PT Evaluation and first two visits

Now that I've carried on enough about the nonsense I had to go through to get my physical therapy appointments set up, let me tell you about the appointments themselves.

My first appointment was my evaluation which I went to on a Thursday night, POD 43. I waited a few minutes in the waiting room before I was seen. Once I went in the therapist, James sat me down on an exam table and we had a chat and he evaluated my shoulder. He checked my range of motion and asked exactly what I had done. There was some confusion because it seems that Dr. Hershon wrote that I had a posterior repair on my prescription but, as far as I knew, I had a Bankart Repair which is an anterior repair and I always dislocated anteriorly. James wanted to know for sure because it was going to make a difference as to how much they were going to push my shoulder for certain ranges of motion. To be certain, he asked me to call the doctor's office and get the operative report. The report would tell us exactly what had been done. He told me that if I had had a Bankart Repair we would not push the external rotation beyond 75 or 80 degrees because it puts pressure on the front of the labrum, which is exactly what I had repaired. He wanted to know but it was not going to make a difference for this visit. He also told me that, even though we would not recover the full 90 degrees of external rotation, I would not notice it in day to day life.

After we did the evaluation he told me what we were going to do while I was there and what he wanted me to do for the day and what I would be doing for ,at least, the next two visits. They started me off with about 20 minutes worth of heat , then they had me work on the pulleys for 30 reps, which is similar to the assisted front flexion I'd been doing at home, a set of the pendulum (Codman) exercises and they showed me how to do the wand exercise for external rotation.

They had me lay on a table to do the wand exercise. I laid on my back and put the head of a golf club in my left hand and with my elbow at my side and with my forearm bent at 90 degrees. I then took the grip of the club in my right hand and pushed my left arm toward an externally rotated position until I felt resistance and then held it for 5 seconds. I did the three sets of ten was that I was assigned.

After I finished the exercises, James did an ultrasound treatment which he said would help with internal swelling and stiffness and then he stretched me out. He worked on my flexion and external rotation and generally loosening the arm. When he pushed me to my tolerances there was some discomfort but no pain to speak of. The front flexion felt weird. I'm still very guarded but it didn't hurt. After that they sat me down for ice and electrical stimulation. I've had stim many times before and this was the first time I was able to say that it didn't feel like my shoulder was going to come out of the socket when they turned it up high.

Before I left, James told me I should come in three times a week for now since I needed a lot of work on my external rotation and I would need to spend much of my time working on that one motion. He also told me to do my Codman and the front flexion exercises at home twice a day and the wand exercises 4 times a day, 30 reps each. It was a lot of work to do but it was what was needed.

The day after my evaluation I called Dr. Hershon's office and they faxed me the operative report. In spite of what had been written on the prescription, the report indicated that I had a Bankart repair. I brought it to my next appointment and we decided to go with what was written in the report as gospel. I didn't even know such a document would be available to me. If you're planning on going to PT after a surgery you should definitley ask your doctor for this and bring it with you.

My next two appointments were pretty much the same routine as my evaluation. I started with heat, followed by pulleys, Codman, wand exercises then ultrasound, stretching and massage and finally, ice and stim. During my third appointment I was shown how to do the wand exercise to work on my front flexion but that was the only change. The illustration shows the flexion being done standing but I did mine laying down. I think it helps to have gravity on your side. I also found that using the wand seems to help me get over that guarded feeling much more than just using my right hand. Maybe I can sleep with my hands behind my head again soon!

I worked on doing my exercises at home. 4 times a day was a lot to try to do the wand exercises, especially when I was working. After a few days I managed to borrow a yoga mat and a golf club at work which allowed me to spread the sets out through the day. I do have to say that doing the wand exercise for the external rotation as much as I've been doing it has left me sore in my pectoral muscle and I've also felt it in my latissimus dorsi. I also noticed that my shoulder feels better immediately after the PT sessions. I was able to do things without some of the pain and discomfort I had felt before. Little things like turning the wheel on my car was easier, putting dishes on the drain board and I was almost able to get up to the first fret on my guitar this afternoon. Even though I've only been to PT three times I'm noticing improvements.

Men Plan, God Creates Health Insurance & LAUGHS

Those of you who know me know that events rarely pass without me having something to bitch about. Physical Therapy was, apparently, not going to be an exception. I was not only ready but actually excited about my first PT visit. After weeks of being immobilized and not being able to use my left arm I was eagerly anticipating moving forward and side to side, for that matter. I knew it was going to be a lot of work and possibly a lot of pain but it also meant progress toward my goal.

