Ouch

[Timmyb]

I am now 7 weeks removed from rotator cuff surgery. Met with the doctor a few weeks back, and here's the damage report--

Torn tendon has been re-attached, requiring roughly three feet of polycarbonate string (yep, fishing line). Some will dissolve in a few years, some is permanent.

Frayed Labrum (surprise!) has been cleaned up.

"Tunnel", or the area above the socket, has been scraped out to get rid of impingement issues.

Arthritis damage removed. This requires shortening your collarbone by 1cm.

I'm about three weeks ahead of schedule on PT. Next week starts actual strengthening stuff. If I remember correctly from the last time I did this, it ranges somewhere between horrible and unbearable.

There is a moral to this story, particularly applicable to you youngsters on here. Take care of yourself. If something doesn't feel right, stop. This is super important if you're in the skilled trades like myself. Sometimes the shortcut has long-lasting consequences. They didn't have this thing called "ergonomics" when I was a kid. You just did your job the best way you knew how. Now, if one of us old farts tells you there's a better way to do something, pay heed. We probably learned the hard way....

[boatman37]

I am now 7 weeks removed from rotator cuff surgery. Met with the doctor a few weeks back, and here's the damage report--

Torn tendon has been re-attached, requiring roughly three feet of polycarbonate string (yep, fishing line). Some will dissolve in a few years, some is permanent.

Frayed Labrum (surprise!) has been cleaned up.

"Tunnel", or the area above the socket, has been scraped out to get rid of impingement issues.

Arthritis damage removed. This requires shortening your collarbone by 1cm.

I'm about three weeks ahead of schedule on PT. Next week starts actual strengthening stuff. If I remember correctly from the last time I did this, it ranges somewhere between horrible and unbearable.

There is a moral to this story, particularly applicable to you youngsters on here. Take care of yourself. If something doesn't feel right, stop. This is super important if you're in the skilled trades like myself. Sometimes the shortcut has long-lasting consequences. They didn't have this thing called "ergonomics" when I was a kid. You just did your job the best way you knew how. Now, if one of us old farts tells you there's a better way to do something, pay heed. We probably learned the hard way....

Ouch is right. I am left handed (lost the use of my right arm when I was 4 in a car accident) so I have no choice. I have arthritis, impingement, and bone spurs in my left shoulder. That is one reason I was leary of coming back to bowling but at 49 I figured I can't live in a bubble the rest of my life.

[RobLV1]

I'm now 10 days on the good side of single level cervical fusion surgery (C5:C6). Thank you Timmyb for starting this thread... it's the perfect place for us, the walking wounded, to commiserate as we convalesce and go nuts waiting to get back to bowling.

[drlawsoniii]

I'm 9 months out of a nasty motorcycle accident. Open fracture of the tibia, broken fibula, lacerated femoral artery, broken and twisted pelvis, shredded pateller tendon, removed calf muscle for a flap, dislocated thumb and coccyx. Surgeon thinks there's a possibility that I'll be able to bowl and golf again, but I will need to approach both of them very differently. I'm still walking with a cane, hoping to be off of it within the next couple months.

[chip82901]

I'm now 10 days on the good side of single level cervical fusion surgery (C5:C6). Thank you Timmyb for starting this thread... it's the perfect place for us, the walking wounded, to commiserate as we convalesce and go nuts waiting to get back to bowling.

Can I ask why they fused it Rob? I had some issues going on with a bulged disc between my C5 and C6 that I recently treated with acupuncture.

[Amyers]

Timmy I'm sure that's a big obstacle to overcome but I see it in baseball pitchers all the time. When I was young it was the end of your career now days it makes them better, get well soon

[boatman37]

Can I ask why they fused it Rob? I had some issues going on with a bulged disc between my C5 and C6 that I recently treated with acupuncture.

Really? I have 2 bulging discs in my lower back from 2001. Talked to a neurosurgeon about surgery but went to therapy and it has been pretty good since then. Flares up every once in awhile but a quick trip to the chiropractor usually takes care of it. Never thought about acupuncture.

[RobLV1]

Can I ask why they fused it Rob? I had some issues going on with a bulged disc between my C5 and C6 that I recently treated with acupuncture.

I had them fused because I've learned from my mistakes. Way back in 2003, I had a massive attack of sciatica. I had an MRI done. When it was evaluated by an ortho surgeon, he determined that I really didn't need surgery. I treated it off and on for years with acupuncture. The problem was that when it really got bad about five years ago, I again had it evaluated and was told, "I'm sorry, but your back is so screwed up that I could cut you nine times and still not fix it." When the pinched nerve in my neck got so bad that I had pain radiating up into my head, across my shoulder, and down my arm. When the MRI showed that a great majority of the damage was between C5 and C6, I took the advice of the surgeon and had them fused. Now, just ten days after the surgery, the nerve pain is about 90% gone! At this point I feel like this was probably the best decision I ever made.

[Timmyb]

Timmy I'm sure that's a big obstacle to overcome but I see it in baseball pitchers all the time. When I was young it was the end of your career now days it makes them better, get well soon

Thank God I'm a righty. I had the right shoulder done (almost identical surgery) 7 years ago. Just as painful a recovery, but I think my game is better now for it. It'll be interesting to see if the left shoulder was causing any issues unknowingly in my game. I sure as hell know it affected trap shooting.....

[Timmyb]

I'm 9 months out of a nasty motorcycle accident. Open fracture of the tibia, broken fibula, lacerated femoral artery, broken and twisted pelvis, shredded pateller tendon, removed calf muscle for a flap, dislocated thumb and coccyx. Surgeon thinks there's a possibility that I'll be able to bowl and golf again, but I will need to approach both of them very differently. I'm still walking with a cane, hoping to be off of it within the next couple months.

Jesus, dude. Best of luck with your recovery!

[drlawsoniii]

Thanks Timmy... It's been a long road so far but steadily getting strength back!