Progress Report... PO day 58

Reading yesterday's 8 week post op progress report really brought me up short! While I tried to stress what I now can do, I couldn't help letting what I want to be able to do creep in.  Are we never satisfied?

It made me think about the question Dr. Kai asked me on my first visit when we discussed the possibility of surgery. He wanted to know what I hoped to get out of having the operation. I said that mostly I wanted to not have pain almost all the time. And I thought it would be a bonus if I could have some better range of motion with my arm. I was unable to elevate my arm or reach out with it at all and sharp, stabbing pain accompanied almost any useful maneuver.

Well, my surgeon, the procedure and my body have totally delivered on what was most important, pain relief. Even in the first day or two after surgery when one expects postoperative pain, I was more comfortable than I had been in the previous eleven months when I was supposedly healing from a broken shoulder. In a very few days after surgery I was weaned off of narcotic pain medications.

The immobilization of my arm for a good six weeks kept me from knowing for sure if it would again hurt with use. But now, at eight weeks post surgery, I am continually amazed how pain free I am. My arm is stiff and physical therapy is a challenge. The muscles which have gone unused, not just since surgery but for the months before, are sore and tender from being asked to work again. An ice pack and aspirin are in order after PT.

But the chronic, sharp, stabbing pain that accompanied almost every motion is gone. How did I fail to mention that yesterday?