To this point, I've had very little trouble with my health insurance company. Actually, I've had no trouble. All throughout my pre-op, the surgery and my post operative visits I've not heard a peep from the insurance company. Everything has been approved and I just flowed through the process, effortlessly. This was about to change.

I wound up choosing a Physical Therapy clinic in my neighborhood in Brooklyn but it was not my first choice. The list my surgeon's office sent me with the recommended PTs was quite long but I soon found out my choices were going to be limited. Although there were a whole slew of places listed in Manhattan, they were several locations for one practice. What that meant to me was that when I called and one location did not accept my insurance it eliminated a whole group from the list. Also there were one or two places that listed my insurance as being accepted but when you called they said they took "out of network benefits." Translation: they don't take the insurance. The list suddenly became very short.

After weeding out the facilities that were of no use to me I settled on a practice. They accepted my insurance and they had locations through out Brooklyn including one in my neighborhood. I called Wednesday and was not able to get an appointment until the following Thursday because I needed an evening appointment. The receptionist took my insurance information and I just knew I had 8 days to wait. I placed a call to my insurance company to inquire about the number of visits I was allowed per year and to ask if there was anything else I needed to know. I was told 60 and all seemed well.

Thursday came and I was excited as I left work. I was highly motivated and ready to get in there and put my time in. As I boarded the bus at 4:20 pm to make my way home, my cell phone rang and I checked it once I sat down. The call was from the receptionist at the Physical Therapy Clinic.

She felt this was the appropriate time to call and let me know that I would need a referral from my Primary Care Physician or they would not be able to see me. When I asked why she was calling me an hour and a half before my appointment to tell me this when she had my insurance information for 8 days she responded "Well, we're very busy here and I just got to call the insurance company." To add insult to injury, I would not be able to be seen for another week unless I was willing to take time off work, which I was trying to avoid and also why I had waited a week for an appointment in the first place. AHHHHHH!!!!!!

I called the insurance company to verify that I needed the referral. Turns out I did but I could also get it from the surgeon. Still pissed, I called the surgeons office and with it being after 4:30 I was greeted by the answering service. No help there. I called my PCP's office. The good news was they were opened until 5:30 that day, the bad news was that I got voicemail. I left a message explaining my plight and continued ranting to anyone who would listen. Erik wound up getting an earful over IM. Thanks, again, for letting me vent.

Luckily I got a call back from my doctor's office. They heard how worked up I was an called the PT office for me and worked it out. They called me back and told me that I had my referral and it had been faxed to the PT office. I would get to keep my appointment.

I was happy but I was still annoyed that I had to deal with all that aggravation to get there. Two things in particular annoyed and continue to annoy me. The first is that I got the call about the referral so late. I know all these offices call the insurance the same day but a call at noon would have easily resolved the issue instead of my scrambling to find an open office at 4:40 PM. Secondly, when I called the insurance company the rep did not mention anything about a referral. I didn't specifically ask if I needed a referral but I did ask if there was anything else I needed to know and was told "No." If either person would have stepped up and put forth a little more effort I would have been saved some grief.

I went for my appointment and all went well with the evaluation.(I will post another, non ranting, entry with details about my evaluation.) As I was leaving I asked to make an appointment for my next visit and I was told that I now had to get authorization! Does the madness ever end? I asked the receptionist how long that would take and she said it could take 48 hours after it was submitted and she would submit it the next day, Friday. I made appointments for the following Tuesday and Thursday and went home, knowing that I was going to aggressively follow up if I wanted to keep my appointments.

Monday morning came and I called the PT office around 10 AM. I was greeted with confusion and asked if I could be called back. "I have charts everywhere and I can't find yours right now." It didn't exactly inspire confidence, yet again. Much to my surprise, I got a call back within the hour only to be told that my request for authorization had not been submitted because she was out sick on Friday and she would submit it now. Things were not looking good for my keeping my appointment.

I followed up by calling my insurance company on Monday afternoon to be sure they had received the request and they had, so that was a step in the right direction. I then called again on Tuesday morning and afternoon to follow up on the authorization. Finally, I got approval on Tuesday afternoon so I would be able to keep my PT appointment. You would think this would end the frustration, but no.

