shoulder surgery

[flben]

Good evening,

So after quite a few years of dealing with on and off again shoulder pain.(went to multiple military docs that put my through PT and that was that) I finally went back to the doctor and had some MRIs done on both shoulders.
The results are not desirable. I have arthritis in both, frayed bicep tendons in both, and one had torn rotator cuff. Doc said he can fix the torn cuff no problem, the other he can work on but no guarantees. Ive made the decision to have the shoulder with the rotator cuff fixed. (just hope my work gives quick approval). I spoke with the doc at length about my desires to be able to shoot bows, surf, swim after surgery and he said shouldn't be a problem after 6-12 months.

I have done quite abit of reading on the subject, just wanted to hear some experiences from other who have had shoulder work done. such as recovery time.

Oh and i forgot to mention, I just bought a Martin hatfield from a buddy that should be here tomorrow (talk about good timing)

 

[hickslawns]

Sorry to hear about your shoulder issues. Thanks for your service. I believe there have been several on here who have had the surgery. No clue where the threads are though. If nobody chimes in, try a search. I remember 2-3 or maybe 4 guys going thru it.

 

[Dustinb80]

Good luck with the shoulder.

 

[RedCloud]

Been there done that. Had the rotator cuff, labrum, bicep tendon fixed in my right shoulder. Having that much work done is a long haul for sure. Is this your dominant arm your having fixed?

If you have any questions feel free to ask and I'll let you know what I can.

 

[flben]

Red cloud, yes my dominant arm. Sounds like the same issues you had I have. I currently pull 70 on my compound and 55 on recurve. My question is how long after the operation until you could shoot your hunting weight again? Thanks, Ben

 

[Buckmaster]

Following...since my spill on Oct 1st and I still can't lift 10 pounds over my right shoulder.

 

[flben]

Buckmaster,

I am by no means an expert on the subject, but I can tell you this. My ortho said that the arthritis in my shoulders is due from injuries that were not taken care of. His words were "your shoulders shouldn't look like that at 36". So if you got the insurance i would have it looked at. Just my two cents. like I said, I am by no means an expert.

R,
Ben

 

[Cardinalbuck]

Been there done that. Had the rotator cuff, labrum, bicep tendon fixed in my right shoulder. Having that much work done is a long haul for sure. Is this your dominant arm your having fixed?

If you have any questions feel free to ask and I'll let you know what I can.

I had the same routine done. Dominant arm. It took me about 12 months to get back to strength, thankfully without the pain and instability that drove me to surgery in the first place. After that, I found I had more strength than before the surgery, which was awesome.

The doc told me it would be 6 months for normal use - I thought he was being conservative and that I would get back faster, but he was right. That was the point where I got full range of motion back and could function normally but it would get fatigued and stiff really fast. Continual therapy and slow but steady weight training got me back to par at a year. I draw 65 pounds pretty easily now, without pain - I didn't start bow hunting until after the surgery so can't compare before after specifically for bow. Baseball with my son is what drove me to surgery - had to skip one season but better than before after that.

I will say the first two months really sucked. Made me question the decision. Glad now that I had it done but it was rough for a while. My non dominant shoulder has similar issues but those first months were bad enough that I'm putting that off until I really need it.

Everyone is different. I hope you have an easier road. Let me know if I can share anything else that will help.

 

[Buckmaster]

I currently work thru the pain...it's not that bad and it's mind over matter. I do coach baseball so that will my true test come mid Feb. I already have spinal arthritis which doesn't bother me at all.

 

[RedCloud]

Red cloud, yes my dominant arm. Sounds like the same issues you had I have. I currently pull 70 on my compound and 55 on recurve. My question is how long after the operation until you could shoot your hunting weight again? Thanks, Ben

First thing first here. Start wiping with your other hand. You can thank me later for telling you to start learning that while you can still use your dominant hand if you need to.

I can tell you that your arm will be in a sling for 6-8 weeks after getting all that fixed and you won't be able to do anything during that time other than passive movements until the sling comes off. As far as the bicep tendon goes, you have 2 options in the fix. 1) cut it and let it go 2) tie it into the rotator cuff and anchor it to your upper arm bone. I chose option 2 and in my case I'm about to have a follow up next week to talk about going back in and just cutting it and letting it go.

The labrum was the hardest to get over. The rotation of your shoulder is the hardest to get back and takes the longest to recover from. This also effects your throwing and your pulling for your bow. This is going to take a good 8-12 months to get back to your new normal.

DO YOUR EXERCISES! I can't stress that enough. Last thing you want to have happen is frozen shoulder. It's painful to get fixed if that happens. They pretty much take you back into the OR and stretch your arm for you and tear all the scar tissue that's holding your shoulder to your ribcage.

Take the pain meds. Don't try to be a hard ass and think your going to do it without them. You will regret it, trust me lol.

As was stated already, everybody is going to recover differently but from what I posted and from seeing a few others I know that have done this combo surgery, what I described is pretty normal.

Feel free to ask away and I'll post my results and what I know.

 

[Redhunter1012]

Buy a comfy recliner to sleep in

 

[flben]

Speaking of wiping butts, my wife asked me why I wasn't going to do both at the same time. I asked her if she was going to wipe my butt for a few months. She quickly changed her thoughts. Thanks for the tips, I greatly appreciate it

 

[flben]

Update, I had the operation on Wednesday, and once the doc got in there it was worse then the MRI showed. Basically gonna need a whole new joint. He was able to do some things that may help, but won't really know until I heal. Due to the fog of waking up from the surgery I don't recall what he said he could do, but he is referring me to an ortho that uses cadaver parts to rebuild the joint. He told me that my 36 year old shoulder looks like an 80 year olds. At this point only time will tell. I may be crossbow hunting in the fall. I'll update this after I go see him in a few weeks. On a positive note, the pain isn't as bad as I thought it would be.

 

[giles]

Good luck man!

 

[Bigslam51]

Good luck!

 

["J"]

Damn, not what I expected as an update.... Hope the healing goes quick and you don't have to go back for another surgery for a while....

 

[Dustinb80]

Hope it heals quickly.

 

[MoonLab]

Good luck hope it all works out.

 

[teenbowhunter]

Damn sorry to hear that. I'm 19 and have to get a damn MRI on my shoulder too. Wouldn't be surprised if it's something similar it's been getting randomly better and worse for a year.

 

[finelyshedded]

Dang!!! I hate to hear this! Hope they can do something for you! I went back through and tried to find out how you got to this point and all I could find was it was caused by not fixing these injuries sooner. How did you injure your shoulders in the first place if I might ask?

Good luck and may Godspeed your recovery.