Hello all! I have great news! I just had my 3 month post op and was officially released by my doc.  It does not mean I am fully through recovery or PT but the doc doc gave me the ok to start playing tennis again...lightly of course.  (no serving for at least another month of so, but groundstrokes are ok) So, in my huge state of excitement, I went and hit against a backboard for about ten minutes yesterday.  They said only do 5 but I was like a little kid on a playground! I did not have any pain but my shoulder does feel 'tired' today.  I had to keep myself from really hitting the ball and following through all the way.

Even though I do not have to see the surgeon anymore I am going to continue seeing my phys therapist. I still do the exercises everyday (even though they are boring!) but it is so cool to see improvement.  I am really feeling good and glad to lace up my tennis shoes again.

Boy have I been a slacker about  blogging my surgery rehab! It was my goal to do an update every week but I guess missing about 6 weeks woth of posts is reality.

 Things have really improved since my last blog.  At 11 weeks like is really pretty dang normal, but I am still always conscious of using my operated arm for everyday things.  I have been walking a lot, a lot, a lot.  Being able to have some form of exercise has been the biggest dose of medicine for me.  If this had been knee surgery then I really would have been hating life these past 11 weeks!  However, I am at this point where I am sick of doing exercises, sick of PT, and sick of just thinking about my shoulder.  I have slowly been adding in little bits of running to my walks, and some days I feel soo good that I try to run more than I should just because I want to be back to 'normal.'. 

Wow, I am exactly 5 weeks out from surgery!

I had my 2nd PT appt today (I am only scheduled to meet with the therapist once a week while doing exercises everyday on my own) and it went well.  I have only been through therapy for a week and I can't believe how far I've come.  I can lift my arm directly above my head (with the help of a pulley of course) in multiple directions with little to no pain.  Maybe this is typical but it is cool to go from not lifting your arm for many weeks ot all of a sudden seeing it rise above your head.  The first few days had a good amount of pain but I can really see it decrease as each day passes.  This is probably also attributed to me having a minor tear and being somewhat young.

Yesterday was my 4 week post op visit with the surgeon and after that I went to PT appt #1.

The first thing my lovely surgeon did when he walked in the room was pick my arm up and raise it above my head.  While I winced in pain he simply remarked 'looks like you are a little stiff.'  As he lifted my arm a second time I thought about what would happen if my leg suddenly but 'accidentally'  kicked him in the gut.  Ok, maybe I'm being dramatic.  But honestly, you take someone who has not lifted their arm for a month and then you raise it up without warning...did you not think the person would be stiff? in pain? terrified?

The good news however was that mr. surgeon said everything looked good.  He took an x-ray and that was about all that happened with that appt.  Oh, but I did ask how long until I am back 100% to tennis.  Expecting him to say 12 months he pleasantly surprised me by saying ONLY FOUR MONTHS!! I will believe it when I see it, but I do like the optimism!

Wow, I can't believe it has already been 3 weeks since going under the scope.  In some ways it has flown by, and yet in others it has not. 

Everyday has been pretty much the same since about 6 days post op: little to no pain, sleeping well, doing the exercises a few times a day, watching too much reality tv, and getting tired from the smallest activity. 

I have really gone wild in this third week as I attempted a little housework.  We have a small vacuum for downstairs that is ultra light and I figured my newly dominant left arm could handle the challenge to clean up all the dog hair from our 2 ultra shedding mutts.  All I can say is phew....it kicked my butt.. Laundry? Well that kicked it too.  And then today I went for another snail pace walk which royally kicked my butt a third time.  I get tired so easily right now! A few painful twinges here and there but nothing I can truly complain of.  I am sure when I start PT next week I will have a new found respect for those crazy pain pills they gave me. 

I officially started back to work after taking 2 weeks off.  I could have pushed it and gone back after 1, but I feel like I really needed that second week to somewhat get back to normal since I spent most of the first week anchored to the cryocuff and spaced out on pain meds.  My mom was also here so I didn't plan to start until she left. I am lucky because I work from home and on a computer so my job is not physically demanding.  However I will admit that I have felt pretty drained at the end of each day.  I am sure my posture at my desk is somewhat crazy since I am typing two-handed with my sling on, and this has caused a lot of tension in my back.  

 I finally started sleeping in a bed again after being on the couch for so long. The couch was just easier in the beginning I thought.  I have also been walking the past few days.  It has been such nice weather that it is so hard to stay away from the outdoors.  My walks are at snail pace but it is better than nothing.  I am going to try the gym next week.  No weights but some slow stationary bike should be nice.

Today marks one week post op and my, oh my what an interesting week it has been.

 I  realized that I never really described my surgery sohere goes: the actual surgery lasted just under 1 1/2 hours and i was under general anesthesia with a pain block.  I had 1 anchor inserted for my tear so it was not really that severe.  I also had a cyst and some inflamed bursa removed. In the doctor's words there was 'a lot of clean up done and a minor tear repair.'

 Today was the first day I did not take the pain meds and it made a difference in that I have a lot more feeling and sensations in my shoulder--some of which is pain but mostly it feels very stiff. I also felt a little down today and very bored. It was a beautiful day out and made it harder for me to just bum around the house.  This made me realze that winter was a better time to have this surgery versus summer.

Had my 1st post op appt today and things went great.  In fact, I've really felt great all dat today too.So why all the confusion?

 I am not sure if the pain meds have given me a false sense of feeling good.  I have been able to find a comfy sleeping position on our sectional couch so sleep is not such an issue, i have basically had zero pain besides a few twinges here and there, my spirits are up a liittle more each day as i see daily activites such as showering and dressing left-handed becoming more normal, and i have been getting out of the house for a few hours the past three days.