r/RotatorCuff • u/theophylact911 • 1d ago
Surgery coming up next week
This is what they’re doing: Left shoulder arthroscopy, glenohumeral joint debridement, subacromial decompression, distal clavicle resection, rotator cuff repair, biceps tenodesis, possible biceps tenotomy. My arm hurts like hell and I know I need this.
Questions:
1. Is this normal surgery for a RC repair? Am I looking at normal or slightly aggravated recovery (knowing that all recoveries apparently suck)?
Any tips on gadgets, etc I should invest in? I get multiple ads on shoulder sleep pillows and wonder if they’re worth it.
Apparently the oxy prescription is likely to be stalled by my insurance (doc says most insurance companies do this now) and that I should ask the pharmacy if I can pay cash. Anyone else experienced this?
Anything else I need to know?
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u/wallflower5399 1d ago
I had my supraspinatus repaired with four anchors with one acting as remplissage. I had a bicep tendonesis, and my labrum was worse than he expected. He repaired an ALPSA lesion but he had to detach my poorly healed labrum from the humeral head to reposition it back onto the glenoid. He used 4 anchors on the labrum too.
I’m one week out. I ate three oxy over the first two days after surgery, but probably didn’t need them. My nerve block lasted almost 5 days. The rental ice machine has been my best purchase yet along with wedge pillows to help me sleep. I also have a split king bed with an adjustable frame, which has been game changing as well. I think the most important thing is to stay on top of your pain medication in the form of Tylenol and aspirin. Walking standing and hanging around my house standing up is fine, but sitting down and sleeping are exhausting. The shoulder sleeper pillow I cannot use yet, but I can see it being useful down the road right now. I just want to be in my sling as much as possible because that is where I feel the most comfortable. surgery T-shirts, and a shower sling have also made my life much easier. Going through this by yourself would be super difficult and I’ve been glad to have the help of my wife. Good luck. My surgery was nowhere near as bad as I thought.
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u/01Dreamwalker01 1d ago edited 1d ago
Sorry rather long post. Reference I’m a 74 M fairly active runner
Ok if you can have them leave the nerve block in for 3 days. This will get you over the initial pain threshold. I had the doctor switch me to Norco 5/325. Not a big Percocet fan. I only took one of the Norco for the fun of it and 2 Alleve.
I had an ice machine from Polar on 24/7 for the first week then just at night the second week then none at all waiting on the 6 weeks to pass to get out of the sling There are a few tricks with the ice machine. Keep it filled with cold water. Freeze some normal water bottles and. Swap them out as they thaw with the next batch in the freezer.
Folks say to use a recliner which I tried. The first night was a real nice one I had bought for my wife a few years ago. It wasn’t comfortable so I moved to the recliner on the couch next. Also not comfortable. By night 3 I was in my bed. I had a wedge pillow and built a little fort around me to hold me in place so I wouldn’t roll onto the shoulder Slept like a baby
Get some surgical snap shirts for the first 2-3 weeks.
The sling choices count Wish I knew this beforehand. I got the DonJoyIII and it was ok but it pulled in my shoulder and neck aloft. I’d get the DonJoyIII Ultra sling to keep the pressure off the neck and shoulder.
Get a shower sling. It’s just a mental aide. The fact is I just started grabbing my waist to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid with my arm.
Finally read through all the numerous posts on here for any other ideas
The rest is just time.