(Non Valk) Shoulder replacement

[pais]

Good morning,

Finally made the decision to have my right shoulder replaced, long overdue. I am sure there are some of you that have had it done. Anything in  particular in hindsight you would have done differently or not at all? 

[Rams]

Good morning,

Finally made the decision to have my right shoulder replaced, long overdue. I am sure there are some of you that have had it done. Anything in  particular in hindsight you would have done differently or not at all?  

My wife had shoulder replacement two days ago.   She gave birth to both of our children without drugs and is barely coping with the pain of this surgery.   She now has a chromed cobalt stem/socket and ball joint with a medical grade plastic socket liner.  She is black and blue from her neck, down her arm and down her rib cage and part of her back.    It's a very physical surgery to the patient.   That's the best way for me to explain it.   She's taking a very strong pain killer every six hours, can't sleep and to be honest, have never seen her struggle this hard.

She's already scheduled to have the other shoulder replaced in six months.   I'm not looking forward to that but, hopefully life will improve for her after that.   Basically, both her shoulders were shot.

Rams

[da prez]

  I have two shoulders and a hip replaced. The shoulders for me were no issue.  G E T  the best surgeon , one that does several a day. It takes about an hour and a half or so. I quit taking pain pills the next day. ( I also have a high tolerance for pain)  A one week check up and a one month check up followed. At one month I saw a guy that had surgery the same day as I did.  Talk from him "I need more pain pills".
 I told him I stopped the next day.  Each person has there own tolerance. Do the physical therapy.

                                       da prez

[Rams]

 Each person has there own tolerance. Do the physical therapy.

                                       da prez

Based on my own knee and shoulder surgeries, I whole heartedly agree with this.

Rams

[Black Dog]

I've had both knees, and my left shoulder done.  Pain is what you can endure...  I understand why there is an Opioid crisis in the US, based on the number of pills they gave me after each surgery    For the shoulder, I had a 'pain ball' hanging around my neck (a morphine drip, as I understand it), that lasted three days or so.  Because surgery was done on a Thursday and I was sent home the next day, the pain pills they gave me (Oxi's) were enough to kill a small elephant!  60 pills as I recall, so I didn't need them over the weekend.  I used maybe 4 of them...

Hit the physical therapy as hard as you can! It's gonna hurt, but you will be better in the long run 

Knees were easier than the shoulder, but a rotator cuff repair (about 10 years before the replacement), was a BITCH!!

Remember, do the therapy as hard as you can!

Black Dog

[sidecarwilliam]

Wife had a total right reverse shoulder replacement and was out in the garden the second day back. Little bruising and only light meds at night. She is small but has a high tolerance for pain as we have been married 53 years.
Everybody is different as is pain tolerance. She hates needles and dentists but, loves her new shoulder.

[scooperhsd]

I take as few opiods as possible - precisely to avoid getting hooked on them. Wife and sister are the same, I think both of my brothers do this too.

[pais]

   Well, things I am reading here echo what I hear on the streets. PT is crucial and should be followed to a T. I don't worry about the pain. I have a decent tolerance for pain and as long as the pain decreases as the days progress I can deal with it. I am sure there will be pain from PT but that's a different pain.
   At this moment I am scheduled for a "regular" shoulder replacement. From what they can see, rotator cuff is not torn badly enough to require a "reverse" shoulder replacement. That will be a game time decision. Once I am opened up. A reverse is easier to recover from than a regular replacement, according to my Dr.
   Thanks for the input. I have dealt with this for many years and will be glad to have this in my rearview mirror.
   I guess this is Valk related. I am concerned when I will be able to put the new tires on my Valk and be able to ride.
  

[Jersey mike]

My wife recently had both her hips replaced…I know not the shoulder but everyone reacts differently however there’s some real good info everyone left for you.

My recommendation mimics what they said.

Post surgery FOLLOW YOUR DOCTORS ORDERS to the letter.

Find the best surgeon possible, get referrals from the internet, your physician or friends or any other medical person you know as well as any physical therapy facility you can talk to. If you can financially don’t just use the recommended surgeon from yiur insurance, go out of network if possible.

Post surgery, take the anti inflammatory meds and pain meds, they are to help you recover. If you don’t trust yourself with the pain meds let your wife give them to you. And if they say ice, then ice. It helps tremendously.

Physical therapy is essential. Do,what they say and do your at home exercise as well. It may hurt for a while but it’s also essential.


Good luck and best of wishes.

[pais]

My wife recently had both her hips replaced…I know not the shoulder but everyone reacts differently however there’s some real good info everyone left for you.

My recommendation mimics what they said.

