Time flies when you're having fun or even if you're not. It's hard to imagine that I am four and a half months post rTSA. Sometimes it is as if the surgery was yesterday and other times it seems a year ago.
I think I am getting along very well. My range of motion is excellent. It surprises me, even, at how high or far I can reach. I can reach up and take down the hand held shower attachment, I can hang up or take down clothes from a high closet rack, I can put away dishes on the upper cabinet shelves. Turning the car steering wheel, hand over hand, had been a lingering annoyance but going on a recent little trip where I drove a lot seemed to work out most of the kinks. Ordinary housework has become pretty ordinary, I can even put a pillow case on a pillow which had been a problem. I can gently use my right arm to push up from a chair or sofa. That is a big help! In an abundance of caution, I still don't use my right arm to shift around in bed.
Ever since surgery, I have had a sharp pain mid way down the upper arm, in the front and in the back. The doctor says it is where the deltoid muscle is now attached to the humerus. It has been gradual but I think I can say that I no longer have the pain in the front of the arm. It's still there on the back side of my upper arm but I now have hope it will disappear eventually. The weird little twitches and aches I used to experience high up at the top of the humerus are gone. I do not have good strength in my right arm, lifting a two pound weight is hard work, I trust the arm will gradually get stronger with time and exercise.
I do have a sharp discomfort if I try to reach my right arm across my chest close to my body. And I do not even think about putting my right arm behind my back. Other than those motions I am pretty good. I think they involve adduction in physical therapy "speak" which was an early no-no and
apparently still is.
Alas, my hair is still falling out more than I would like. It's thick enough but such a nuisance; stray hairs scatter across the bathroom vanity and fall down onto my iPad screen as I lean over it to type. I haven't found any more in my food lately but it is inevitable.
My stamina is better but not back to normal. I am sure that is the aftermath of the pneumothorax and time will put things right. I recently had blood work and am no longer anemic so I can stop those awful iron supplements. I am still trying to get back to walking my full three mile route. Too many things interfere.
But my enthusiasm for little projects is back. I feel good. Strangely, I still haven't recovered my lust for shopping. Maybe Christmas will cure me. I see my orthopod again in December, I think. I should be doing very well by then. We'll see...
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