Selfie PO day 45

Wow, it's hard to believe all this apparatus could be inside one's body and cause so little discomfort, let alone actually relieve the original cause of pain. Yes, those are screws anchoring the hemisphere to the scapula. There is actually a part not seen, the plastic disc between the ball and the top of the shaft which allows the two parts to slide against each other. Plastic does not show up in an X-ray. The humerus is hollowed out to receive the metal shaft and it is either cemented in or malleted in. Because I read my surgeon's operative notes I know mine was snugged into place without the cement.

In a normal shoulder the ball is at the top of the bone, the humerus, and the socket is part of the shoulder. This situation is replicated in a Total Shoulder Replacement. This procedure works well when there is still some function of the rotator cuff and has been being done for forty or more years. But when the rotator cuff is too badly damaged one can no longer rely on the usual ligaments to lift or move the arm. Hence, the Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement, developed in France about twenty years ago and introduced in the US about eight years ago. After surgery the deltoid muscle must learn
to lift and move the arm.

Did you know you can ask for your surgeon's op notes? If you can be at all objective they reveal great insight into what the doctor had to deal with, good or bad. Orthopaedic surgery must be a lot like woodworking or metal shop, or home repair, except with blood. Haven't we all bought some device that required assembly, like a new faucet for the sink? And even though the directions say this is a universal appliance that will connect to all sinks, it doesn't, it won't and nothing works right! And there is always a screw missing!

I can only hope that the manufacturers of these medical prosthetic devices are more careful in counting and labeling the pieces. And that the directions were written by someone whose primary language is English!