One morning a couple of weeks ago, I awoke to a startling realization.
I was sleeping on my right side. The side I had shoulder surgery on. And I didn’t need traction to get me out of bed in the morning.
It was like a breakthrough. An epiphany. A revelation.
That I’m almost back to normal.
Since quite a few of you flock to this site to read about my shoulder surgery recovery (here and here), I thought I’d give a more recent update on my status.
It’s been five months since I had major shoulder surgery. At the beginning, I never thought I would feel normal again. I thought that I would continue feeling like a gimp for eternity.
And now? I hardly notice my shoulder.
I would say I have about 90% range of motion back. I can reach my arm over my head with minimal pinching feeling. I can knock back an adult beverage with just as much of a chance of it dribbling down my chin as I had before surgery. And in parenting news, I can finally reach to the backseat of the car and take away a hotly contested toy from the kids, so if that’s not progress, I don’t know what is.
As much as I fretted over my scars right after surgery, they aren’t too bad. I notice them, don’t get me wrong. But I’m getting more and more comfortable wearing tank tops at the gym, or swimsuits at the pool on vacation. The one that is really taking it’s time healing is the biceps tendon incision. But at least it’s not as vulgar as I feared.
The muscle tone on my operated arm is coming back – not to where it was, but not scrawny and saggy either. I still don’t think it looks right, or balanced to my other arm. It doesn’t sit in the socket the same way my other shoulder does, and when I lift my arms over my head, I still look like two different people. My physical therapist tells me it is due to muscular imbalance issues, and that over time it will start to resemble my other arm once I regain full strength.
I was discharged from physical therapy appointments about a month ago. That doesn’t mean I’m supposed to stop doing my exercises, though.
But it’s hard at this point. Since I’m not in much pain and have most of my range of motion back, I don’t have that nagging soreness as a red flag reminder for me to do my PT. I’m probably getting in my exercises twice a week, which isn’t nearly what it should be, but I guess better than what it could be. And if my physical therapist is reading this…I promise, I’m closing up the laptop and hitting the weights right after I hit “publish.” Wink. Wink.
I’ve been given the green light to return to yoga, running, and modified weight training, like pushups. The rule for working out is to get to a place where 3 sets of 15 reps are easy, then gradually increase the weight. So for pushups, I’m doing them against the wall, then when that’s comfortable, I can move to the couch, then the floor on my knees, etc. You know, baby steps.
Half the time, my family forgets I’ve had surgery. No one’s offering assistance when I reach up to grab something off of a high shelf (or put away the Christmas decorations all by myself, thankyouverymuch) and the kids have begun to beg to be lifted to see things.
Still, with all of the progress made so far, I still feel as if I have more work ahead of me to get back to where I used to be. While I can get by day to day without noticing my shoulder, I still hesitate to lift heavy objects. There mere thought of trying to do an actual push-up makes me cringe. There are still itches on my back I can’t reach because of tightness in my operated shoulder.
Cartwheels are not, unfortunately, in my immediate future.
However, it’s nice to envision a time when I can join my little girl in handstands and swings on the monkey bars. That goal seems more attainable now.
And I like that.