Post surgery FOLLOW YOUR DOCTORS ORDERS to the letter.

Find the best surgeon possible, get referrals from the internet, your physician or friends or any other medical person you know as well as any physical therapy facility you can talk to. If you can financially don’t just use the recommended surgeon from yiur insurance, go out of network if possible.

Post surgery, take the anti inflammatory meds and pain meds, they are to help you recover. If you don’t trust yourself with the pain meds let your wife give them to you. And if they say ice, then ice. It helps tremendously.

Physical therapy is essential. Do,what they say and do your at home exercise as well. It may hurt for a while but it’s also essential.


Good luck and best of wishes.

Funny how we have to get older or at least I did, before I would pay close attention to doctor's orders. Now I follow them to a T. Guess they do know what they are talking about, lol. A couple things you reminded me of Jersey. One was ice, it is your friend and using it makes a world of difference. I found this out with my knee repair a few years back. 2nd thing was anti inflammatory's and pain meds. Numerous people have told me not to be fooled by the lack of pain immediately after surgery do to the nerve block I will receive. Stay on top of the pain meds because once the block wears off pain will set in. Like my knee, PT was critical and may be more so with the shoulder. Have to work through the pain to get results.

Thank you all for the input, it's appreciated!

[bassman]

Wife has had both shoulders done.  She does NOT tolerate opioids well - usually only gets Toradol or Tramadol.   She swears by PT and extended her sessions for both shoulders which she feels was the best thing she could have done.  Doctor very impressed with her mobility in both shoulders and credits her toughing out all the PT    We also got her one of these with extra packs which she said really helped her get through it all.  She is VERY happy she had them done.

https://activewrap.com/products/shoulder-heat-ice-wrap

Good luck with your procedure and hope it all goes very well for you.

[Jersey mike]

Wife has had both shoulders done.  She does NOT tolerate opioids well - usually only gets Toradol or Tramadol.   She swears by PT and extended her sessions for both shoulders which she feels was the best thing she could have done.  Doctor very impressed with her mobility in both shoulders and credits her toughing out all the PT    We also got her one of these with extra packs which she said really helped her get through it all.  She is VERY happy she had them done.

https://activewrap.com/products/shoulder-heat-ice-wrap

Good luck with your procedure and hope it all goes very well for you.

About 10 or so years ago my wife had a shoulder clean up done, they gave her a similar wrap except it was hooked to a cooler which held ice and water and pumped the cold water through the wrap. Several years later my son had his knee worked on, a complete ACL replacement as well a s meniscus repair. He had the similar ice therapy unit except with a knee wrap which was wrapped to,his leg. He did that for 7-10 days until post surgery visit at doctor. Ice baby ice.

[da prez]

The ice pump is the best way to go. I had two of them. I also have a reverse shoulder. Mobility is great but stay away from wrestling and boxing.  Get a co-operative partner

                                         da prez

[pais]

The ice pump is the best way to go. I had two of them. I also have a reverse shoulder. Mobility is great but stay away from wrestling and boxing.  Get a co-operative partner

                                         da prez

I have heard about the ice pump from a number of people. All comments are positive. If nothing else it is convenient. I have borrowed one from a friend that has had both shoulders worked on. He said it was great! Of course this item is NOT paid for by insurance.

On a crummy note. I went in for instruction of what PT I am required to do immediately after surgery and until my first PT appt. 1 week later. A sheet I filled out asked for hobbies I enjoy. Obviously motorcycling was 2nd on the list, golf is 3rd. PT person said I probably wont golf this season but I might be able to ride my Valk by Sept    I was hoping by July at the latest. Needless to say, this was a disappointing  to hear. I will play this one by ear and see how it goes.

[Jersey mike]

The ice pump is the best way to go. I had two of them. I also have a reverse shoulder. Mobility is great but stay away from wrestling and boxing.  Get a co-operative partner

                                         da prez

I have heard about the ice pump from a number of people. All comments are positive. If nothing else it is convenient. I have borrowed one from a friend that has had both shoulders worked on. He said it was great! Of course this item is NOT paid for by insurance.

On a crummy note. I went in for instruction of what PT I am required to do immediately after surgery and until my first PT appt. 1 week later. A sheet I filled out asked for hobbies I enjoy. Obviously motorcycling was 2nd on the list, golf is 3rd. PT person said I probably wont golf this season but I might be able to ride my Valk by Sept    I was hoping by July at the latest. Needless to say, this was a disappointing  to hear. I will play this one by ear and see how it goes.

You better bring it with you on the day of surgery and let them know you have it. When you wake from surgery you’ll probably be hooked to it…it may be wrapped to yiur torso and already flowing.