Someone sitting in an office somewhere had decided that I was authorized for 8 sessions during the next 6 weeks and any further visits would require further authorization. This was in spite of the fact that my surgeon had prescribed 2-3 sessions per week for the next six weeks. So if I decided to attend the bare minimum number of sessions they were undercutting my prescription by 4 visits. When I pointed this out I was told that this is just how it is and I have no choice. I expressed my frustration to the customer service rep at the company and explained the frustration I had experienced already with the PT office being on top of following up on this stuff and that I did not have the greatest faith in their diligence to keep up on the paperwork and that this was impacting my recovery. I also pointed out the insanity of having to jump through so many hoops to get a authorization for PT after surgery that they authorized and paid for. The rep, while compassionate, could do nothing.

I now called the PT office to let them know I would be keeping my appointment and about the authorization had received. I was informed that the fax machine was down and, as a result, they had not gotten the authorization. I told her the situation and she said they could get a verbal authorization if they needed to and I asked her to make a note in my chart. I was also told that it would be easier to get authorized for further visits since it was a part of continuing care. I'm not convinced but I guess I don't have much choice. I'm sure there will be another health insurance related rant down the line.

The lesson learned here is to do your homework. Ask questions when it seems there are no questions to ask and when you're given an answer, ask again. In spite of all the doctor's and medical professionals you may be working with, you are the one responsible for getting what you need.

Milestones - POD 37

It's amazing how much you come to appreciate the little things in life when you can't do them for a while. I had a few moments like that this past weekend. Things that were everyday trivialities, that I would do without thinking suddenly became very big deals.

The first such trivial item was wearing a t-shirt. Yeah, I know it sounds stupid but t-shirts are about the right comfort level for me to hang out in. I'm always warm and wear short sleeves all winter with the exception of the brutally cold days, when I'll wear a sweater or a long sleeve shirt. Even in those cases I usually have a short sleeve shirt under the sweater in case I get too warm. Conversely, wearing tank tops during the coldest weeks of winter was a little too chilly for my liking. I was able to put a tee on over the bad arm but it was no replacement for wearing it the right way. I was thrilled when I decided to try putting on a t-shirt Saturday night and was successful. I put it on in a way that favored my left arm but I was able to do it which was more that I could say a few weeks ago.

Milestone 2 was also clothing related. I've been walking around wearing either slippers or a cheap pair of moccasins I bought to specifically get me through the post op period. They did the job but they were a little rough on my feet once I went back to work and was walking more than a few blocks to the store. It's no fun to come home after work and have your dogs barkin' when you get there. I'd also ordered a pair of boots that arrived a day or two after my surgery and I hadn't even tried them on. I was happy to give them a test walk on Saturday and I'm happy to report they were comfy.

Lastly, I got my Jeep back. I was a little nervous about getting behind the wheel and as long as I don't have to perform any stunt maneuvers I think I'm okay driving. Doing things like u-turns are a little tricky since I instinctively try to turn the wheel with my left hand. Luckily, my body is very quick to remind me that I'm not quite ready for that. The other thing that was interesting and a little amusing was me trying to adjust my mirrors and roll down the window. Since I've very little strength in my left shoulder and am currently without the range of motion that would be needed to reach out and grab my mirror I had to reach across my self and do all of that with my right arm. Right about then I was wishing I had power mirror and windows. I can still push a button.

But Wait!! There's more...

One of my favorite things on TV is the infomercial. They always make me laugh when they show the way you would not be able to do things without the product they are advertising. They just make it look so ridiculous, like you can't survive without whatever piece of crap they are selling. As a rule, I refuse to buy anything that is advertised on TV or even anything that has the "As seen on TV" logo on it. I may have to change my opinion, slightly.

While I was preparing for my surgery Matt and Anne insisted on loaning me their Tablemate II table. I was skeptical but I wasn't about to turn down something that might come in handy. They made the hand off about a week before the surgery and I took it home.

After my surgery I used it continuously. It was by my side, day and night for the first week and then from the time I woke up in the morning until I went to bed at night. It was great because it was able to come to me when I was not able to reach out to be near the table since the design allows it to slide it's legs under the chair or couch you're sitting on.

In spite of how useful it was, I could help chuckling when I looked at it and thinking "But wait! There's more!!"

Zero Degrees

Since I have a lot of time on my hands and couldn't get an appointment until next week I've been continuing to do my exercises to continue to restore the function to my shoulder. I was working on it last night and I realized that I have no external rotation on my left shoulder. I can't even get the shoulder to zero.

For those of you who that means nothing to, I'll explain. If you stand straight up with your arm at your side and bend your arm, at the elbow straight in front of you that would be the zero degrees position. From that point if you rotate your arm in toward your body that is called internal rotation. If you rotate it back to the zero position and then away from your body it is called external rotation. You should be able to rotate your arm approximately 90 degrees in either direction as seen below.

