. I actually had high hopes. But no, it was just 30 minutes of checking whether I could move and measuring the movement I had. Then rattling off a few more exercises to do and off I went. Waste of two Uber journey costs, I could have got more out of youtube. I'd been for two runs since the surgery, and she wasn't happy about that. I prefer Mr Shoulder, he seems to have a better sense of far thin...

Not quite no pain. But I'll take it. After the nerve block wore off, I was still drifting on codeine, after the warnings from pretty much everyone at the hospital. But I was able to get up easily, shower (keeping the spray away from the plasters), get dressed easily, and I had pretty good movement in my shoulder. During the day I didn't take any medication. For the last 10 weeks I've either taken pain meds religiously on a schedule, or when a twinge lets me know that the pain is coming back, or when the pain is so bad I can't find any way of getting away from it. But today nothing reminded me to take medication, because the pain just never came. Don't get me wrong. There was discomfort, but it was along the lines of the sort of muscle ache you get the day after a good workout. It certainly wasn't pain, and it was enormously better than the day before the surgery. I could lift my arm up unassisted in front of me, up to shoulder height with my arm straigh...

I wake up in recovery. Luckily I haven't been thrashing around like a maniac like after the last surgery. I am now back in the hospital gown, and my left arm is encased in a stylish black sling. Unfortunately the delightful white Teds are still on my legs. Feeling no pain, I try to sit up so I can walk back to my room. Apparently I'm not allowed to do that. So I sit up on the bed while they wheel me back to the room. I seriously could have walked. I remember the nurses have a fit when I had my wisdom teeth removed under general and when they wheeled me back to the room I hopped off the stretcher and jumped into the bed in the room. I seem to get a bit hyperactive for their taste after an anaesthetic. It's now around 11, so my surgery must have been quite fast. Given the video I saw (seriously, don't watch videos of it, it's horrifying to watch the surgeon casually stab a scalpel into the shoulder. Well to me it is.) most of the time is spent in a huge amount of ...

The hospital have asked me to be in at 7am. Well, that's all to the good, given I'm not allowed to eat after midnight anyway so the less time I have to sit around and think about food, the better. My appetite never returned, but I do relish an egg on toast and a coffee in the morning. And a wispa bar. So up at 5am, and have a bath, as I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to do that after that surgery. I was given a very bizarre list of instructions by the hospital: No nail polish (fine) No false nails or toenails (really? False toenails are a thing??) No food or drink (hello headache) No makeup (no kidding) No moisturiser (wait, what?? Why??) Bring dressing gown and slippers (don't own either, don't they provide those delightful gowns?).  I assume men get a different checklist. We arrive on time and are taken straight through to a private room. This is an unexpected bonus. I expected a multi-bed day ward. I am told to take off everyt...

So I'm back to the hospital to see the consultant. They tell me to wait in main reception, which throws me. I'm used to being sent round to a different area. A nurse comes over and asks if I was supposed to have x-rays before I see him, but I tell her this is an unplanned visit, so no. Of course, he's an orthopaedic surgeon, so of course he's going to want x-rays. Anyway, that's still to come. First I have to work out how to explain I'm back after only two weeks. I'm called in by the same nurse, and it's a different consulting room, in a different part of the hospital. I'm a bit thrown by this. Mr Shoulder says if it's weird for you imagine how it is for me. Fair point. Anyway, obviously he opens with "Why are you here?". I still haven't come up with a way to start explaining it - I hate admitting I need help, it feels like I've failed. I'm supposed to be fine for 2 months, not back here complaining about a bit of pain ...

Over the next week I go over to stay with my mother, and have a family lunch. I wear side fastening trousers, without thinking it through properly. It is not physically possible for me to undo the zip, as my left hand cannot move round my side towards the back, and has no strength to support the waist to give the right hand something to pull against. Luckily I am with family, so my cousin, aunt and mother all end up having to help at various stages in the day. I am losing what little movement I had in my left arm, and the pain has become quite intense. I have to keep moving during the day - anything more than 10 minutes in one position hurts. At night, I am back to not sleeping. Every time I lie down my arm starts to seize within a few minutes. The only thing I can do is sit up again, grab my left arm just above the elbow, and pull it downwards until the pain goes. I try to lie down while pulling my arm downwards to stop it seizing up. This generally works only for a few minutes. S...