Here it is - my first entry. It took a few days to get this diary up and running. Trying to go through all the menus to set this up online takes forever using a dial-up connection, and it's a bit frustrating not to have as much control over the HTML as I'm used to with my own web site. That, or The Evil Cat Mind is messing with my mind again.So...what to talk about? How about my shoulder? I'm sure that's a subject that everyone's dying to read about. Oh, well - you're stuck with it!
I had to have surgery on my right shoulder in November to shave back a bone spur that was pressing into my muscle and causing a lot of pain. It was at the point where I had to learn how to use a mouse with my left hand because even little movements with my right hand caused a bad ache in my shoulder after ten minutes or so. The surgery was done arthroscopically, and the surgeon showed me before and after photos. Not the prettiest of pictures, but not the worst, either, since there wasn't a lot of blood in that area. Anyway, he wasn't sure when he went in whether or not he'd find a rotator cuff tear. Thankfully, there were only a few lesions on my muscle, not a tear. So he shaved off the spur and sewed me up. Or, rather, he stapled me up. Our HMO is such a "get-'em-in-and-get-'em-out" outfit, which is funny considering it took them over a year to correctly diagnose the problem. I was able to remove my arm from my sling after 24 hours. Pain was supposed to be my only limitation, but I was assured that I was on my way to a "less painful arm." The surgeon said that I was a textbook example of a best-case scenario. The impression I got was that I would get back to normal fairly quickly.
Ten weeks later, I wouldn't exactly say that the arm is less painful. It doesn't have the same pain as before - sharp pain when I moved my shoulder in certain ways - but I have a continuous dull ache in my shoulder and upper arm now. And certain movements just hurt. In fact, I have to be careful to warm up my arm and not inadvertently jerk it around during the day. I had a pamphlet of shoulder strengthening exercises that a previous orthopedist had given me when they were treating me for a calcium deposit. I tried those last week, and several (any that involved lying down, where I was working against gravity to move the arm) really caused a lot of pain, so I stopped doing them. Physical therapy was optional in my case, but I think when I see the surgeon again on the 7th I'll ask him about it. I don't particularly want to do PT, since our co-pays went up this year and I'd have to shell out $25 a session, but I need to start working on getting back as full a range of motion as possible.
Of course, this whole situation would probably be resolved if the Cat would stop trying to lie on my shoulder at night. Evil thing...
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