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 after only two weeks. For a horrible moment I think I'm actually going to cry, but luckily he speaks first and says "Talk to me". So I tell him I can't sleep, and the pain is just getting worse and worse.
Round he comes to examine my shoulder for himself. There is a lot less movement than before, yes. And I really don't like it being touched. He says he can offer an injection of steroid and anaesthetic to help manage the pain. I tell him I'm not good with needles (quite the understatement there!). He says to be blunt I can either have a few seconds of discomfort that will reduce the pain and inflammation, or continue to live with the pain for months. He sends me off for x-rays and says to make up my mind while I'm there about the injection.
The x-rays hurt a bit more than last time, particularly the back view where I have to try and move my shoulder back a bit and my arm out from my side.
Once back in his office (the new office of course, not the one I'm used to. I still don't like this change), there is some good news. The bone is knitting really well, there are these dark lines that go from the humeral head down to the shaft through the fracture line, which he seems delighted about. Even the hook is getting blurry, so the callus is starting to form around that as well, so there are no more sharp edges.
He explains that your bones are modelled into their particular shape by the forces applied to them by your soft tissue, activities, way of moving etc, so even after a fracture the bone will generally go back to pretty much the same shape it was before. I find this fascinating. And wish it would happen a little faster with my hand, as the lump there keeps catching on the tendons and irritating them.
I have decided that I'm just going to have to see if I can manage the injection, as the pain isn't something I can live with. He throws me then by saying there are now 3 options - 1) do nothing, and eventually the pain will go away, 2) have the injection and see how it goes, or 3) have surgery to go and clean up the shoulder joint.
I wasn't expecting the 3rd option, but I guess maybe the x-rays showed the fracture was healed enough to make it an option. My main question is if I have the surgery now, does it mean that I will have the same/similar surgery in a few months or is this just bringing that date forward. No, the surgery will clean up all the adhesions, scabs, scarring, basically all the debris, reduce the pain, and drastically increase my ROM. He then offers a combined option, with an injection now, and if needed, surgery in October.
No, I don't want to wait. I say I want the surgery now. There's some small reluctance on his part, as he's going on holiday, but I really don't want to wait. So he adds me to his list for the next week, and says he has a friend covering for him while he's away, so I will be given his details if there are any issues. I assume this friend has a qualification beyond being a good friend, and actually has some, you know, surgical training :-)
I am sent off for some pre-screening health checks with a nurse, and given a load of forms to fill out. Head back home, feeling a bit more positive now - scheduled for "Arthroscopic arthrolysis of shoulder contracture +/- manipulation/injection" a week from now.
I still go for a few runs, as my feeling is that my shoulder hurts no matter what I do so I might as well get the enjoyment of a run. It's harder to run, and I'm still supporting my left arm with my right, and I'm really slow, but it still feels good to be out there and moving.
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 after only two weeks. For a horrible moment I think I'm actually going to cry, but luckily he speaks first and says "Talk to me". So I tell him I can't sleep, and the pain is just getting worse and worse.
Round he comes to examine my shoulder for himself. There is a lot less movement than before, yes. And I really don't like it being touched. He says he can offer an injection of steroid and anaesthetic to help manage the pain. I tell him I'm not good with needles (quite the understatement there!). He says to be blunt I can either have a few seconds of discomfort that will reduce the pain and inflammation, or continue to live with the pain for months. He sends me off for x-rays and says to make up my mind while I'm there about the injection.
The x-rays hurt a bit more than last time, particularly the back view where I have to try and move my shoulder back a bit and my arm out from my side.
Once back in his office (the new office of course, not the one I'm used to. I still don't like this change), there is some good news. The bone is knitting really well, there are these dark lines that go from the humeral head down to the shaft through the fracture line, which he seems delighted about. Even the hook is getting blurry, so the callus is starting to form around that as well, so there are no more sharp edges.
He explains that your bones are modelled into their particular shape by the forces applied to them by your soft tissue, activities, way of moving etc, so even after a fracture the bone will generally go back to pretty much the same shape it was before. I find this fascinating. And wish it would happen a little faster with my hand, as the lump there keeps catching on the tendons and irritating them.
I have decided that I'm just going to have to see if I can manage the injection, as the pain isn't something I can live with. He throws me then by saying there are now 3 options - 1) do nothing, and eventually the pain will go away, 2) have the injection and see how it goes, or 3) have surgery to go and clean up the shoulder joint.
I wasn't expecting the 3rd option, but I guess maybe the x-rays showed the fracture was healed enough to make it an option. My main question is if I have the surgery now, does it mean that I will have the same/similar surgery in a few months or is this just bringing that date forward. No, the surgery will clean up all the adhesions, scabs, scarring, basically all the debris, reduce the pain, and drastically increase my ROM. He then offers a combined option, with an injection now, and if needed, surgery in October.
No, I don't want to wait. I say I want the surgery now. There's some small reluctance on his part, as he's going on holiday, but I really don't want to wait. So he adds me to his list for the next week, and says he has a friend covering for him while he's away, so I will be given his details if there are any issues. I assume this friend has a qualification beyond being a good friend, and actually has some, you know, surgical training :-)
I am sent off for some pre-screening health checks with a nurse, and given a load of forms to fill out. Head back home, feeling a bit more positive now - scheduled for "Arthroscopic arthrolysis of shoulder contracture +/- manipulation/injection" a week from now.
I still go for a few runs, as my feeling is that my shoulder hurts no matter what I do so I might as well get the enjoyment of a run. It's harder to run, and I'm still supporting my left arm with my right, and I'm really slow, but it still feels good to be out there and moving.
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