[RP#62]

My wife still has the ice pump from her knee surgery.  I have seriously considered putting the cooler/pump in my saddle bag and wrapping the wrap around my head when riding in AZ.

-RP

[da prez]

 Ice pumps are great for cooling beer in a hurry.

                                  da prez

[Rams]

As I indicated previously in this thread, my wife just had shoulder replacement surgery a week or so ago.
Obviously, she can't do much and is in significant pain but working through it.   Honestly, she's a trooper and is handling the pain much better that I believe I could.   But.

A couple days ago as I was helping her get dressed, I noticed her surgical wound draining.   This is not a good thing.   We called the doc and was told to come in early the next morning.   We did as instructed.   Got her there early and the doc took a look and said go home, get an overnight bag and come back.   Two hours later, she was back in the operating room and being opened up again.   Turns out, some how, somewhere, she got a staph infection and that ain't good.

The doc says he got it all out and she's on all kinds of meds, some for the infection, some for the pain, some for the constipation that comes from the pain killers, some for sleeping..............  Doc said the infection did not get all the way to the new shoulder metal parts, if it had he would have had to take them back out, cleanse that bone structure and if I heard him correctly, let her heal up from the infection and then replace the metal parts again.   If he got it all, we got lucky.   This has not been a fun week in many ways.   I don't recommend a repeat but, she's got to get the other shoulder done is six months.

Rams  

[sidecarwilliam]

Sorry for the bad news.  I hope the Doc got all the infection and the healing goes well.
I have had 6 knees in 10 years because of problems but made it through after all.  I hope she does better the I did.
Everyone does better than I do.

My best to you and yours.

[Jersey mike]

As I indicated previously in this thread, my wife just had shoulder replacement surgery a week or so ago.
Obviously, she can't do much and is in significant pain but working through it.   Honestly, she's a trooper and is handling the pain much better that I believe I could.   But.

A couple days ago as I was helping her get dressed, I noticed her surgical wound draining.   This is not a good thing.   We called the doc and was told to come in early the next morning.   We did as instructed.   Got her there early and the doc took a look and said go home, get an overnight bag and come back.   Two hours later, she was back in the operating room and being opened up again.   Turns out, some how, somewhere, she got a staph infection and that ain't good.

The doc says he got it all out and she's on all kinds of meds, some for the infection, some for the pain, some for the constipation that comes from the pain killers, some for sleeping..............  Doc said the infection did not get all the way to the new shoulder metal parts, if it had he would have had to take them back out, cleanse that bone structure and if I heard him correctly, let her heal up from the infection and then replace the metal parts again.   If he got it all, we got lucky.   This has not been a fun week in many ways.   I don't recommend a repeat but, she's got to get the other shoulder done is six months.

Rams  

Hey Rams, that’s some rotten news, staph can be a real bugger to clear up. I hope they take real good care of her while in the hospital and this thing clears up lickity split.

[pais]

Rams, very sorry to hear this about your wife. Staph infection is of great concern as you are getting ready for the surgery. I had to shower with a special soap the morning of the surgery. During pre-op I was thoroughly wiped down in the area again with a solution.
I hope she begins to feel better each day. She is in my thoughts.


So far so good for me. Surgery was this past Wednesday morning. The nerve block that was given to me before the surgery helped immensely with the pain immediately following surgery. The block wore off by the end of the following day after surgery. Physical therapy has begun in earnest.

[Jersey mike]

Rams, very sorry to hear this about your wife. Staph infection is of great concern as you are getting ready for the surgery. I had to shower with a special soap the morning of the surgery. During pre-op I was thoroughly wiped down in the area again with a solution.
I hope she begins to feel better each day. She is in my thoughts.


So far so good for me. Surgery was this past Wednesday morning. The nerve block that was given to me before the surgery helped immensely with the pain immediately following surgery. The block wore off by the end of the following day after surgery. Physical therapy has begun in earnest.

Hope your recovery goes smoothly and you feel great quickly. PT can be interesting and quite aggressive so don’t get discouraged.

I remember when Barbara began her shoulder PT, she was instructed to “let her fingers do the walking” up and down the wall for quite awhile and things progressed from there.

[Rams]

Rams, very sorry to hear this about your wife. Staph infection is of great concern as you are getting ready for the surgery. I had to shower with a special soap the morning of the surgery. During pre-op I was thoroughly wiped down in the area again with a solution.
I hope she begins to feel better each day. She is in my thoughts.


So far so good for me. Surgery was this past Wednesday morning. The nerve block that was given to me before the surgery helped immensely with the pain immediately following surgery. The block wore off by the end of the following day after surgery. Physical therapy has begun in earnest.

