I am a 46 year old female working as a paralegal in a large law firm.  My day consists of lots of computer time, paperwork, and phone calls. The cause of my injury is not clear. I did not have one of those "OMG moments"  where I heard a pop or felt pain in response to doing a particularr event.  My right shoulder started hurting after packing files up for moving from one office to another.  It started as an ache in early February after the move. I assumed I just strained my shoulder so I went for a massage.  After obtaining no relief, I set an appointment with my family physician..  He suspected it was just tendonitis in my rotator cuff so he prescribed Celebrex.  I followed up with my physician 2 weeks later after no relief from the pain from the Celebrex.  He referred me to an Orhopedic surgeon for an MRI.  I had to wait 3 weeks for an appointment and in that time, my shoulder pain increased during the day and started hurting at night also.  By the time I saw my Ortho surgeion, I was in a great deal of pain day and night and I had difficulty with simple tasks such as raising my arm to dry my hair or putting my arm behind my back to un-snap my bra.  The surgeon did a complete exam including x-rays and test of my range of motion.  He offered a corizone injection as a way of alleviating any pain from tendonitis until an MRI could be scheduled.  I received the injection at that first visit and had an MRI appointment five days later.  The cortizone injection did nothing for the pain.  In fact, my pain increased each day.  The MRI was completed without contrast on a Friday and I had a follow up appointment the following Thursday.  By Thursday my shoulder pain had increased again, my range of motion was poor, and the pain had travelled into my collar bone, down my arm to my elbow, and behind my scapula.  The surgeon informed me that although tears are hard to see on MRI's without contrast, mine was clearly visible.  In addition, tears do not heal without surgery.  PT at that point was not recommended as I had significant pain and impingement.  Ssurgery was scheduled for the following Tuesday.   My expectation was that the tear would be repaired and I would be back to work and starting PT within a week of surgery....I was wrong!

My post-op diagnosis was Posterosuperior SLAP tear, type II, extending from 9 o'clock to 12 o'clock, synovitis, glenohumeral joint, and posterior instability 2+.  I had 2 tears, one partial and one "unstable tear of the superior labrum extending posteriorly with complete avulsion of the labrum and biceps anchor".  2 anchors were used to repair the tear. I also had a partial synovectomy of the glenohumeral joint and a partial subacromial bursectomy.  Due to problems waking from anesthesia, I was transfered from the surgical clinic to a local hospital.  I was released the following day with a sling with an immobilizer. No physical therapy for 6 weeks!

I have had other surgeries before but to say that the pain was significant was an understatement.  Anyone having this surgery should have pain meds ready and take them around the clock on the prescribed schedule for the first 2 to 3 days.  If you let the pain get out of control and wait to take pain meds when you feel the pain, it is hard to get it back in control.  I had a friend stay with me day and night for several days to make sure I stayed on track with my pain meds and antibiotics and to help me with keeping ice on my shoulder and to fix meals.  A good system is to write down each medication and the doseage (ex. Demerol 1 capsule every 6 hours), then keep track of the time you take each med and note when you can take the next dose so you don't either miss a dose or accidentally take more than you should because you forgot when you took the last dose.

I have found others blogs very informative.  It is comforting to know that others are in the same boat.