I can my turn arm all the way to the internal rotated position since that is where it was held during the entire time I had to wear the immobilizer. Since I was not allowed to move it during the past 5 weeks I lost all the external rotation. Hell, I can't even get back to zero. At best I'm still 1 or 2 degrees internally rotated. This is one of the things that I'm going to work on during PT and I can tell already that it is going to hurt like hell!!

Post Op Visit 3 - POD 34

I went back to see Dr. Hershon yesterday. It was another short visit but I received some good news. After an hour long bus ride from 23rd St. to 60th St. (I hope I feel comfortable to get on the subway soon!) and an hour long wait in the waiting room of the office I finally got in to see him. I was pretty damn beat at that point but happy to finally get my turn.

When I was put in the exam room I took of the immobilizer and my shirt so I would be ready, unlike my last visit. Dr. Hershon came in, asked me how long it had been and asked me to move my arm. First he asked me to move my arm out in front of me. I was able to get it to about 45 degrees thanks to the shoulder flexion I had been doing for the past week and to the little over 90 with his help. When he asked me to move my arm out to the side it was slightly comical. i could not get my arm more than 2 or 3 degrees away from my side. I just looked at him and he said "Let me help you with that." He lifted my arm a little further, to about 30 degrees, and he looked at my shoulder as he did it. My arm would just not move.

After that he said "Okay, let's get you some PT and get this shoulder moving." I was told to wein myself off the immobilizer and start using my arm. He wrote me a script for PT and advised me to keep the immobilizer on in situations where I might have someone unintentionally grab, bump or hug me. We chatted for a minute or two, I asked about the aches I was experiencing and he reassured me it was perfectly normal. Dr. Hershon asked me to come back and see him in a month and left. That was it.

I had become so attached to and dependant on the immobilizers that I was afraid to give it up. I knew my arm would not just start working after surgery and 5 weeks and I was not sure what it was going to feel like. On the other hand, I was really ready to get the hell out of those things so I was willing to give it a try.

Once I got home I, happily hung the immobilizer up and went about doing what I had been doing for the past few weeks at home. It was nice that I was allowed to now use my arm but I quickly found that it was not much use. I could not quite get my hand up to my face to wash it when I got in the shower and I couldn't exactly get my arm all the way extended to turn on the water but at least i was able to try. I still slept with the immobilizer on last night. I'm still worried that I'm going to roll over in the night and wake up in pain.

Being able to take the immobilizer off at work today was very helpful. While I had to walk my hand up to the keys on my keyboard, I was able to type with two hands. I would have to say it increased my productivity, well, two fold. It also made things like going to the bathroom a lot easier. I kept the immobilizer off while I was at my desk and on my floor and I put it on when I went off my floor or went out side and on the commute home. That was more as a visual reminder to others than for me. I was in a little pain by the time I came home but it is not that surprising.

The thing that is most interesting to me is that I did not experience much pain during the initial recovery from the surgery. It would seem that I am entering the period now where pain is going to be an issue. The way I see it, I have a prescription sitting here for 18 torture sessions.

I also got the list of recommended physical therapists from Dr. Hershon's office. I was pretty excited to have the list and get started with PT but I kinda had my bubble burst. I had chosen a place from the list, that a friend from work had been to and was happy with and was very convenient for me to go to from my office. However, when I called them they would not take my insurance and that was the case with most of the places I called. I finally called One on One Physical Therapy in Brooklyn and they took my insurance. The problem is the only appointment I could get for an evaluation that fit my schedule was next Thursday. So I have to spend the next 8 days with a barely useful arm while waiting for my evaluation. I want to get this started so it's frustrating having to wait.

Two bright notes to end this post. 1. I am now officially caught up so now I can start posting in real time. and 2. I'm wrapping up my first two handed post. Woo Hoo!!!

Weren't You Bored?

The one question I was repeatedly asked when I went back to work was "Were you getting bored?"and I can honestly say "No." Frighteningly I could very easily become a recluse. When I was asked what I did at home for a month I quoted Peter Gibbons from Office Space: "I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything that I thought it could be." While that is not completely the truth I was certainly enjoying not having to do anything.

I had planned on doing some reading while I was home But I found that to be difficult since I could not really use my left hand to hold the book. After a while my right would get tired or it was just hard to hold the book up with one hand.