Appreciate the kind words from all.   My sincere thanks to all.

Reference the staph infection, my wife had the special soap prior to her surgery and was coated again with some solution prior to surgery.   When she came out of surgery, most of the left side of her body was purplish/yellow from whatever antibacterial they use to cleanse the body.   So, we're fairly certain the infection was not to do a lack of trying to eliminate bacteria.   We really don't know but, she's home now and we're working through this.   They also applied what was supposedly a "water proof" dressing to the wound post surgery and we did everything possible to keep it clean and dry so, we really don't know where the infection came from.   Being religious about the meds and keeping everything as clean as possible.   She'll return to the doc next week and following that will start rehab.  

Had my own shoulder surgery after my crash a few years ago, been through all that rehab.   Wasn't fun but, at least I am 90% of where I was pre-crash and thankfully retained my good looks.  

Rams

[Jess from VA]

You can never know the source of postoperative infections.

But it's always possible it was done in the OR.  (for no charge)

When I had the 2d and 1st degree burns over much of my upper body, they kept me slathered and dripping in that gooey orange Betadine because burns are esp susceptible to infection.   

[f6gal]

You can never know the source of postoperative infections.

But it's always possible it was done in the OR.  (for no charge)

When I had the 2d and 1st degree burns over much of my upper body, they kept me slathered and dripping in that gooey orange Betadine because burns are esp susceptible to infection.   

Jess is correct... bacteria are everywhere.  Any break in skin integrity, puts one at risk for infection.

BTW Jess, I think you mean 2nd and 3rd degree burns... 1st degree is basically a sunburn; no breach of the skin.

[Jess from VA]

No it was only 1st and 2d, but bad 2d degree burns.  A one lb can of FFFG black powder went off in my right hand.  It exploded the powder into my (shirtless) skin where it finished burning.  There was a little shrapnel too.  Not one of my finer moments.  I was just happy to keep all my fingers.  Healed entirely with no infection, residuals or scars.  

My afternoon shift nurse at U of M hospital (for 10 days) became wife #1.  (I was crazy about her)    

They told me 3d degree were better ONLY because the nerves are burned and it doesn't hurt as much.

Mine hurt.  I was OK as long as covered in ice water.  100 of Demerol did nothing, another 100 (right away) knocked me out (blissfully).  Bandage change time (debridement) sucked, even with the quart of Betadine underneath.

Anyone who handles black powder should think of it as powdered gasoline.

[scooperhsd]

The ice pump is the best way to go. I had two of them. I also have a reverse shoulder. Mobility is great but stay away from wrestling and boxing.  Get a co-operative partner

                                         da prez

I have heard about the ice pump from a number of people. All comments are positive. If nothing else it is convenient. I have borrowed one from a friend that has had both shoulders worked on. He said it was great! Of course this item is NOT paid for by insurance.

On a crummy note. I went in for instruction of what PT I am required to do immediately after surgery and until my first PT appt. 1 week later. A sheet I filled out asked for hobbies I enjoy. Obviously motorcycling was 2nd on the list, golf is 3rd. PT person said I probably wont golf this season but I might be able to ride my Valk by Sept    I was hoping by July at the latest. Needless to say, this was a disappointing  to hear. I will play this one by ear and see how it goes.

It might be disappointing, but DO WHAT YOUR DT and PT guy tell you to do !

[cookiedough]

sure sounds like shoulder surgery is harder and longer to recover than say hip replacement surgery and more apt to have issues as Ram has said with his wife.   I was thinking reading Ram's post that something must be wrong with his wife should not be that bad AFTER surgery, but glad you finally went in and got her shoulder area looked at again sooner rather than later, coulda been much worse if waited.

I yelled at my kid, age 21, in great physical shape being a powerlifter, who just underwent Friday a basic groin hernia surgery removing it.  Drs. orders NO lifting for 4 weeks, so what does he do the next day on Saturday,  goes into his basement of his house and powerlifts 130lbs. and told me it felt good.  (he can do 500-650lbs.,  his 130lbs. probably is 40lbs. for the rest of us, but still NO lifting).  I told him NO MORE lifting next 3 weeks or so, especially not 500+ lbs. like he normally does.  2nd day now he can walk around 'almost' normally but not as tender/sore as 1st day, takes time to heal.  I know him and he is impatient still thinking he is invincible.  Wife is up there now reminding him yet again NO lifting so hope he listens to wife vs. me.

