Surgery - May 10, 2024 - spending a little time with Dr Costantino and Dr Tobias

I know I’m prepared and accept being in it for the long haul in order to get my life back

:grinning:

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oh no. I missed the part where you had your AN also tangled up. I’m so sorry for that! I just got back from physical therapy and was so excited to share this with you. It’s the ace bandage come to life :slight_smile: I haven’t taken it off yet because it needs to go on tight and of course the velcro closure is at the back…?! But, it’s lifting my shoulder in a way that I couldn’t get the sling to do it. And bringing that compression by pulling it in a little bit. In case you are ever looking to try something different here’s another model that I for one did not know existed.


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I am really glad that they are being super conservative with you for driving. You would not want to start doing that on a regular basis and certainly not if you’re technically driving for a living too early. Hepworth said that there are three layers of stitching including that external 1 at the skin that I have but you don’t. So you probably have a couple underneath where your glue and stairy strip for as well.
My PT specializes basically in shoulder stuff and nerve stuff tied to that. He is known and published for thoracic outlet syndrome. I feel so incredibly lucky that the one thing that’s gone the worse wrong is the thing that he is the most specialized in. For what it’s worth what he shared with me was to never do anything as an exercise right now that’s making it uncomfortable, but if it’s uncomfortable in the case of doing those five or 10 minute walks or having a shower then that is okay and can be dealt with down the road. The exercise that he gave me to do at home is one that is probably all over youtube but starting importantly on the table. He said to place your forearm on ideally on a dishcloth that’s on the table in front of you with your palm down and then slide it very slowly forward stopping at the first sign of constriction or discomfort. If your right arm is the one that’s affected you could do that working the arm between 12:00 o’clock and 3:00 o’clock. The second way of doing the same exercise especially if it’s a little feeling aggressive at first is to literally just move your body forward so that your arm is being passively slid forward. This does very gentle range of motion work and also the very slightest little bit of nerve gliding although obviously not to a stretch. Happy and healthy onward recoverling for you and thank you for any tips that you pick up moving forward (if you think of it) that are helping you feel a bit better. And feel free to share and I will make sure to do the same with you. It sounds like you’re a couple of steps ahead of me but we’re just a little bit of part from surgery date.
ps. not doing PT with my PT - rather using his expertise to navigate this period a little better (and borrow this awesome sling thing) and Q&A. Although he did do the uber uber passive rom on my shoulder but I would only trust him there as he works with this stuff day in and day out (and indeed he moved like a snail in the tiniest ROM for about 3 minutes (and i felt nothing)

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That’s great that you had a good experience with your pt. It looks like a promising sling type thing you got. I’m not sure about you, but sitting in a chair or on the couch the shoulder bothers me more. I just started rolling a small towel up under my arm and it feels so much better. Keep me posted on your progress

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Yes! Anything that can support the arm while sitting down. I cannot find a good enough way when I am in the recliner, but then again I’ve always been uncomfortable in chairs and sofas since my car crashes so it’s not a lot of time that I’m trying to sit.

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I had the same issue regarding sitting before I had my hips replaced so I totally sympathize!!

Ooh - maybe I need to his the shops for a new set of hips :wink:
(but seriously I am sorry you had to go through that as well. And since you only wrote “before” that was clearly the right thing and you can sit now :-))

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:rofl: :rofl: It was definitely the right thing but took as long as a styloidectomy to recover from i.e. about a year. :weary:

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