For those of you wondering what I did during those four weeks I will give you a few ideas. I edited some DVDs, I surfed the web a lot, I chatted with people online, I started this blog ( a lot of typing with one hand takes a bit of time) and I took naps. Naps are nice. I had forgotten that.

I also watched a lot of TV. I had gotten the first three seasons of The X-Files on DVD and I watched some of that, caught up on a few movies, made good use of my Media Center PC and became a Law and Order junkie. I learned that I could watch one Law & Order or another from about 2 in the afternoon until about 6 in the morning. I learned to record the ones in the middle of the night so I could watch them in the morning. It got so bad that if there was not a Law and Order on I felt like there was nothing on. SVU is my favorite.

It was nice while it lasted.

My Return to Work

With Dr. Hershon's blessing, I planned to return to work. Although I wanted to take one more day to mentally prepare myself to go back to work but since I was burning up vacation days I decided to go in on Tuesday. I texted my friend and co worker, Liz and made plans. Liz was nice enough to drive me in to work the rest of that week.

I have to say waking up at 6 AM after not having to get up for a month was a shock to the system. I woke up and got dressed, had breakfast and did my exercises. It was helpful getting the ride from Liz since it gave me enough time to eat and do my exercises and not have to worry about getting to work on time. I'll have to think of something nice to do for Liz to thank her.

My arrival that Tuesday was totally unexpected by the people in the office since I was not able to call the office after I found out I was able to return. Everyone was very happy to see me and, in a way, it was nice to get out of the house.  Work is work and I was little stressed out but all in all it was ok. I took a little longer to do everything since I was the one armed man and I could not lift anything but with a little help I made it  through my first week.

I took the express bus home since I felt like I was really not ready to get on the subway yet. I thought the crowds and all the bouncing around were a bad combination. Liz had to leave early on the days she drove me in and the express bus stop right across from my office. Since I leave work a little earlier than most it was easy enough for me get a seat and have enough room that I didn't  feel like I had to be worried about being bumped.

The only side effect I suffered was a little achiness in my shoulder muscles toward the end of the week. It was nothing that an aleve could not take care of. I think it was just a combination the new motions I was doing because of walking around at work and the exercises the doctor gave me.

I was enjoying the little bit of freedom the exercises were allowing me and I was making progress. By the time the weekend came I was able to make fairly large circles with my arm during the pendulums and I was able to get my arm up to a little over 90 degrees during the flexion. I was looking forward to going back to see Dr. Hershon

My Second Post Op Visit

I had my second post op visit scheduled for February 25th, post-op day (POD) 26. It was a pretty quick visit but went well.

Once we got in the office Dr. Hershon came in & asked how long it had been. I told him it was 26 days. He looked at my immobilizer, said "Take that thing off." and walked out of the office. I took it off and when he came back in he showed me how to do pendulum exercises and standing assistive shoulder flexion, told me to do them both a few times a day an come back to see him in a week. He said that maybe then I could start PT.

         

Pendulum exercise (l.) and shoulder flexion (r.)

When I asked if I could go back to work, he asked what I did and I told him. "Yeah, go back." he grumbled at me. He also said it was ok for me to drive if I could do it with one hand. When I told him I drove a stick shift he just chuckled and shrugged and said "Well, maybe not."

I asked about being the shoulder immobilizer and I was told to still keep it om 24/7. I was hoping to get out of it, at least a little bit, but I still had another week in it.

A Note on Coughing & Sneezing

It hurts!!! A lot. For the first few weeks it really hurt badly. I have allergies and everytime I would sneeze it would wrack my entire body and cause a sharp shooting pain to run down my arm. There was a lot of "Achoo! Ouch!" to be heard in my apartment. That pretty much lasted until about post op day 26.

It was weird. I sneezed, was bracing myself for the coming pain and it didn't come. It was a pleasant surprise but not absolute. While it doesn't hurt just to sneeze or cough anymore, a particularly violent sneeze or coughing fit will still cause a bit of pain.

I happened to get some bread crumbs caught in my throat the other night and after all was said and done I needed to take an Aleve for the pain.

I forgot to mention it in my last post and thought it was important to mention.

Post Op - Week 2-4

I'm combining weeks 2,3 and 4 into one post for a few reasons. First and foremost I would like to catch up to real time so I can post about current events as they happen and stop writing about thing that happened months, weeks and years ago. Secondly, while there were accomplishments and milestones during that time, I did spend a lot of time sitting around, doing nothing.

The first big milestone was being able to shower, not only for myself but for everyone else who had to be in the house with me. I had been trying to keep myself as clean as possible for the first week but no amount cleaning, baby wipes, baby powder or deodorant is going to keep you from being a little ripe after a week.