I am sorta worried, if I loose 30lbs. this year, on the surgeon authorizing hip replacement surgery saying he will do it.  I guess 5% chance of blood clot if BMI over 40 which is at 42 now, so he wants me to loose 30lbs. first to reduce blood clot risk to under 1%.  I saw Scott Hall, pro wrestler Razor Ramon,  fell down age 63 and had to have hip replacement surgery and got a blood clot which resulted in 3 heart attacks soon after, recently passing.  Although he had other health issues that I do not have like defib and pacemaker and extensive drug/alcohol use, bad things can happen during and AFTER surgery.  So far have lost 5 lbs., but even eating better, 30lb. weight loss will be super hard to do seeing as how I have never been 30lbs. lighter in like 3 decades.  Dr. said insurance companies frown upon having and paying for hip replacement surgery if BMI is over 40, which IMO is BS.  What if needed ASAP like falling down breaking hip?  Gotta have surgery, but in my case can walk o.k. still just hurts if walk longer distances or do much physical exercise.  Even riding on a cycle seat for anything longer than 1 hour is not good, that is if I can get my leg (hip really) to bend that far up and OVER the cycle seat to get on the cycle.  Even tying my shoes lifting my leg up on a bench 1st or getting into my car,  my left leg will not lift UP so have to use my hand to grab my pant leg to help lift UP my left leg since my left hip will not allow me to easily bend UPWARD. 

[Rams]

sure sounds like shoulder surgery is harder and longer to recover than say hip replacement surgery and more apt to have issues as Ram has said with his wife.   I was thinking reading Ram's post that something must be wrong with his wife should not be that bad AFTER surgery, but glad you finally went in and got her shoulder area looked at again sooner rather than later, coulda been much worse if waited.

I yelled at my kid, age 21, in great physical shape being a powerlifter, who just underwent Friday a basic groin hernia surgery removing it.  Drs. orders NO lifting for 4 weeks, so what does he do the next day on Saturday,  goes into his basement of his house and powerlifts 130lbs. and told me it felt good.  (he can do 500-650lbs.,  his 130lbs. probably is 40lbs. for the rest of us, but still NO lifting).  I told him NO MORE lifting next 3 weeks or so, especially not 500+ lbs. like he normally does.  2nd day now he can walk around 'almost' normally but not as tender/sore as 1st day, takes time to heal.  I know him and he is impatient still thinking he is invincible.  Wife is up there now reminding him yet again NO lifting so hope he listens to wife vs. me.

I am sorta worried, if I loose 30lbs. this year, on the surgeon authorizing hip replacement surgery saying he will do it.  I guess 5% chance of blood clot if BMI over 40 which is at 42 now, so he wants me to loose 30lbs. first to reduce blood clot risk to under 1%.  I saw Scott Hall, pro wrestler Razor Ramon,  fell down age 63 and had to have hip replacement surgery and got a blood clot which resulted in 3 heart attacks soon after, recently passing.  Although he had other health issues that I do not have like defib and pacemaker and extensive drug/alcohol use, bad things can happen during and AFTER surgery.  So far have lost 5 lbs., but even eating better, 30lb. weight loss will be super hard to do seeing as how I have never been 30lbs. lighter in like 3 decades.  Dr. said insurance companies frown upon having and paying for hip replacement surgery if BMI is over 40, which IMO is BS.  What if needed ASAP like falling down breaking hip?  Gotta have surgery, but in my case can walk o.k. still just hurts if walk longer distances or do much physical exercise.  Even riding on a cycle seat for anything longer than 1 hour is not good, that is if I can get my leg (hip really) to bend that far up and OVER the cycle seat to get on the cycle.  Even tying my shoes lifting my leg up on a bench 1st or getting into my car,  my left leg will not lift UP so have to use my hand to grab my pant leg to help lift UP my left leg since my left hip will not allow me to easily bend UPWARD.  

Just an update, my bride is recovering well from her first and second surgery.   Still sore but that's to be expected.   We still have no idea of how that infection started but, it's a done deal, we think.

Update II:  Just learned that the type of infection (bug) is frequently associated with hospitals.   Can't prove where she got it but, I strongly suspect the genie is out of the bottle.   Prior to her coming home after surgery number 1, we  I cleaned and scrubbed just about everything with a strong bleach cleaner.   So, there's that.

Other than worn out shoulder joints, there was nothing wrong health wise with her (although her taste in men is questionable).

Reference the above and taking doctors orders seriously, why go if you're not going to listen to their advice.   As far as weight loss goes, I have a surgery that helped me lose 164 lbs from my previous high weight, it's a constanst struggle to keep it off but I'm still working at it.   Excess weight kills a huge number of us every year.   Pick your path.

Rams