Showering, at first, was a great luxury and a bit of a challenge. I had not worn a shirt for the first week after the surgery, not properly. After showering for the first time I managed to get a tank top on. Since I was not really allowed to move my left arm, I got the top on by running it up my left arm and then putting it over my head and putting my right arm in. This is how I would put a shirt on for the next three weeks. I spent much of that time showering every other day.

I learned quickly that this was not going to be business as usual. Since I really had only one useful hand it took me at least twice as long for me to do anything. It took about an hour to shower and get dressed. In addition to that it caused me a bit of pain. It was not terrible pain but it did not make it pleasant. The pain-shower association continued for about another week and a half. The first time I was able to shower and not have it be painful was February 10. For those of you keeping track, that's 11 days post op.

I also realized that I was not as prepared as I would have liked to have been. I had only purchased one over-sized sweatshirt and no t-shirts. Unlike my first week, it was great to be able to wear a tank top but if I became cold my choices were very limited. I had about two XL tee shirts and that one sweat shirt I had purchased. I needed the extra room since I was only putting my good arm in and wearing the shirt over my left arm. A few more shirts and another sweatshirt or a larger coat would have served me well.

On the other hand I was fairly well prepared in the pants department. If you do have a surgery like this you should be sure you have plenty of pants that you can put on with one hand. I had an assortment of sweat pants and pajama pants that were comfortable and elastic waisted. I also learned how to put my socks on, one handed. I can become very creative when properly motivated.

I could have also used another shoulder immobilizer. The only one I had was the one I was given at the hospital and, considering that I had to wear it 24/7, it was getting a little gamy. I was also having difficulty with the immobilizer I was given for another reason. It's basically a sling with a waist strap and after days of wearing it was beginning to really hurt my neck. I was hoping that I would get a better immobilizer when I went for my appointment but I was left to my own devices. I turned to Amazon.com and came up with the shoulder immobilizer shown below for around $25.

It held my arm in place with a lot more than the sling style one and it didn't put any strain on my neck. It did have two minor issues.

Firstly, the large foam-like piece that wraps around the body and the cuff that wraps around the arm are great for stability but they do make one very,very warm. For me it was not so much of an issue since my apartment is not overly warm in the winter. It actually helped me to stay warm since I was limited in what I could wear.

Secondly, there is the issue of what has become known as the foot-hand. As you can see in the picture, my hand is enclosed in a swath that supports the forearm rather than using a sling. This is great except that your hand is a very small, enclosed area for most of the day and your hand ends up smelling like feet. I realized how much of a problem this was the day Coral came home and, politely, asked if I was going to shower. I had showered earlier that afternoon, but all she could smell was the foot-hand. The beast was living in the swath.

I solved the problem by removing the swath the next day and taking it into the shower with me. I gave it a good washing and let it dry while I wore the old sling immobilizer for a day or two. Now, whenever I wear the the new immobilizer I put deodorant on my hand and it seems to have kept the foot-hand under control.

All the while, my wounds were healing nicely. I was keeping them clean and putting bacitracin on them once or twice a day to help them heal. I took pictures weekly so I could share them with you and I didn't really do too much other than that. They healed nicely and I expect the scars will fade over time. The rear incision is almost invisible now. The most pronounced of the three is the one closest to the clavicle and even that is not readily noticeable. By the end of post-op week three they were no longer sensitive to the touch.

Before the sutures were removed. To give a sense of scale for the incisions.

POD 8

POD 15

POD 23

** Yes they are all the same shoulder. I just took some of the in the mirror.

The last issue to discuss during this period is food. Since I was alone during the day after post-op day 6, I had to make sure I was able to prepare and eat my meals during the day on my own. Coral was good enough to make sure coffee was made before she went to work so I was able to just nuke a cup of coffee when I woke up. Breakfast was usually a simple meal. I would just have a bowl of cereal or oatmeal, coffee and a piece of toast.

Lunch provided some more options. I had purchased a few frozen meals before I went in for surgery so that was one option. My Aunt Gen was kind enough to send over a bunch of very yummy chicken soup in individual containers and then there were also dinner left overs in the fridge. I was able to eat anything that I was able to microwave and I didn't have to cut up. The biggest thing was just making sure I had that kind of food available.

Poor Coral got to come home every night, after being at work and class all day, and not only cook dinner but also do the dishes I had dirtied all day. She did it all without complaining and made life much easier for a temporarily one armed man.